Ideological Responses Research Articles

The issue with the ‘far-right talking points’: the empirical challenges of assessing far-right ecologism among environmental activists

ABSTRACT The mainstreaming of the far-right worldwide has immense societal effects, one of the main being the normalization of ‘far-right talking points’, quotidian expressions of far-right worldviews existing well beyond the political proponents of this ideology. Our piece tries to explore the effects of far-right talking points in the environmental domain. We do so by utilizing the theoretical concept of microfascism, the everyday expressions and practices of societal exclusion and the desire for authoritarianism. More specifically, we test the extent to which far-right ecologism, the ideological response of the far right to an array of environmental problems, operates as a set of arguments existing beyond the representatives of this ideology. To do so, we conducted a mixed-methods study, consisting of a quantitative survey of 106 respondents, followed up by 27 semi-structured interviews conducted with environmental activists in Serbia, a dynamic and nascent settings for environmental activism. Our findings illustrate the methodological issue of capturing ideological positioning through diverse methods but more fundamentally, the broader implications of far-right talking points in the environmental domain.

Testing Theories of Threat, Individual Difference, and Ideology: Little Evidence of Personality-Based Individual Differences in Ideological Responses to Threat

Recent attempts to establish the veracity of the conservative shift hypothesis have failed to find supportive evidence. Instead, this work yields inconsistent results and reveals considerable individual differences in ideological responses to ecological threats. In two studies, we build upon this work in two ways. First, we test the conservative shift hypothesis across five ecological threats: unemployment, immigration, racial diversity, COVID-19, and violent crime, more than has been examined previously. Second, we test whether, in line with political personality theories, openness to experience and conscientiousness predict who is likely to shift to the right in the face of threat and who is not. In one nationally representative panel study from the Netherlands ( N = 11,189) and one nationally representative repeated cross-sectional study in the United States ( N = 9,040), we find minimal support for the conservative shift hypothesis and theories that predict personality-based individual differences in ideological responses to threat.

Party responsiveness over time: From left-right to issue specific dimensions

Parties’ ideological responsiveness to public opinion is a key finding in the party politics literature. Leveraging the longitudinal coverage of public opinion and party position data, this research note shows that findings of left-right ideological responsiveness are limited to a specific time period. We find that since the mid-1990s, left-right shifts in public opinion are no longer significantly associated with party position changes on the same dimension. By examining over-time changes in responsiveness on more specific issue dimensions, we also uncover that at about the same time, a pattern of responsiveness on issues related to nationalism/immigration has emerged. These findings highlight the need to move beyond a focus on a single left-right dimension for studying public opinion and party behavior.

Toward a Generalizable Understanding of Rightist Movements: Utilizing the Revolutionary Right’s Value Wars in Iran (1995–2009) as a Case Study

Bringing rightist movement studies into the Iranian context, this study advances a generalizable understanding of the ideological, moral, and cultural activism of Islamist movements and their rightist counterparts. While numerous studies have discussed the economic explanation of rightist movements, I integrate Islamist movements in the Muslim world and rightist movements in the West to develop a generalizable cultural and moral explanation of rightist movements. Value and ideological conflicts, as well as moral outrage, drive this integrated understanding of rightist movements. The rise of innovative and contentious forms of millennialism in Iran—especially the increasing salience of the Jamkaran mosque, the rise of new media outlets and millennial discourses, and pertinent policies—provide evidence for proposing this generalizable understanding. I argue that the rise of performative contentions surrounding millennialism, known as Mahdaviat, within the pro-regime revolutionary rightist movement in Iran was Islamists’ ideological response to liberal threat perceptions. These threat perceptions were activated before the liberal Reform era (1997–2005). After the ascent of Ahmadinejad to power in 2005, ideological millennialism became the dominant discursive field in Iran’s state politics. Drawing on narratives of prominent Islamist figures and media personalities in Iran and events surrounding Mahdaviat, this paper advances a generalizable argument of the moral and cultural explanation of rightist movements.

