Culture and Politics

Culture and (Social and Political) Transformations: draft.

by Jan Kubik

“Red Laughter”: On Refined Weapons of Soviet Jesters

by Serguei Alex. Oushakine (Сергей Ушакин)

Social Research Vol. 79 : No.1 : Spring 2012

Making History, Making Democracy Un-Extraordinary: Harvard Students Make History

by Paul Lachelier

An earlier version of this article was published in the journal Radical Teacher in 2002 with the title “Making History, Making Democracy Un-Extraordinary.” This version of the article was presented as a conference paper at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems in 2004 in San Francisco, CA.

On April 18, 2001, I and forty-five other students packed down with food and sleeping bags rushed into Massachusetts... more On April 18, 2001, I and forty-five other students packed down with food and sleeping bags rushed into Massachusetts Hall, one of Harvard University’s main administrative buildings. Thus began one of the longest sit-ins in Harvard’s long history, all in the name of living wages for the lowest paid workers at the world’s richest university. This article draws on literature in politics and social theory as well as my own experience as an activist to argue a distinction between ordinary and extraordinary activism. Sit-ins, like walkouts, rallies and strikes, are a staple tactic in many activists’ toolkits. These forms of activism are “extraordinary” to the extent that they typically demand that ordinary people break from their routines to engage in activism. This condition makes these taken-for-granted forms of activism fragile. By contrast, “ordinary” forms of activism are less fragile because they are woven into the routines of everyday life. Examples of ordinary versus extraordinary activism are given. The article concludes by reflecting on the larger significance of this distinction for democracy, power and social change.

" The Best Party on Campus": political detachment in a political association

by Paul Lachelier

This is my Master's thesis in sociology. For more info, email me at sociopolifrance@hotmail.com.

Voluntary associations, and especially political associations, have long been considered vital to democracy, nurturing... more Voluntary associations, and especially political associations, have long been considered vital to democracy, nurturing citizen engagement in public life. Yet much of the research on citizen activity relies primarily on surveys or interviews with citizens, never stepping into associations to learn what actually goes on inside. This study, based on a year of direct observation of the political culture of a Republican Party student local, shows, ironically, how a group of citizens engaged in political association disengage from public issues in their own midst, with dramatic final consequences.

Democracy, individualism, & the civil-civic citizen: Young American professionals talk about community, politics & citizenship

by Paul Lachelier

This is my Ph.D. dissertation in sociology. For more info, contact me at sociopolifrance@hotmail.com.

Like all citizens of modern nations in a globalizing world, Americans are socially “entangled yet detached,” to adapt... more Like all citizens of modern nations in a globalizing world, Americans are socially “entangled yet detached,” to adapt political philosopher Michael Sandel’s phrasing. Yet as citizens of the lone “super-power,” the thoughts and actions of Americans, especially as voters, matter to the world perhaps now more than ever. 9/11, like global warming, confirms the inescapability of politics, yet there is evidence that young Americans are politically less engaged than their predecessors. Given these conditions and concern about the political engagement of young Americans, I conducted semi-structured interviews with thirty-five young American professionals (whose work, as professionals, inclines them somewhat more to political engagement) in a northeastern city to learn about the meanings they attach to politics, community and citizenship. I found that my interviewees generally upheld what I call a “civil-civic citizenship” which stresses politeness and charity, but eschews politics, especially partisan and collective politics. To the extent that my interviewees do support political activity, the good citizen to them is not an activist who pressures and persuades, but an independent, reflective voter who discusses issues in a balanced manner with those near. This contrasts quite sharply with earlier forms of citizenship in American history. I argue why this model is in certain ways politically disengaging, or signals disengagement, in important part because it upholds forms of individualism inimical to collective action. Then, drawing on my interviews and Alexis de Tocqueville’s conception of individualism, I argue that another form of individualism democracy has to fear is not selfish and isolated, but on the contrary, can be quite giving and social, though within the narrow, private compass of one’s intimates. That form I call “intimate individualism.” I conclude with, among other things, elements toward an ethic of political engagement to counter these forms of disengaging individualism.

