Потребительский идеал в юмористическом дискурсе Советской Украины: контент-анализ советских анекдотов и журнала «Перец»

Reviewed by: Buying into Change: Mass Consumption, Dictatorship, and Democratization in Franco's Spain, 1939–1982 by Alejandro J. Gómez del Moral Annabel Martín Keywords Spain, Europe, United States, Consumerism, Mass Culture, Advertising, Department Store Culture, Galería Preciados, Corte Inglés, Sears, Supermarkets, Francoism, Dictatorship, Spanish Miracle, Internationalization, Democracy, Gender, Alejandro J. Gómez del Moral, Annabel Martín gómez del moral, alejandro j. Buying into Change: Mass Consumption, Dictatorship, and Democratization in Franco's Spain, 1939–1982. U of Nebraska P, 2021, 366 pp. Buying into Change: Mass Consumption, Dictatorship, and Democratization in Franco's Spain, 1939–1982 is a sharp and intelligent study of the development of a consumer society and its effects on Spanish cultural and social mores during the Franco regime. Segments of Spanish society of the 1960s were invited to join Europe's consumer society and did so with a vengeance. The accumulation of goods, the habitus of the new bourgeoisie, and the depoliticization of the working classes through consumption (goods and tourism) was not "Spanish" in intent, but rather the necessary outcome of a model of early neoliberal modernization grounded on the widespread decoupling of the economic sphere from all others in developed western societies. The Franco regime might have been anachronistic in the limitations it secured in most political, social, and cultural manifestations, but it was, on the other hand, a model student in its placing of capitalist market structures, a new service sector centered on tourism and consumption, at its core. In this new socioeconomic scenario, Spain proved itself a worthy European neighbor, given how the lack of political freedom or the repressive state discourses on cultural and gender mores were overshadowed by rapid, market-driven, and speculative [End Page 319] economic development. Buying into Change sets out to document just how important the new capitalist model of development was in accomplishing this by focusing on several of the pillars of capitalist consumption: the prolific offer of consumer goods in retail stores, the reordering of the country's food supply thanks to the success of the supermarket, and the role of modern advertising and of consumer magazines in this process. If the market, and not politics, is what articulates this new society, then modernity is secured for the dictatorship, provided it follow the laws of profit and gain. In The Consumer Society (1970), Baudrillard reminds us that consumer goods present themselves not as the products of labor but rather as the harnessing of power (33). Within a dictatorship, goods can appear to magically remedy the shortcomings of the political system, a magic that turns abundance into "an effect of nature," into an "inalienable right" (33) thanks to advertising and its invention of "truth." Individuals who bore this process in Spain and did so with a blunt political imagination did not automatically link a change in the political regime with the improvement of the conditions of life, for "progress" was, for the most part, exclusively branded in economic terms, measured in degrees of consumption, just like for fellow citizens in neighboring western democracies. This fresh age of affiuence immersed Spaniards within a burgeoning material abundance, regardless of its actual accessibility. One begs to ask, then, if capitalist economic and social structures are not actually custom-made for dictatorships. It would not be extravagant to think so given how consumer logic does away with the messiness of societies, thanks to its logic of efficiency (control and uniformity) despite parading as varied and plural in options and choices. If this is the case, the effects on democracy are also quite straightforward shortening, therefore, the road Spain needed to travel to become more like its democratic neighbors. However, one must not forget that consumerism also withholds a promise of change, of hope, a momentary arrest of the difficulties of life brought about by the political and economic impossibilities that the working poor faced in Spain. No one pointed to these contradictions within consumer society like Spanish filmmaker Luis García Berlanga in El verdugo (1962), quite possibly the most provocative critique of the Franco regime ever screened. In the film, the violence of the dictatorship can comfortably coexist within consumer society, constricting...

This paper discusses how main characters in The Black Album go through and beyond practices of consumerism and Islam fundamentalism, finding their own identities among various ethical positions in late capitalism. Representations of different characters from the author illuminate the enormous impact of consumerism, which even fundamentalist believers are not immune from. On the other hand, Kureishi also indicates that, via the romantic ethic, individualism and liberalism articulated with consumerism, an individual is capable of evading extravagant desire and achieving spiritual development. The consumer society does not merely take root on commodities and their signs. Its management relies on the ethic inherent in the logic of capitalism. Colin Campbell has pointed out that the consumer society is guided by the dual logic of modernity, namely the logic of reason manifested in calculation and experiment, and the logic of dream originated from passion and aspiration. Working ethic and romantic ethic are resulted from this dual logic, and in turn maintain the operation of capitalism in the end of production and consumption. Yet, characters in this novel do not necessarily follow its ethical principles even if they are products of consumer captialism. Furthermore, to resist over-expansion of the romantic ethic and the ethnic exploitations long present in the Western consumer society, there is a fictional community, despite its breeding in Britain, insistent on Islamic fundamentalism to withstand fragmentation of the personal or communal identity. Examining characters with widely different ethic and cultural identity, Kureishi's novel validates the balance between the working and romantic ethic in the consumer society, and explores the possibility of transcending self-indulgence and asceticism.

The thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one introduces the author and the purpose of the study by providing a critical viewpoint to examine Salman Rushdie’s novel, Fury, from the perspective of sign operations and consumerism. Chapter two employs Jean Baudrillard’s social theory of sign, consumer culture, body/medium as message, the notion of authorship and the reader response as the main structure to illustrate the social context of the novel. Chapter three focuses on the literary analysis on Fury, discussing how Malik Solanka’s identities as a father, a lover, and an author in a consumer society influence his life and how his creations, Little Brain and The Puppet Kings, serve as commodities to influence, instead of as artifacts. Chapter four concludes that simulation through sign operations arouses sensual satisfactions but even problematizes the formation of identities. The readings by the readers and the consumers reframe the formation of authorship in the sign-dominated society. Multiple interpretations inflame fury and inspire creations. In this case, Rushdie writes the novel as the postmodern portraiture of metropolitan life.

This chapter examines the nature of the Soviet citizens' threat perceptions and try to explain the variations in views. It provides four potential influences on Soviet perceptions: demographic characteristics, the attentiveness of the public, ideology, and beliefs about the Soviet Union's status in the world. The inability of the Soviet economy to feed its people and maintain its economic position in the world made the country vulnerable to debt, austerity measures and economic dependence. The notion that prestige carries responsibility may be a source of concern for Soviet citizens who fear superpower confrontation. Economic insecurity, however, may serve to offset threat by highlighting economic interdependence to the Soviet citizen. The Soviet public is greatly influenced by nationality and other demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and education. Nationality is especially salient because the nationality make-up of the various post-Soviet republics is different than that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

This chapter explains the theoretical and methodological framework for this research, both in relation to the key tenets of discourse theory and to the empirical content of the analysis. It begins by considering the meaning of 'discourse' as language, practice, and context. Its multidimensional meaning and function means that discourse analysis has particular value in the study of nationalism and political change. The chapter then provides an overview of other studies in the areas of nationalism and European integration which have used discourse theory and analysis, focusing on the case of Northern Ireland. The articulation of discourse in texts offers a means by which the processes at work in a particular context can be analysed. The relationship between politics and discourse emanates from the function of discourse in the social world and, therefore, works in two interconnected ways: politics as a product of discourse and politics as a determinant of discourse. Nation-statehood is traditionally conceptualised in official discourse as primarily important in the three thematic areas of identity, borders and governance.

Актуальность статьи обусловлена, с одной стороны, популярностью концепции «мягкой силы», а с другой – масштабной трансформацией общества традиционного типа в так называемое «общество потребления». Цель – анализ механизма ненасильственного управления (т. н. «мягкая сила») социумом на основе эксплуатации практик «общества потребления». Генезис и функционирование общества потребления – основные современные глобальные проблемы, привлекающие внимание исследователей из разных сфер научного знания. Современное общество потребления базируется на следующих столпах: экономическом (массовое потребление), социальном (урбанизация) и идеологическом (внедрение установки «казаться, а не быть» в массовое сознание). Есть все основания утверждать, что проблематике взаимосвязи общества потребления с его атрибутивными чертами и механизмами «мягкой силы» в отечественной и зарубежной науке не уделяется должного внимания. Данное исследование ставит перед собой именно такую цель – краткий анализ этих двух феноменов в обозначенном выше контексте. По мнению А. Грамши, удержание власти включает в себя не только принуждение, но и убеждение. Любое государство, независимо от того, какой класс в данный момент является доминирующим, опирается на два фундаментальных столпа – силу и согласие («мягкое насилие»). В содержательном плане стремление потреблять выступает главным мотивом жизни современного человека. Поэтому управление этими мотивами становится стержневым элементом стратегий властвования в современном обществе. В статье впервые предпринимается попытка охарактеризовать перспективы эволюции российского сегмента «общества потребления» через призму деградации трудовой этики в России.