Seeds for New Beginnings? Ecological Uncertainty, Blurry Ideology, and Speculative Design at the Universitas Symposium, 1972

Abstract In 1972, designer Emilio Ambasz (b. 1943) organized the symposium “The Universitas Project” at MoMA in New York City. The issue at stake was how the field of design should tackle the possibly irresolvable societal, political, and ecological problems of post-industrial society. Ambasz proposed a new design approach, which he named design as a mode of thought, with the aim of building a new research-education institution for design that could tackle the wicked problems ahead. In order to articulate his proposal, Ambasz turned to the speculative realm: discursive design critique, metaphysical cybernetics, design fiction, and storytelling. By critically engaging with some of the participants’ conference presentations, the article first discusses how the concept of the environment was reconfigured by the emerging ecological catastrophe. Then the article discusses ideological responses to the Universitas Project to show how the seemingly different ideological positions between French so-called “radical left” and American “right-wing technocrats” were grounded in the same; all-encompassing uncertainty and a strive for open-endedness. Finally, the article analyses Ambasz’s design fiction writing and the speculative nature of the Universitas and thereby identifies the Universitas as a rare moment in the history of design in which design stopped engaging in the status quo and turned towards a speculative future for finding seeds for new beginnings. The article re-visits the Universitas in order to support a presentist argument: that speculation, discursive design critique, and storytelling might not be sufficient methods on their own to tackle the forthcoming accelerating wicked uncertainties that lie ahead.

Balancing unity and diversity? Shifting state policies and the curricular portrayal of China’s minority nationalities

ABSTRACT This article analyses the implications of recent policy changes for the portrayal of minority nationalities in the latest China’s history textbooks published around 2017. We argue that ideological responses to the fierce ethnic clashes of the late 2000s and the leadership transition since 2012 have generated increasingly contradictory official discourses on the relationship between Chinese identity and cultural diversity, which are manifested in the textbooks. On the one hand, policies and textbooks still appear to endorse a multi-minzu, inclusive understanding of nationhood and Chinese history. On the other hand, an increasing emphasis on nationalist discourses celebrating the Han culture and achievements reinforces assimilationist narratives based on a monolithic and homogenising vision of Chinese nationhood. We argue that such tensions reflect conflicts over contradictory understandings of Chineseness that have intensified since 2008–2009, and that the increasing marginalisation in textbooks of non-Han groups may contribute to further exacerbating problems in the handling of inter-minzu relations.

From labelling weakness to liberatory praxis: a new theory of vulnerability for disaster studies

PurposeVulnerability is a label and a concept that is widely used in disaster studies. To date the meaning has been quite limited and implied “weakness”, with criticisms arising periodically but not halting vulnerability's reproduction. In this paper, the authors offer a new theory of vulnerability for the field, suggesting that complicating the concept can create space for liberatory discourse and organising.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw from diverse understandings of vulnerability to generate new conceptual ground for disaster scholars. The authors explore the relationships between power and agency and autonomy and social hierarchy with regards to how vulnerability is considered within neoliberal democracies. The authors also outline ideological responses and the political actions that follow.FindingsThis exploration is underpinned by dissatisfaction with the way that vulnerability has thus far been theorised in disaster studies. Using the analytical framings provided, the authors hope that others will build on the idea that so-called “vulnerable” people, working in solidarity and using intersecting frameworks of anti-racism, anti-colonialism and anti-capitalism, can undermine the risk-creating norms of the neoliberal state.Originality/valueThe authors argue that the dominant framing of vulnerability in disaster studies – and usage of the vulnerability paradigm – provides political traction for neoliberal social projects, based on notions of humanitarianism. The authors make this claim as a challenge to the authors and the authors' peers to maintain reflexive scholarship and search for liberatory potential, not only in vulnerability but in other concepts that have become normative.

In God We Trust: Community and Immunity in American Religions during COVID-19

From the systemic issues of race and class division to political partisanship and religious identity, the pandemic has affected many aspects of American social and political life. I interrogate the role that religions have played in communal identity-making during the pandemic, and how such identities shaped ideological responses, particularly in the US, stymying public health efforts to stop, or at least significantly slow, the spread of COVID-19. Drawing from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera as a historical case study, I use Garcia Marquez’s depiction of religion’s identity-making power during the cholera pandemic depicted in the novel as a comparison by which to understand current experiences of white Evangelical Christians in America during the current COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those who reject risk-minimizing practices such as mask wearing, quarantining, and vaccination. Drawing both from representations of Roberto Esposito’s theory of immunity and community, and from Lauren Berlant’s concept of “cruel optimism”, as well as sociological understandings of religion and identity, I argue that the boundary-making practices of religion and of communal and national identity are related to the complex and often contradictory set of moral practices that led many white Evangelicals to disregard public health policies surrounding COVID-19. A concurrent analysis of Garcia Marquez’s novel and of current events will allow me to explore this phenomenon, as Lauren Berlant would put it, both through the historically affective aesthetic and through the affective present.

