Political Sociology

Iconspicuous Revolutions of 1989. Culture and Contingency in the Making of Political Icons

by Dominik Bartmanski

A Chapter in the Book "Iconic Power"

Published in 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan

Sociological interpretation of news images inevitably take us beyond the surface of pictures to the surfaces and... more Sociological interpretation of news images inevitably take us beyond the surface of pictures to the surfaces and depths of events, to singular bodies and powerful crowds, sights and sites, built structures, and symbolically constructed narratives. It is precisely the new prism of iconicity through which the effects of shocking and euphoric events that seem well known can be explained in full. If icons are indeed stars of the social universe, then sociological analysis provides lenses through which we can better see them. With the theory of iconic power, we can make use of the light of “social stars” to learn new things about the social universe as such.

In his chapter “Iconspicuous Revolution: Culture and Contingency in the Making of Political Icons,” Dominik Bartmański revisits the European icons of the euphoric year of 1989 and asks what constitutes a powerful iconic fact. Specifically, he explains why the fall of the Berlin Wall emerged as the icon of 1989 and has retained this symbolic status ever since. The answer is not obvious. 1989 was full of epochal events and important figures busy making history. Especially the earlier, politically unprecedented changes in Hungary and Poland had opened up a revolutionary space in which such events like the fall of the wall became possible. And yet they have not attained the same lasting influence on the international audiences. To reconstruct this phenomenon is to tell a story about how the iconic can trump the political. By demonstrating what counts in public perception as “revolutionary,” “political signal,” and “beginning” and “end” of a social process, Bartmański shows the role that iconicity plays in constituting these key categories and thus in structuring our ability to notice, understand, and remember events. He argues that it is precisely the iconic power of events that turns them into “objective,” temporal markers of history.

Performing the Sub-Prime Crisis: Trauma and the Financial Event

by james brassett

The article provides a critical analysis of the performative effects of invocations of trauma and traumatic imagery... more The article provides a critical analysis of the performative effects of invocations of trauma and traumatic imagery during the sub-prime crisis. We develop a pragmatic approach to performativity that foregrounds the ambiguity between the importance of performative utterances, on the one hand, and overlapping performativities that produce subjects capable of ‘‘hearing’’ such utterances, on the other. We argue that a performative effect of the traumatic narrative of the sub-prime crisis was to constitute it as ‘‘an event’’ with traumatic characteristics. Financial subjects came to anticipate the object of financial salvation through intervention to save the banks; and such a view worked to curtail the range of political possibilities that were thinkable. Lines of pragmatic resistance are suggested, which turn the logic of trauma toward broadly progressive ends. In this way, the political dimension of performativity is brought forward: if finance is performative, then this only invites the question of how we might perform it differently.

The Politics of Legitimate Global Governance

by james brassett

Legitimacy is an important question to ask of the theory and practice of global governance. In this introduction, we... more Legitimacy is an important question to ask of the theory and practice of global governance. In this introduction, we make two propositions that are used to push thinking about these issues forward. Firstly, in analytical terms we outline a spectrum between legitimacy and legitimization which is aimed to capture the diverse set of approaches to this subject and to develop an engaged and reformist attitude that refuses the either-or distinction in favour of a methodologically pluralist logic of ‘both and’. Secondly, in political terms, we argue that discussions of legitimate global governance in both policy and academic circles can carry a ‘Trojan horse’ quality whereby the ambiguity of the term might allow a point of intervention for more ambitious
ethical objectives.

Der Cyber-Krieg der (so) nicht kommt: Erzählte Katastrophen als (Nicht)Wissenspraxis

by Myriam Dunn Cavelty

forthcoming in: Leon Hempel, Marie Bartels (eds), Aufbruch ins Unversicherbare - Zum Katastrophendiskurs der Gegenwart (transcript 2012).

Das vorliegende Kapitel untersucht narrative Praktiken im Fall der Cyber-Apokalypse. Es geht der Frage nach, welche... more Das vorliegende Kapitel untersucht narrative Praktiken im Fall der Cyber-Apokalypse. Es geht der Frage nach, welche Methoden und Praktiken bei der Generierung von Narrationen im politischen Prozess angewandt werden, welche inhaltlichen Ausprägungen diese Narrationen im konkreten Fall aufweisen und was die Konsequenzen solcher Praktiken sind. In einem ersten Kapitel wird die Idee der erzählen Katastrophe näher erläutert und auf ihre spezifischen Merkmale eingegangen. Insbesondere wird die Rolle von Nichtwissen hervorgehoben. Im zweiten Kapitel wird konkreter auf die narrative Praxis von wissenschaftlichen und politischen Erkenntnisgemeinschaften eingegangen. Im abschließenden Kapitel werden die Konsequenzen solcher Prakti-ken diskutiert.