When the Party Comes Down: The CPGB and Youth Culture, 1976-1991

by Evan Smith

Twentieth Century Communism: A Journal of International History, 4, 2012 (in press)

Subject political culture in post-communist societies: a comparative study of post-Yugoslav students [Podložniška politična kultura v postkomunističnih družbah: primerjalna študija postjugoslovanskih študentov]

by Andrej Kirbis

Co-authored with Sergej Flere, Published in Družboslovne razprave, 27 (66), 45-66

The present study examined several measures of political culture among 2,178 social science students (M age = 19.8... more The present study examined several measures of political culture among 2,178 social science students (M age = 19.8 years, SD = 1.89) in eight post-Yugoslav entities. The aggregate level results indicated that socio-economically less developed environments had higher average levels of subject political culture, which is characterized by authoritarianism, general traditionalism, traditional gender roles attitudes, state paternalism and general distrust. The only exception from this tendency was the measure of economic egalitarianism, where between-country differences were not significant. Authors demonstrate that nearly two decades after the dissolution of Yugoslavia some of the same value differences are still found in its successor territories. They conclude that the process of democratic consolidation is far from over in post-Yugoslav entities and that Slovenia comes closest to achieving that goal in political-cultural context.

Text, fantasy and the political: A two-track analysis of climate politics

by Ben Glasson

Paper presented at 6th ECPR (European Consortium for Political Research) General Conference, University of Iceland, 25th - 27th Aug. 2011.

Discourse involves interactions between elements both logico-semantic and fantasmatic, suggesting that climate policy... more Discourse involves interactions between elements both logico-semantic and fantasmatic, suggesting that climate policy discourses are embedded within the fantasmatic repertoires of their broader discursive contexts. Discourses employed by climate sceptics are underpinned by a range of fantasmatic nodal points that, from a Laclauian perspective, maintain the force and regularity of discourses and identities. Purportedly rational sceptic arguments exploit deeply sedimented myths
and social imaginaries, particularly those that gather under the signifiers of ‘progress’ and ‘nation’.  The re-articulation of ‘progress’ in the direction of capitalist technoscience, and issues of translation between the global, abstract discourse of climate change and national contexts of expansionary development, play into sceptics’ rhetorical strategies. The environment movement ignores the role of myths and social imaginaries at its peril.

Entretiens Hardt 2011 First Report (K Coleman - J Nelis-Clément)

by Onno van Nijf

The first report of the Entretiens Hardt 2011, where I presented my paper Political Games The first report of the Entretiens Hardt 2011, where I presented my paper Political Games

Der peronistische Nationaldiskurs in der Tangoschreibung der 1960er Jahre

by Franco Barrionuevo Anzaldi

published in: Klein, Gabriele (Ed.): Tango in Translation. Tanz zwischen Medien, Kultur, Kunst und Politik. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2009, p.209-242.

Cultural Legacies of State Socialism: History-making and Cultural-political Entrepreneurship in Postcommunist Poland and Russia

by Jan Kubik

in: Capitalism and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe: Assessing the Legacy of Communist Rule, edited by Grzegorz Ekiert and Stephen E. Hanson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Political culture and transition in Republic of Macedonia

by Luan Sinani

Co-authored with Dr.Prof. Jonuz Abdullai

Love Yourself: The Relationship of the Self with Itself in Popular Self-Help Texts

by Rebecca Hazleden

Hazleden, R (2003) Journal of Sociology, vol. 39 no. 4, 413-428

The rise of psy discourse has been the subject of considerable academic attention, but one of its most popular and... more The rise of psy discourse has been the subject of considerable academic attention, but one of its most popular and visible forms, the self-help book, has received comparatively little attention. This article provides a Foucauldian analysis of a selection of relationship manuals; it examines the ways in which they set up a relation of the reader’s self to itself, and it explores the ethical valorizations and teleologies therein. The emphasis on the relationship with the self, and the development of mastery over the emotions advocated in the books, is related to the values held in liberal democratic societies.