Disrupting Three Prominent Racialized Trauma Tropes

School-based actors can uphold racialized systems and White supremacy through the racialized youth trauma narratives they reproduce. With respect to the growing movement to better support trauma-exposed youth inside school contexts, it is imperative that school-based actors avoid perpetuating deficit views of youth of color, who are disproportionately overexposed to traumatic experiences. Drawing on the youth trauma literature and personal experiences with educators, this essay outlines three common trauma tropes: (a) the hearing gunshots trope, (b) the socioeconomic myth trope, and (c) the what happened to them trope. These narratives are viewed as tropes because they function as rhetorical tools that ignite White-racialized ideological responses and perpetuate the racial status quo. In closing, the author shares four recommendations to better support trauma-exposed youth and provides empirical pathways for researchers to further study the race-trauma nexus.

<숙향전>에 나타난 숙향의 고통과 해소

This paper focused on the hardships of Sookhyang among the factors that were popular with readers of the time, and examined the causes of Sookhyang's complaints of pain and how it is being resolved. In addition, the meaning that can be derived in the process of hardship and resolution was identified from an receptive point of view. The pain of Sookhyang is expressed in both the heavenly and terrestrial systems. Sukhyang recalls the fact of the banishment from heaven in the heavenly world and restores her identity, but expresses her distress after hearing the warning of the continuation of her asceticism due to the theory of ceiling. At this time, the hardships experienced by Sookhyang are mental, and the fact that it cannot be avoided even if you know the ominous future in advance creates a sense of helplessness, fear, and fear. However, when returning to the ground, the pain is relieved by simply living the reality at hand, forgetting the predictions of heavenly beings. The terrestrial community complains of pain while experiencing separation from parents and the absence of a consignment object. The reason why he said it was not the "absence of parents" but the "absence of a consignment object" was because it was a matter of survival that he considered important while repeatedly describing hardships. Sookhyang showed an aspect of actively acting not to lose it when an object to be entrusted and a stable foundation are established even if there are no parents. The assistants in the work played a role in relieving anxiety caused by the absence of an object to be entrusted. On the other hand, Sookhyang, who has experienced separation from her parents, feels confused at the anode of resentment and understanding, and eventually expresses filial piety to ease her parents' abandonment responsibility. It can be said that the words and writings given to him by the bandit and grandmother Mago influenced the expression of the filial piety of Sookhyang. This is because the thief mentioned the urgency of the situation in which he had no choice but to abandon his hometown and the sad heart of his parents, and grandmother Mago pointed out the impossibility of birth without parents to Sookhyang, who introduced himself as "a beggar without original parents." The meanings that can be examined in the process of pain and relief are summarized into two. First, the point where memory in the heavenly world is cut off is that it controls the tempo of pain by providing relief not only to the long-cherished incense but also to the reader in that it does not allow them to know the future of fear in advance. The pain-relieving process of the absence of an object to be entrusted and the emergence of assistants also contributed to the provision of tension and relaxation to the characters and readers. The second is that both realistic and ideological responses to hardships are revealed, which led to empathy and achievement of lessons.

“Hominids with an Infected Brain” Engage in Viral Debate: Agamben and Žižek on the Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Human Relationships

“Hominids with an Infected Brain” Engage in Viral Debate: Agamben and Žižek on the Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Human Relationships

Defining Conjunto Quantitatively: Classical and Modernist Styles in a Texas-Mexican Genre

Defining <i>Conjunto</i> Quantitatively: Classical and Modernist Styles in a Texas-Mexican Genre

Ideological responses to the breaking of COVID-19 social distancing recommendations.

