Search results for " International Relations"
showing 10 items of 626 documents
Breaking the Traditional Style of Finnish Civic Activity
2010
In this article, “the basic idea is to introduce the idea of style as an approach to (political) activity and, especially, as an alternative practice to ideological activity.” Using the example of animal-rights activism, the author posits something “decidedly new” in Finnish civic activity, which traditionally has been channelled through institutions: Finnish movements have been state-oriented, with demands being addressed to the government, and have emphasized knowledge-based rationality as the measure for competent activity. The author categorically rejects “the notion that, in politics, style is anything more than a superficial curtain, behind which the true contents of politicking can …
Bring the state (information) in: Campaign dynamics in the run-up to a German referendum
2015
This article analyses exposure to different sources of campaign information, and their effects on citizens' feeling of being informed about referendums. The analysis is based on an innovative rolling panel study that allows for a rigorous tracking of campaign dynamics in the run-up to the referendum. Using a referendum on a large-scale infrastructure project in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, empirical findings show that official information provided by the government had the greatest effect in reaching citizens and also had the strongest impact on their feeling of being informed. The article demonstrates that the state plays a crucial role in providing an appropriate information env…
Madagascar's independence jubilee: a nation's holiday in times of crisis
2013
The fiftieth anniversary of Madagascar's independence in 2010 took place in the midst of political crisis. The transitory government staged large public parties to mark the Jubilee. Despite a public discussion about legitimacy and justification of this fact, the national holiday was lavishly celebrated. In Madagascar, Independence Day is also an important family event and emphasis was put on private celebrations including family feasts and reunions. As a result, it enhanced the participants' emotional attachment to their personal and local face-to-face milieu. This article asks how the golden jubilee was celebrated against a backdrop of political illegitimacy. I contrast official state-led …
The PSOE's deliberation and democratic innovations in turbulent times for the social democracy
2020
In the midst of the great recession, the Spanish Socialists Worker's Party (PSOE) lost the Government and experienced a process of instability while trying to reconnect with its electorate. The party's strategic response was embracing highly inclusive deliberations on both key institutional and policy issues that eventually sparked tensions and division. These internal debates led to the introduction and implementation of other democratic innovations, such as direct votes and consultations that substantially transformed key features of the PSOE's organizational model. The article discusses the main features and problems of such deliberations and democratic innovations, and their wider conse…
Ethnic or Socio-Economic Conflict? Political Interpretations of the Rwandan Crisis
1996
AbstractRather than trace the political history of the conflict in Rwanda I will focus on the different interpretations of the conflict by the actors involved. The external identification of the Tutsi refugees as 'Banyarwanda' corresponds with the ideology and self image of the RPF who were recruited among the refugees and their descendants who fled to Uganda during and after 1959. The RPF presents itself as a democratic organisation speaking for all Rwandans and its anti-ethnic stance is designed not only to appeal to Rwandans but also to a Western audience. The RPF's opponent, the Habyarimana government in Rwanda, presented itself as the heir of the 1959 'peasant revolution' which had rep…
Digital Storytelling Project as a Way to Engage Students in Twenty-First Century Skills Learning
2020
[EN] This paper is focused on the implications of a collaborative digital storytelling project on student engagement in the higher education context. The empirical study is conducted with an interdisciplinary group of bachelor students in a Nordic University (N = 22) and a university in Southern Europe (N = 21), and the data are collected through an online student survey. The results demonstrate that the digital storytelling project supported students’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement. In general, the students had positive emotional experiences with the project. This assignment format was found less stressful than a frontal presentation in the classroom, allowing the students…
Caricature as a creative work for its creator and viewer / Karikatūra kaip kūrybinis darbas jo kūrėjui ir suvokėjui
2012
Nowadays we can witness a tendency where the visual replaces the verbal. Humour experiences the same: its visual expression – caricature – is a visual metaphor that already has taken its remarkable place in the field of humour. Caricatures have become a distorting mirror that show deformed but still fairly presented reality. Humour is important part of our everyday life's communication and it covers many spheres of people's life, even including marketing, politics, work relationships, etc. That is why caricatures became a remarkable tool, for example, in political contentions. This article will show what it takes to create this distorting mirror from one side and to see a reflection in it a…
Identity, Instrumental Self-Interest and Institutional Evaluations: Explaining Public Opinion on Common European Policies in Foreign Affairs and Defe…
2008
This paper addresses public opinion on common European policies in foreign affairs and defence. It proposes three models of support for common policies in these fields. Drawing on Eurobarometer data, the analysis shows that instrumental self-interest and territorial identities contribute considerably to explaining support for common foreign affairs and defence policies. Moreover, support for common policies is strongly driven by domain-specific evaluations of the European Union's performance. These findings suggest that popular support for common European policies in foreign affairs and defence has an experiential base. Thus, elites have an incentive to respond to public opinion when makin…
Re-Imagining the Border: Border Art as a Space of Critical Imagination and Creative Resistance
2014
Contemporary world is increasingly marked by borders, fences and walls, which run through the spaces we live in. Borders are the result of a composite articulation of material aspects, concerning their external realisation, and structures of imagination, symbolic constructs and conceptual formations that involve the border and make it meaningful. In this dynamic and mutable field, artistic practices and interventions can interrupt and alterate the logic of the border, opening up a space of resistance and critical imagination, where the transparent, immutable and essentialist representation of the border is constantly challenged. Works of artists such as Bajevic, Hatoum, Salcedo, Rosver and …
Late-modern Hegemony and the Changing Role of Voluntary Associations in Finland
2015
Voluntary associations in Finland have traditionally dominated the field of collective action and been core agents in the (re)production of hegemonic blocs. Major changes in the institution of voluntary association may have a greater impact on the Finnish political regime than in many other countries, so the Finnish case might serve as a laboratory for the analysis of general tendencies of associational development common to all developed democracies. This article addresses (1) the main differences between older and newer types of associations, (2) the challenge posed by the development of a new type of hegemony to the ability of new kinds of associations to create general trust and solida…