In recent decades, and particularly since the financial crisis, continental Europe has seen an increasing gap between those workers who have well-protected, good-paying jobs with strong benefits and those who work lower-quality, nonstandard jobs, or who have no regular work at all. This situation would seem to call for increased spending on the social safety net, yet governments throughout the region have instead been turning to austerity. In the face of that reality, the options for helping disadvantaged workers are to extend coverage through re-allocating the benefits given to higher-level workers, maintain the benefits of the well-off as the number of outsiders continues to grow, or simply ignore the problem. This book asks why different nations have taken different tacks in handling-or not handling-this problem.

Creative strategies have been central to global social movements. From the theatrics of the 1999 Seattle protests, to the rebel clowns at the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles and the antics of the Yes Men, the crossovers between art and politics have increasingly become more visible and prolific. This book explores an innovative form of creative and communicative politics: the 'performative encounter', as a strategy for facilitating new ways of being, relating and making worlds. Unlike existing scholarship that frames such encounters in artistic or cultural terms, this book analyzes performative encounters through an organizational lens to accentuate their social-political potential, engaging a wealth of material from autonomist philosophy, political science, performance studies, geography and social movement texts. Intertwining conceptual and ethnographic research, it uniquely maps out one narrative of the encounter, tracing a line through the twentieth century from the Berlin Dadaists, to the Situationist International, to several contemporary German collectives and campaigns, showing how performative encounters intervene in global and local issues such as the privatization of public space and resources, human mobility and the corporatization of education.

Too often, existing literature has conflated the discourses that enabled the 'War on Terror', ignoring the contextual specificities of the states that make up the 'Coalition of the Willing'. Australia's 'war on terror' Discourse fills this gap by providing a full and sustained critical analysis of Australian foreign policy discourse along with the theoretical synthesis for a specific model of critical discourse analysis of the subject. The language of then Prime Minister Howard is the primary focus of the book but attention is also paid to the language of key ministers, political opponents and other prominent actors. The voices of those who challenged the dominant discourse are also considered to shed light on the ways in which discourses can be destabilised. Kathleen Gleeson shows how Howard successfully invoked narratives of identity and sovereignty that resonated with his audience and promoted his reworked narrative of Australia whilst facing dissent from many actors who voiced their opposition most successfully when they capitalised on inconsistencies within the discourse.

This unique book explores the problems of the national crisis management system in Russia, a country undergoing political, social and economic transition and one which is also prone to natural and man-made disasters. In detailing policy, institutional and legal issues and illustrating a number of case studies, the authors offer new ways of resolving the effects of disasters as well as increasing resilience by improving our understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities. In the book six chapters offer case studies of various types of disaster written in a unique collaboration between Russian scientists, Russian policy makers and Swedish scholars. Other chapters relate the role of mass media in Russian society and policy development. Taken together the book details changes in a crisis management system, policy and approach in a country that has undergone rapid fundamental political economic and social change.

New essays exploring the tension between the versions of the past in secret police files and the subjects' own personal memories-and creative workings-through-of events. The communist secret police services of Central and Eastern Europe kept detailed records not only of their victims but also of the vast networks of informants and collaborators upon whom their totalitarian systems depended. Theserecords, now open to the public in many former Eastern Bloc countries, reflect a textually mediated reality that has defined and shaped the lives of former victims and informers, creating a tension between official records and personal memories. Exploring this tension between a textually and technically mediated past and the subject/victim's reclaiming and retrospective interpretation of that past in biography is the goal of this volume. While victims' secret police files have often been examined as a type of unauthorized archival life writing, the contributors to this volume are among the first to analyze the fragmentary and sometimes remedial nature of these biographies and to examine the subject/victims' rewriting and remediation of them in various creative forms. Essays focus, variously, on the files of the East German Stasi, the Romanian Securitate (in relation to Transylvanian Germans in Romania), andthe Hungarian State Security Agency. Contributors: Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, Ulrike Garde, Valentina Glajar, Yuliya Komska, Alison Lewis, Corina L. Petrescu, Annie Ring, Aniko Szucs. Valentina Glajar is Professor of German at Texas State University, San Marcos. Alison Lewis is Professor of German in the School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne, Australia. Corina L. Petrescu is Associate Professor of Germanat the University of Mississippi.