COVID-19 has plagued the globe since January 2020, infecting millions and claiming the lives of several hundreds of thousands (at the time of writing). Despite this, many individuals have ignored public health guidance and continued to socialize in groups. Emergent work has highlighted the potential role that ideology plays in such behavior, and judgements of it. In response to this contemporary cultural phenomenon, we tested whether judgements of those allegedly flouting the guidance on social distancing were influenced by an interaction between the ideologies of those providing judgements and those allegedly breaking the rules. Our data suggest that judgements of those flouting social distancing guidance are influenced by ideology in a symmetrical way. That is, both liberals and conservatives condemn outgroup flouting more than ingroup flouting. We discuss this finding in the context of theoretical work into ideological symmetries, and the implications of growing ideological polarization in contemporary Western democracies.

The role of international academic mobility in strengthening the efficiency of “soft power” policy of modern Russia

The authors of the article address the problem of practical implementation of “soft power” in modern Russian foreign policy. The aim of the research was to understand the role of academic mobility in the development of a positive image of Russia in the world. In this regard, the authors emphasize the inexpediency of understanding science and education as a means of propaganda and ideological response to foreign opponents. Academic mobility is one of the effective channels that allows not only to share the results of research and educational activities, but also, through interpersonal communication in professional communities, to destroy the existing negative stereotypes about Russia. The article provides experience of DAAD as one of the best practices in organizing academic exchanges, and emphasizes the possibility of adapting this experience for Russia. Opposing the statement of J. Nay, German experience has shown the effectiveness of active participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in supporting international cooperation in education and research. Taking into account the diversity of regions in the Russian Federation, the authors came to the conclusion that it is necessary to enhance cross-border cooperation with neighboring regions following the policy of “soft power”. As an example, the authors present the experience of North Caucasus Federal University in cooperation with scientific and educational institutions of the South Caucasus. The border position of the North Caucasus region, common historical past of the peoples and common Caucasian identity make NCFU an effective tool for strengthening Russia’s influence in the region, which traditionally becomes an arena of international rivalry. The article also presents the experience of implementing joint projects with European partners, analyzes current trends in the development of European Higher Education Area, and shows the role of academic mobility in the formation of a sustainable, cohesive and peaceful Europe. In this regard, the authors conclude that universities make a significant contribution to the formation of a positive image of Russia as a country with ethnic, cultural, historical, religious and geographical diversity.

ВКЛАД ИМПЕРАТРИЦЫ МАРИИ ФЕДОРОВНЫ В ОРГАНИЗАЦИЮ РУССКОГО ПРЕДСТАВИТЕЛЬСТВА НА ВСЕМИРНОЙ КОЛУМБИЙСКОЙ ВЫСТАВКЕ В ЧИКАГО 1893Г.

The purpose of the article is to consider the special participation of the women's labor departments and the departments of the Empress Maria’s institutions in the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 in the context of Russian–American relations. The ideological task of both expositions was to refute the Americans' ideas about the backwardness of Russia and the despotism of autocratic power. The authors note the negative impact on the image of Russia of the American movement «For a Free Russia» and the campaign of George Kennan, author of the «Siberian series» of articles about political exiles. The tasks were fulfilled by the substantive content of the expositions of the exhibition and the participation of delegates of the women's labor departments and the Empress Maria’s department in public and scientific events. As a result, the authors draw a conclusion that the wide participation and recognized success of the representation of women's labor departments and the Empress Maria's institutions at the World’s Exposition give grounds to consider them as an ideological response to American critics.

Assessing Local “Diversity”: A Nationally Representative Analysis

The meanings and definition of “diversity” can change across different applications and contexts, but many such meanings have implications for racial difference and racial ideology in the United States. We provide a nationally representative analysis of how everyday Americans assess “diversity” in their own communities. We test how county-level racial, religious, economic, and political heterogeneity predict the view that one lives in a highly diverse locale; we also test how individual-level factors predict such a view. Among the four indicators of local difference, racial difference is most strongly and consistently associated with Americans’ assessments of local diversity. Individual-level factors do not weaken this relationship; rather, local context and individual-level factors conjointly predict assessments of local diversity. Despite the flexible, hyperinclusive nature of diversity discourse, local racial difference is salient in Americans’ assessments of “diversity” in their communities, and this pattern is not simply a product of individual-level factors. Our findings illustrate another dimension of the flexible-yet-racialized nature of diversity discourse in the United States. We also show that Americans are particularly aware of racial difference in their locale, which has implications for social and ideological responses to changing communities and a changing nation.