Consumer society is what is called as one of the major influences in the economic system of capitalistic. As a social phenomenon, the consumer society has the typical characteristics, according to the characteristics of the local community. The research question that arises is how the economic behavior of the consumer society network in the context of Tupperware direct selling business. The foundation of the theory which is used as a tool of analysis for this social phenomenon is Baudrillard idea about the consumer society. The research method in this study is descriptive qualitative analysis. Tupperware’s direct selling business model creates a unique networking society. The persistence of the network model of consumption, grow and develop to answer community needs that move from use value to sign value. The sign perpetuates the consumption through a variety of economic behavior. Economic behavior which appears is not only about how the network is formed in the consumer society, but also closely related to the formation stimulant consumerism to maintain the existence of this group.

In the Soviet theory, the complex and confusing path that administrative justice overcame in its formation is conditionally divided into four stages. Based on the periodization identified by Soviet scientists (A.V. Absalyamov, V. I. Piunova, and D. M. Chechot) the authors conclude that the institute under consideration was more or less developed in 1961-1993. The administrative justice of the second half of the 20th century has a relatively high quality characteristic, because, first, at the fourth stage of the Soviet period, the right to judicial appeal was assigned to a wider range of persons and was provided for in the most important spheres of society. Second, with the adoption in 1961 of The Foundations of the civil procedure in the USSR and Union republics disputes between the bodies of Soviet power and citizens were separated from other cases and formed a separate category. These two circumstances determined the choice of the research topic.The authors analyze the normative legal acts adopted in the post-war years, which regulated public-legal relations. Familiarization with the theory of the Soviet administrative justice and the practice of its application in the second half of the 20th century is of interest to the former Union Republic, namely the Kazakh SSR. The paper describes the Soviet way of development and improvement of the institute of administrative justice in the period from the end of the Great Patriotic War to the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The purpose of the work is to study the public legal relations that arose between Soviet citizens and the Soviet state in the person of its bodies and institutions, as well as officials and employees.

Soviet reality and emigrant surveys THE SOVIET INTERVIEW PROJECT (SIP) interviewed 2793 former Soviet citizens in the early 1980s who had emigrated to the United States from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. A second wave of 700 interviews was conducted in the mid-1980s. SIP respondents were from medium to large cities from European republics and hence represent a sample of urban, European residents. Some 86% of SIP respondents were Jewish according to some definition of the term.1 SIP respondents answered questions on their life in the Soviet Union (in the last normal period of life in the Soviet Union) prior to the disruptions caused by the decision to emigrate. The German Soviet Interview Project (GSIP) interviewed 516 former Soviet citizens who had emigrated to the Federal Republic between 1979 and 1983. GSIP respondents also answered questions about their last period of normal life in the Soviet Union prior to the emigration decision. GSIP respondents are of German background who qualified as 'late emigrants' (Spataussiedler) according to Soviet and German definitions. GSIP respondents were from both urban and rural areas, and the majority lived outside the European USSR. The two sets of interviews with former Soviet citizens shed perspective light on living conditions in the Soviet Union. Both surveys focus on life in the Soviet Union and not on the processes of emigration or assimilation. Although the SIP and GSIP surveys were conducted roughly five years apart, modal respondents in both surveys cite 1977-78 as their last period of normal life in the Soviet Union. Hence, the interviews describe life in the Soviet Union as the Brezhnev era was drawing to a close-the period now referred to in the Soviet press as the 'period of stagnation' (period zastoya). The late Brezhnev era provides the essential baseline for understanding the perestroika phenomenon. Presumably, the Soviet leadership had its own perceptions of economic conditions during this period and was becoming increasingly influenced by public concerns about deteriorating economic conditions. Evaluating economic performance during the period of stagnation continues to be difficult because biased performance indicators continued to be generated by the statistical

This article examines the attitude of the Russian society toward the Russian-Chinese relations in general and toward the One Belt — One Road (OBOR) megaproject in particular. An analysis is made of the Russian scientific, official and expert discourse, based on methods of critical geopolitics, as well as investigating the grass-roots ideas concerning China and the OBOR Initiative. It is found that expert discourse is dominated by negative and neutral analytical publications, whereas official discourse and grass-rout ideas have a clearly positive connotation, although occasionally with some wariness. The critical nature of expert discourse in respect of China reflects distrust Chinese politics from Russian specialists, associated with the lack of comparability of the demographic and economic potentials of the two countries and the ambitions of the Chinese leadership. It is established that in foreign scientific circles, the Russian strategy of the “turn to the East” is perceived skeptically. The authors do not believe in a real possibility that Chinese and Russian projects can be reconciled in the implementation of the strategic interests of the Russian Federation, referring to the different interests of the two countries. It is noted that the fears of unequal competition are encouraged by the approach of the Chinese side approach to joint projects focused primarily on the needs of China, as well as by the obvious difference in the interests of the two States. The main obstacle to a further development of bilateral cooperation is a credibility gap on either side of the Russian-Chinese border. Field studies in the Russian-Chinese borderland in Zabaikalskii krai confirmed this conclusion, showing that at the regional and local level the Russian-Chinese relations are sharply asymmetric.