Presenting a radically different picture of Egon Schiele's work, this study documents (in one-to-one comparisons) the extent of the artist's visual borrowings from the Viennese humoristic journal, Die Muskete. Claude Cernuschi analyzes each comparison on a case-by-case basis, primarily because the interpretation of cartoons and caricatures is highly contingent on their specific historical and cultural context. Although this connection has gone unnoticed in the literature, in retrospect, this correlation makes perfect sense. Not only was Schiele's artistic production frequently compared to caricature (and derided for being "grotesque"), but Expressionism and caricature are natural allies. One may belong to "high" art and the other to "popular" culture, yet both presuppose similar assumptions and deploy a similar rhetorical position: namely, that the exaggeration of human physiognomy allows deeper psychological "truths" to emerge. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, visual culture, popular culture, and politics.

This book investigates the Internet as a site of political contestation in the Indian context. It widens the scope of the public sphere to social media, and explores its role in shaping the resistance and protest movements on the ground. The volume also explores the role of the Internet, a global technology, in framing debates on the idea of the nation state, especially India, as well as diplomacy and international relations. It also discusses the possibility of whether Internet can be used as a tool for social justice and change, particularly by the underprivileged, to go beyond caste, class, gender and other oppressive social structures. A tract for our times, this book will interest scholars and researchers of politics, media studies, popular culture, sociology, international relations as well as the general reader.

Does public opinion matter in international conflict resolution? Does national foreign policy remain independent of public opinion and the media? International Public Opinion and the Bosnia Crisis examines, through U.S., Canadian, and European case studies, how public reaction impacted democratic governments' response to the ethnic and religious conflict in Bosnia during the period from 1991-1997. Each case study offers an overview of the national media coverage and public reaction to the war in the former Yugoslavia and examines the links between public opinion and political and military intervention in Bosnia. The result is a comprehensive evaluation of the complex relationship between public opinion, media coverage, and foreign policy decision-making.

The importance of social media as a way to monitor an electoral campaign is well established. Day-by-day, hour-by-hour evaluation of the evolution of online ideas and opinion allows observers and scholars to monitor trends and momentum in public opinion well before traditional polls. However, there are difficulties in recording and analyzing often brief, unverified comments while the unequal age, gender, social and racial representation among social media users can produce inaccurate forecasts of final polls. Reviewing the different techniques employed using social media to nowcast and forecast elections, this book assesses its achievements and limitations while presenting a new technique of "sentiment analysis" to improve upon them. The authors carry out a meta-analysis of the existing literature to show the conditions under which social media-based electoral forecasts prove most accurate while new case studies from France, the United States and Italy demonstrate how much more accurate "sentiment analysis" can prove.

No Miracle examines the role of institutions in bridging the 'digital divide' between rich and poor nations and what that means for the country's integration into a global economy. Shifting the debate from whether institutions are important to economic development to which institutions are important and how to build them, Mitchell Wigdor expertly addresses fundamental shortcomings in the existing development literature by identifying specific institutions that mediate the relationship between Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and economic growth. In doing so he challenges those concerned with development to shift their gaze from whether institutions are important to economic development to which institutions might be the focus of government efforts and how to build them. Detailed case studies of the economic development strategies of Singapore and Malaysia from 1960 demonstrate that institution-building and economic development may be as much about process as the specific policies governments pursue. Written in accessible, non-technical, language this book should be read by everyone concerned with economic growth both in less economically developed countries and the more prosperous including those in government, international organizations, NGOs, universities, policy makers and the private sector.

This book, the first academic book on Pakistani documentary cinema, traces the development of activist filmmaking practices in Pakistan which have emerged as a response to the consequences of religious fundamentalism, extremism, and violation of human rights. Beginning with the period of General Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization process (1977-88), it discusses a selection of representative documentary films that have critically addressed and documented the various key transformations, events, and developments that have shaped Pakistan's socio-political, socio-economic, and cultural history. Such activist filmmaking practice in Pakistan is today an influential factor in addressing the politics, and negative and oppressive effects of the Islamization era, discriminatory laws, particularly gender-discriminatory Sharia laws, violation of human and citizen rights, authoritarianism, internal strife, the spread of religious fundamentalism, and the threat of Talibanization, and oppressive tribal customs and traditions. The contribution of Pakistani documentary filmmakers stands as a significant body of work that has served the cause of human rights, promoting awareness and social change in Pakistan, particularly regarding gender rights.