Education laboratories in 'education for all' in Russia: from Lenin to Putin

Development of education for all is a symbolic nexus/chain of policy agenda reforms in education towards its accessibility for each societal member. In Russia, the formation of this agenda was rooted in strong Soviet ideological doctrine, based on egalitarian values and hegemony of proletarian humanism. Ideological response to the needs of industrialization in its primary policy agenda reforms, performed strong structural barriers to the basic right to education for children with disabilities in the public schooling system. The undertaken research appeals to the history of formation of education for all, dealing with social education legalization with two time frames: Soviet and Post-Soviet; methodology of the research has qualitative approach, aiming to make text analysis (as a primary source) of the main state policy documents, concerning social justice and equity, educational laws, governmental orders and other documents, regulating education for children with disabilities retrospectively and contemporary. Secondary data, such as statistics, case data, etc., were collected from the historic and current sources, such as peer reviewed publications, governmental statistics, state archives, etc. The research questions of the study are: what are the main features of the policy agenda for children with disabilities as a nexus of reforms of ‘education for all’ retrospectively and contemporary? What structural challenges occurred and what curriculum was created and implemented cross the time? What science perspective/s in special pedagogy emerged and transited? Research findings are combined in two big themes: Desired contours of the future and a state order for experimentation and Unfinished experimentation: disrupting the pattern. The themes are supported by the sub-themes. Both of the themes are discussed for the understanding of special education inputs in education for all.[1] The author

Constructing police as first responders: a critical rhetorical archetype analysis

ABSTRACT Utilizing Critical Race theory, this essay constitutes an ideological critique of recent mediated discourses that construct police officers as “heroic first responders.” Through the rhetorical archetype, this analysis reveals how the discursive shift to describe police as “heroic first responders” operates as a covert, ideological response to Black Lives Matter and the mediated depictions of Black trauma via law enforcement. Elucidated through the analysis of recent media artifacts that celebrate first responders, this project demonstrates how the amalgamation of police officers, emergency medical technicians, and firefighters diverts attention away from the whiteness of law enforcement and demands for racial justice. As temporary and cultural, the rhetorical archetype of “police as heroic first responders” dictates the erasure of Black voice, perpetuates an oppressive ideology of whiteness, silences dissent, and propagates the celebration of police officers in the wake of demands for police reform.

Huashan Rock Art: Presentation of a Chinese Cultural Heritage Site in the Absence of Tourism Infrastructure

The Huashan Rock Art site is a cultural tourism site of considerable importance in the development of domestic tourism focusing on heritage and history. As a previously peripheral part of Chinese society, Huashan has a significant role in explaining to Chinese people the extent and complexity of their history. Yet development of the research site has been hampered by the lack of tourism infrastructure (e.g. managerial capacity, accommodation, transportation, integrated services and so forth) and the private sector is not well-positioned to make up for the shortfall. The situation compares unfavourably with other destinations in neighbouring provinces. Under these circumstances, a program of qualitative research was launched using in-depth personal interviews to investigate the means by which Huashan Rock Art site is being presented and promoted currently and how can that presentation lead to an emotional and ideological response. It was found that there is some interaction between the type and nature of presentation and the success of the site in terms of destination management and this interaction is explored.

“I’m just here to enjoy the Ponies”: My Little Pony, Bronies and the limits of feminist intent

ABSTRACT The unexpected adult, primarily male, audience of the children’s series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, known as Bronies, has been the subject of extensive commentary for their apparent violation of gender norms. Drawing from a qualitative survey of a 2915 Bronies we argue that the fandom is deceptively heterogenous. In particular, we explore the attitudes of members of the Brony Fandom to the feminist messages of the series, the feminism of series’ creator Lauren Faust, and whether these messages are perceived as impactful. Our paper argues that even within distinctive, close-knit fan communities interpretations interpretive and ideological responses to a media text and context vary significantly. Further, we argue that interpretations of fan objects appears primarily determined by preexisting attitudes. Ultimately, we find that fans utilize a number of rhetorical techniques to reframe media text’s messages, producer’s intent, and other audience member’s responses to fit their preexisting belief systems.