The Transmission of Political Critique after 9/11: “A New Form of Desperation”?

Ecolinguistics: language and ecology delivers an overall view and a critical approach on ecolinguistic studies. This book is an excellent resource to students, researchers, linguists and those working in the area of discourse analysis as well as ecology. The book claims presenting a news course for ecolinguistics including a framework for understanding the theory of ecolinguistics, exploration of consumerism, and discourse analysis of texts of different types. In reviewing this book, the principal criteria included content, organization, theories and reference sources. Arran Stibbe, the author of the book, is a Reader in ecological Linguistics at the University of Gloucestershire where he teaches ecolinguisstics, discourse analysis, ethics and language and communication for leadership. His research and teaching examines how language encodes the stories we live by, and shapes how we see ourselves and our relationship with other animals and the earth. This involves linguistic analysis of a wide range of discourses, from advertising which encourages people to buy unnecessary and ecologically damaging products, to the inspirational language of nature writing.

This dissertation looks at automobile in Germany between 1933 and 1974 as a symbol of national identification. It deals with the perception of cars in the public opinion and how this perception was influenced by the construction of a national identity. The political symbolism of the automobile reveals two aspects in the national identity of Germany that were greatly influcenced by NS-Ideology and which persisted well into the 50’s. First the concept of modernization based on mass consumption and economic participation of broad parts of the population, revealing the contours of a consumer society along racial terms. And secondly the idea of a particular German way into the modern era, which was being contrasted with the “American Way of Life”. In this context the German automobile became the symbol of a specific usefulness which was regarded to be a German virtue.

For sociologists and social scientists, contemporary global society has entered into the phase that is labelled as advanced capitalism, advanced industrialism, information era and post-modernity. Consumer society is a kind of characteristic feature of this phase and an ideological force underlies the global development trends. This paper has discussed the development of consumer society and its implication for social well-being. Social well-being is symbolically measured in consumer society; people’s manifested well-being is determined by consumption of industrial commodities or objects. Social well-being is again linked to the notion of ‘need’ and different standards of life define ‘need’ differently. Marcuse (1964) differentiated between true needs and false needs; false need causes variation of standard of life and objective well-being. Consumer society shows greater interest in mass production and freedom of consumption. Technological advancement particularly Web.20 (Advancement of WWW) during the beginning of 21st Century reshaped the service sectors of the world. India has become a part of global consumer society that is not a desired gain for its large weaker sections. Socio-historical inequalities like caste and class still remind us of the reality of social ill-being though affluent sections were able to attain objective well-being. Launching of Reliance Jio (Offering unlimited internet data plan at cheaper price) in 2007 marked the beginning of new digital life and mass consumption among Indian people, as it created a new service industry in the fields of food, cloth, aestheticism, entertainment and many more. But social well-being is not yet ensured; still there are large sections of the population striving for basic needs like quality education and quality healthcare. Until capability equality is achieved, social well-being in Indian society will be a utopia.

Introduction. The problem of corruption continues to be relevant in Russia. More research is needed to effectively combat corruption. Studying corruption in the context of general issues of contemporary Russian politics is particularly relevant in this regard . Purpose. The article is aimed at disclosing contradictions associated with perceiving corruption by the population of Russia and its representation in the official discourse. Methods. The author uses the following methods: analysis of statistical data, analysis of the results of public opinion polls, and discourse analysis. Scientific novelty of the research. The article demonstrates the discrepancy between citizens’ perceptions of corruption and their attitudes regarding power and the political regime. The author shows the inconsistency of the official discourse on corruption in Russia. Results. The article reveals the peculiarities of perceiving corruption by the population of Russia. Citizens’ perceptions of corruption correlate with their attitudes towards power and political regime. The author shows the key features of depicting corruption in the official discourse. Conclusions. Widespread perceptions of high levels of corruption have little impact on public support for the Russian political regime. In the mass consciousness, there is no understanding of the connection between corruption, an ineffective economy and a low standard of the population’s living. Corruption is not a significant factor in protest moods, although many causes of social discontent are somehow related to corruption. Reflections of corruption in official discourse are incomplete and internally inconsistent. The approaches to combating corruption proclaimed in the official discourse are not fully implemented in the current anti-corruption policy.