Digital media and online social networking applications have changed the way in which dissent is organized with social movement leaders using online applications and digital content systems to organize collective action, activate local protest groups, network with international social movements and share their political perspectives. In the past, authoritarian regimes could control broadcast media in times of political crisis by destroying newsprint supplies, seizing radio and television stations, and blocking phone calls. It is much more difficult to control media in the digital age though there have certainly been occasions when states have successfully shut down their digital networks. What causes state-powers to block internet access, disable digital networks or even shut off internet access? How is it done, what is the impact and how do dissidents attempt to fight back? In this timely and accessible volume a collection of high profile, international scholars answer these key questions using cases from Israel, Iran, Russia, Morocco, Vietnam and Kuwait and assess the political economy of the actors, institutions and regimes involved and effected by the state-management and control of digital networks.

Was Nazi wartime propaganda a 'totalitarian' mechanism that controlled the perceptions of the Germans? Was it as effective as generally thought? Did it 'win' the psychological war over the minds of the population? Was Joseph Goebbels the 'mastermind' of the Third Reich? This book analyzes the factors that determined the organization, conduct and output of Nazi propaganda during World War II, in an attempt to re-assess previously inflated perceptions about the influence of Nazi propaganda and the role of the regime's propagandists in the outcome of the 1939-45 military conflict.

Surveillance and Identity analyses the discourse of surveillance in the contemporary United Kingdom, drawing upon public language from central government, governmental agencies, activist movements, and from finance and banking. Examining the logics of these discourses and revealing the manner in which they construct problems of governance in the light of the insecurity of identity, this book shows how identity is fundamentally linked to surveillance, as governmental discourses privilege surveillance as a response to social problems. In drawing links between new technologies and national surveillance projects or concerns surrounding phenomena such as identity fraud, Surveillance and Identity presents a new understanding of identity - the model of 'surveillance identity' - demonstrating that this is often applied to individuals by powerful organisations at the same time as the concept is being actively contested in public language. The first comprehensive study of the discursive politics of surveillance in the UK, this book makes significant contributions to surveillance theory, governmentality theory, and to political and social identity theories. As such, it will be of interest to social scientists of all kinds working on questions of public discourse and political communication, identity, surveillance and the relationship between the individual and the state.

The attitudes of individual citizens play a central role in a democracy. In the United States today, the two major parties are each associated with a broad set of policy positions representing the conservative and liberal political ideologies. The two major parties are becoming increasingly polarized on these ideologies between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. This book provides an in-depth examination of public opinion in a single American state, Alabama, to see whether the public opinion of general citizens follows this stereotype of ideological and partisan polarization. Alabama public opinion is analyzed on a fairly wide range of issues, including the quality of public officials, constitutional reform, the role of government in terms of taxes and overall spending, education, health care, religion in public life, crime, and immigration. Alabama is generally perceived as staunchly conservative politically and as a reliably 'red' Republican state in national elections. Yet, public opinion in Alabama is considerably more nuanced and complex than this stereotype in two distinct aspects. First, Alabamians are certainly conservative on many issues, but they are also liberal on a significant number of others. Second, the issue positions of the state's citizens are shaped by three different dynamics in terms of what factors influence specific attitudes. Furthermore a brief analysis of public opinion in the entire United States finds similar patterns. Thus, the current polarization in party politics does not necessarily reflect public opinion in its entirety, suggesting a need to transcend the competing conservative and liberal orthodoxies.