Promises of Peace and Passion: Enthusing the Readers of Self-Help

by Rebecca Hazleden

Open access journal

Hazleden, Rebecca (2009) Promises of peace and passion: Enthusing the readers of self-help. M/C Journal, 12 1: 1-9

The rise of expertise in the lives of women is a complex and prolonged process that began when the old networks... more The rise of expertise in the lives of women is a complex and prolonged process that began when the old networks through which women had learned from each other were being discredited or destroyed (Ehrenreich and English). Enclosed spaces of expert power formed separately from political control, market logistics and the pressures exerted by their subjects (Rose and Miller). This, however, was not a question of imposing expertise on women and forcing them to adhere to expert proclamations: “the experts could not have triumphed had not so many women welcomed them, sought them out, and … organised to promote their influence” (Ehrenreich and English 28). Women’s continuing enthusiasm for self-help books – and it is mainly women who buy them (Wood) – attests to the fact that they are still welcoming expertise into their lives. This paper argues that a major factor in the popularity of self-help is the reversal of the conventional ‘priestly’ relationship and ethic of confession, in a process of conversion that relies on the enthusiasm and active participation of the reader.

'You have to learn these lessons sometime': Persuasion and therapeutic power relations in bestselling relationship manuals

by Rebecca Hazleden

Hazleden, R (2010) Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies Vol 24, no 2, 291-305

Whilst self-help books have recently come under increased academic scrutiny, the power relations in the techniques... more Whilst self-help books have recently come under increased academic scrutiny, the power relations in the techniques they use in order to persuade, convince and convert their readers remain largely unexamined. This paper seeks to redress this omission, and examines a selection of bestselling relationship manuals published between 1973 and 2005 for claims to authority and techniques of persuasion. Further, it examines and critiques Rose's dimensions of therapeutic power relations, through the claims authors make to the right to speak as experts in human relationships and the techniques they use to persuade, co-opt and interpolate the reader into the therapeutic process.

Dragon Slayers and Jealous Rats: the Gendered Self in Self-Help Manuals

by Rebecca Hazleden

Hazleden, R (2011) Cultural Studies Review, Vol 17, No 1, 270-295.

This article traces two broad discourses concerning gender in a selection of relationship manuals from 1974 to 2004.... more This article traces two broad discourses concerning gender in a selection of relationship manuals from 1974 to 2004. On the one hand are manuals promoting traditional gender roles, and on the other are those that promote financial and emotional independence for women. In contrast to other analyses, I argue that these approaches cannot be categorised into a simplistic dichotomy of ‘feminist’ and ‘patriarchal,’ but that they are better understood as being bound up with conservative and liberal discourses of the self. I further demonstrate that these approaches both assume and require types of self that are somewhat removed from their historical antecedents and should be understood as neo variants.

The pathology of love in contemporary relationship manuals

by Rebecca Hazleden

Hazelden, R. (2004) `The Pathology of Love in Contemporary Relationship Manuals', The Sociological Review 52(2): 201-17.

Abstract
This paper addresses Giddens’ assertion that self-help books are democratising, and may help to bring... more Abstract
This paper addresses Giddens’ assertion that self-help books are democratising, and may help to bring about a ‘reconciliation’ of the sexes. It investigates a selection of best-selling relationship manuals for their conceptions of love and their prescriptions and proscriptions for self-formation. It considers Giddens’ notion of democracy in the light of these, and suggests that this is a narrow and particular one. It is further argued that, by characterising love as a (biochemical) pathology, and men as being defective or dangerous, the relationship manuals in this study prescribe emotional detachment and self-mastery rather than ‘reconciliation’.

Jóvenes y poder. Emprendedores en emergencia

by Julio César Mateus

van Nijf, O.M. (2011). “Les athlètes et les artistes comme médiateurs culturels dans l’empire romaine”. in: A. Gangloff (ed.). Médiateurs culturels et politiques dans l'Empire romain: voyages, conflits, identités. Paris, Editions de Boccard, Collection De l'archéologie à l'histoire. Pp 71-82.

by Onno van Nijf

This is the final draft version. The publisher has asked us not to put the PDF off-print on-line. If you want a PDF copy, please get in touch

This is the final draft version. The publisher has asked us not to put the PDF off-print on-line. If you want a PDF... more This is the final draft version. The publisher has asked us not to put the PDF off-print on-line. If you want a PDF copy, please get in touch

On Human Judgment

by Roger Berkowitz

This paper was given as a TEDx East Hampton Talk on July 4, 2011.

As machines make more and more of our most basic judgments for us, humans risk losing the habit and practice of... more As machines make more and more of our most basic judgments for us, humans risk losing the habit and practice of judging. This talk explores this risk and argues that the loss of human judgment is something that we as a species need to address and resist.