The folds of a-topia (or a materialist take on Utopia)

by Constantinos Miltiadis

short paper, extended version of a competition entry. The original was written with Demetris Shammas, Vasiliki Nikoloutsou, Isavella Ines Oikonomopoulou and Daphne Oikonomopoulou

The paper tries to construct and oppose a material ontology to utopian or idealistic architectural intentions The paper tries to construct and oppose a material ontology to utopian or idealistic architectural intentions

El discurso político de Augusto Pinochet y la lucha por el espacio sacrificial

by Sebastián Huneeus

Continuities in the formation of Russian political elites

by Elena Semenova

in press (Historical Social Research)

The article investigates continuities in the formation and careers of political elites in post-Soviet Russia. Data on... more The article investigates continuities in the formation and careers of political elites in post-Soviet Russia. Data on the recruitment and careers of MPs (from 1993 until 2003), cabinet ministers (1991 until 2011) and governors (from 1991 until 2011) were used. We identified a partial reproduction of the political elite which may be defined as reproduction circulation. The first form is structural reproduction that is evident in continuities of the socio-demographic profile of political elites. The second-strongest form of path dependency is functional reproduction that was found in career paths of political elites. Finally, individual reproduction was prominent. This reproduction should decrease over time, while functional and structural reproduction are likely to remain.

Misyurov D.A. Dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas // Credo New. 2012. №2

by Dmitry Misyurov

The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with... more The article suggests dialectical formulas based on the binary notation as the development formulas: formula with dominant and the non-dominant elements; universal formula; formula with symbolic weight of elements; tautological formula. For example, it suggests an opportunity to use the dialectical formulas for modeling and artificial intelligence creation, etc.

Beyond Kurdistan? The Mesopotamia Social Forum and the appropriation and re-imagination of Mesopotamia by the Kurdish Movement.

by Marlies Casier

Published in the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 13:4, 417-432, December 2011.

La Guerra Filmada. Cinema e Guerra Civile Spagnola.

by Pietro Piro

I testi contenuti in La Guerra Filmada. Cinema e Guerra Civile Spagnola, sono stati scritti in occasione della presentazione del DVD La Guerra Filmada, edito dalla Filmoteca Española di Madrid nel 2009 che raccoglie documentari di varia lunghezza e di diverso argomento sul tema della Guerra Civile, presso la Libreria Punto 52 di Termini Imerese, giorno 17 Giugno 2012.

Primaries and political parties in Europe. A proposal for a tailored analytical framework

by Giulia Sandri

Leadership selection methods in Italy and their consequences on membership mobilization

by Giulia Sandri

“We Grew Here, You Flew Here”: The Politics of National Identity in the Cronulla Riots

by Benjamin Moffitt

Honours thesis, University of Wollongong, 2008. Awarded the 2008 University Medal.

What were the Cronulla riots, why did they occur, and what can they tell us about the operation of national identity?... more What were the Cronulla riots, why did they occur, and what can they tell us about the operation of national identity? Examining media accounts of the 2005 Cronulla riots through the theoretical framework of Ernesto Laclau’s political theory, this thesis aims to understand how we negotiate the border between ‘Australian’ and ‘un-Australian’, and how this delineation is vital to the creation of national identity. It traces the emergence of the overdetermined Middle Eastern/Muslim Other in Australian society, investigates why those who rioted at Cronulla and those who supported them imagined themselves as marginalised, and ultimately concludes that national identity, as a totalised hegemonic logic, is impossible.

Politische Soziologie technischer Prüfungen. Das Beispiel Straßenverkehrssicherheit <2012>

by Joerg Potthast

discussion paper

Draws on two conceptual streams (sociology of critique; sociology of science and technology) to develop a subpolitical... more Draws on two conceptual streams (sociology of critique; sociology of science and technology) to develop a subpolitical understand of "testing"; accounts for the history of car safety between late 1960s and 2006.

144 دعاء للثورة وحمدين صباحي

by Mohamed Nabeel Gamie

Moral Integration and Political Inclusion: a Comparison of Durkheim's and Weber's Theories of Democracy

by Jeffrey Prager

What's in a parade? The function of parade in East European Socialist culture

by p walsh

The Religious Right in America: A Historical Examination, Strategy for Regaining Credibility, and the Consequences of “Staying the Course”

by Mark Bound

Espacio de Palabras y rituales de solidaridad en Atocha

by Gérôme Truc

Published in Cristina Sánchez-Carretero (ed.), "El Archivo del Duelo. Análisis de la respuesta ciudadana ante los atentados del 11 de marzo en Madrid", Madrid, CSIC, 2011, p. 207-227.

Learning the Hard Way

by STAMATIA KREMMYDA

published in 'Insight, Edinburgh University Economics Magazine', page 30