The problems and debates surrounding climate change possess closely intertwined social and scientific aspects. This book highlights the importance of researching climate change through a multi-disciplinary approach; namely through cultural studies, communication studies, and clean-technology studies. These three dimensions taken together have the ability to constitute a positive agenda for climate change science in its broader understanding. To cope with the climate change challenge, not only do we need new energy efficient technologies, other ways of living, and new ways to communicate but we especially need new ways to start thinking about climate change across disciplines and backgrounds. We need to begin thinking across engineering, cultural science and communication in order to create innovative solutions, as well as to generate optimistic and progressive narratives about the future. Accentuating these 'softer' scientific disciplines, their overlaps, and the positive discourses they can create, this book provides some more profoundly researched themes pertaining to climate change and by that, strengthening the analytical as well as the integrative approaches toward the fundamental questions at stake.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act came into existence at a time when the president's ability to lead the public was in question, political polarization had intensified, and the media environment appeared ever more fragmented, fast-moving, and resistant to control. Under such circumstances, how can contemporary American presidents such as Barack Obama build and maintain support for themselves and their policies, particularly as controversies arise? Using case studies of major contests over how key elements of the Affordable Care Act would be framed, and analysis of how those frames fared in influential and popular U.S. news sources, Hopper examines the conditions under which the president can effectively shape public debates today. She argues that despite the difficult political and communications context, the president retains substantial advantages in framing major controversial issues for the media and the public. These presidential framing advantages are conditional, however, and Hopper explores the factors that help make presidential frames more or less likely to gain hold in the news today. More so than in the past, an element of unpredictability in this news environment means that in pursuing favorable messaging, the president and his surrogates may also generate some unintentional consequences in how issues are portrayed to the public. Presidential frames can evolve with unfolding events to take on new meanings and applications, a process facilitated alternately by supporters, opponents, and media actors. Still, media figures and political opponents remain largely reactive to presidential communications, even as some seek to publicize and exploit weaknesses in the administration's narratives. A close look at these recent cases casts new light on the scholarly debate surrounding the president's ability to persuasively communicate and challenges conventional wisdom that the 21st century media largely present an unmanageable news environment for the White House. Presidential Framing in the 21st Century News Media engages with current events in American politics, focusing on the Obama Administration and the Affordable Care Act, while also reflecting upon the state of the American presidency, the news media, and the public in ways that have substantial implications for all of these actors, not merely in the present, but into the future, making it a compelling read for scholars of Political Science, Media Studies, Communication Studies, and Public Policy.

The leader's portrait, produced in a variety of media (statues, coins, billboards, posters, stamps), is a key instrument of propaganda in totalitarian regimes, but increasingly also dominates political communication in democratic countries as a result of the personalization and spectacularization of campaigning. Written by an international group of contributors, this volume focuses on the last one hundred years, covering a wide range of countries around the globe, and dealing with dictatorial regimes and democratic systems alike. As well as discussing the effigies that are produced by the powers that be for propaganda purposes, it looks at the uses of portraiture by antagonistic groups or movements as forms of resistance, derision, denunciation and demonization. This volume will be of interest to researchers in visual studies, art history, media studies, cultural studies, politics and contemporary history.

With the advent of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as presidential nominees, the examination of the role of celebrity culture in the White House takes on a fresh appeal. This book, by award-winning White House correspondent and presidential historian Kenneth T. Walsh, takes a detailed and comprehensive look at the history of America's presidents as "celebrities in chief" since the beginning of the Republic. Walsh makes the point that modern presidents need to be celebrities and build on their fame in order to propel their agendas and rally public support for themselves as national leaders so that they can get things done. Combining incisive historical analysis with a journalist's eye for detail, this book looks back to such presidents as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as the forerunners of contemporary celebrity presidents. It examines modern presidents including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, each of whom qualified as a celebrity in his own time and place. The book also looks at presidents who fell short in their star appeal, such as George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, and explains why their star power was lacking. Among the special features of the book are detailed profiles of the presidents and how they measured up or failed as celebrities; an historical analysis of America's popular culture and how presidents have played a part in it, from sports and television to movies and the news media; the role of first ladies; and a portfolio of fascinating photos illustrating the intersection of the presidency with popular culture. An update looking at Hillary and "the Donald" puts contemporary politics in perspective with the evolution of presidential celebrity.

'Threat Talk' exposes how US and Chinese scientists and policy-makers have understood and responded to the problem of internet addiction in their societies. Is the internet good or bad for society? American analysts like Lessig and Zittrain suggest that the internet is inherently liberating and positive for society, while Morozov and Sageman warn that the internet poses risks to citizens and societies. Using a comparative framework to illustrate how the two states differ in their assessments of the risks to citizens posed by the introduction of new technology, Mary Manjikian compellingly argues that both 'risk' and 'disease' are ideas which are understood differently at different historic periods and in different cultures. Her culturalist approach claims that the internet is neither inherently helpful, nor inherently threatening. Rather, its role and the dangers it poses may be understood differently by different societies. Is the internet good or bad for society? The answer, it appears, is 'it depends'.

Written by a leading team of internationally distinguished political communication scholars, this book offers the most comprehensive account on comparative political communication research in the context of European Parliamentary elections to date. Divided into four sections, experts begin by tracing the historical and political background of European Parliamentary elections, paying close attention to trends in turnout and the changing institutional role of the European Parliament (EP). Focusing mainly on the 2009 elections and using original data throughout, the next two sections are devoted to campaign communication strategies and the overall media coverage of EP elections in both established and newly-accessioned members of the European Union. The concluding section focuses on the macro- and micro-level effects of European parliamentary campaigns in a comparative perspective to illustrate how campaign strategies and media coverage were received by voters in EU member states. This insightful account on the interaction between political actors, the media, and voters allows readers to develop a global understanding of political and media system interdependencies and on comparative political communication research more generally. Essential reading to students and scholars in political science, media studies, European politics, and political communication, as well as policy makers within the European Union.

Developed countries throughout the world are experiencing population ageing and the new challenges that arise from this change in the national demographic. The phenomenon of an ageing population has necessitated policy reform regarding the role of the state in providing income in retirement and the whole wider social meaning of later life. The politics of ageing have become a key issue for young and old voters alike as well as those who seek to represent them. Politicians carefully consider strategies for developing relationships with older voters in the context of both policy decisions and campaigns as issues that directly affect an ageing population often prove crucial in local and national election campaigns. 'Going Grey' provides insight into how ageing and the increased proportion of older voters is being framed by the media. It investigates emerging discourses on the topic founded on economic pessimism and predictions of inter-generational conflict. By bringing together political communication and media discourses and placing them within the wider context of an ageist society this unique contribution demands us to re-think how the media portray and frame later life and examines the strategic electoral dilemmas facing political parties today. It provides an original and timely resource for scholars, students and general readers interested in understanding more about the mediation of, and the strategic campaign responses to, rapidly ageing populations.

Presidents spend millions of dollars on public opinion polling while in office. Critics often point to this polling as evidence that a "permanent campaign" has taken over the White House at the expense of traditional governance. But has presidential polling truly changed the shape of presidential leadership? Diane J. Heith examines the polling practices of six presidential administrations-those of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-dissecting the poll apparatus of each period. She contends that while White House polls significantly influence presidential messages and responses to events, they do not impact presidential decisions to the extent that observers often claim. Heith concludes that polling, and thus the campaign environment, exists in tandem with long-established governing strategies.

Voting hides a familiar puzzle. Many people take the trouble to vote even though each voter's prospect of deciding the election is nearly nil. Russians vote even when pervasive electoral fraud virtually eliminates even that slim chance. The right to vote has commonly been won by protesters who risked death or injury even though any one protester could have stayed home without lessening the protest's chance of success. Could people vote or protest because they stop considering their own chances and start to think about an identity shared with others? If what they hear or read affects political identity, a shift in political discourse might not just evoke protests and voting but also make the minority that has imposed the dictator's will suddenly lose heart. During the Soviet Union's final years the cues that set communist discourse apart from standard Russian sharply dwindled. A similar convergence of political discourse with local language has preceded expansion of the right to vote in many states around the globe. Richard D. Anderson, Jr., presents a groundbreaking theory of what language use does to politics.

How do right-wing extremist organizations throughout the world use the Internet as a tool for communication and recruitment? What is its role in identity-building within radical right-wing groups and how do they use the Internet to set their agenda, build contacts, spread their ideology and encourage mobilization? This important contribution to the field of Internet politics adopts a social movement perspective to address and examine these important questions. Conducting a comparative content analysis of more than 500 extreme right organizational web sites from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, it offers an overview of the Internet communication activities of these groups and systematically maps and analyses the links and structure of the virtual communities of the extreme right. Based on reports from the daily press the book presents a protest event analysis of right wing groups' mobilisation and action strategies, relating them to their online practices. In doing so it exposes the new challenges and opportunities the Internet presents to the groups themselves and the societies in which they exist.