Plurality Of Viewpoints Research Articles

“Democracy under attack”: Viewpoint and doxa in the coverage of the Jan. 6th, 2021 events at the US Capitol

This paper aims at addressing issues related to the expression of subjectivity in media discourse, and more specifically to highlight the presence of doxa among journalists’ discourse. These issues will be addressed through an analysis of the transcript of the morning broadcast of two radio channels – the public radio channel in France, France Inter, and in French-speaking Belgium, La Première – covering the “attack” on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021. Because it reports an event which was at the same time very politically loaded and unexpected, the journalistic account of this event helps to reveal and question the continuum between facts reporting and the expression of personal opinions, with all the nuances of clear and less clear sharing of subjective viewpoint in between. The paper shows that subjectivity is present under different guises, including attribution, evaluative statements and doxa. The paper then establishes the difference between the plurality of voices and the plurality of viewpoints – a key distinction in the production of information and in the journalistic habitus.

Beyond Fixed Political Models of Religion–State Relations

Some of the dominant academic approaches to Muslim politics continue to assume the centrality of Islam on the question religion’s relationship to the state and the possibility of successful democracy in Muslim-majority states. On the one hand, based on findings from large N-surveys, some scholars have argued that most Muslims in many Muslim-majority states desire a political ‘third model’ that is neither secular nor theocratic. Instead, they want democracy and a public role for shari’a and Islam. However, this literature does not fully explain what such a third model would mean for certain individual rights in practice. It also assumes a normative position that tends to favour one or another version of ‘Islamic’ democracy. On the other hand, some other scholars have argued that one or another form of a secular Muslim democracy is possible. Both views assume that the reinterpretation of religious resources is crucial to achieve the desired ends. This ‘reformist Islam approach’ to Muslim politics does not seriously consider the implications of servicing Islam, even in its more reformist forms, for political ends. Through a combination of theoretical and normative arguments and in-depth interviews conducted in the Maldives, this article argues that the plurality of viewpoints and underlying reasonings for those viewpoints among ordinary people suggest the necessity to move ‘beyond Islam’. As such, an alternative discursive democratisation approach that considers this plurality and takes discourses more neutrally without privileging religious discourses can be more capacious. Instead of fixating on a particular model of the religion–state relationship and a particular type of discourse (e.g., reformist Islamic), a discursive democratisation approach points to democratic possibilities and how the religion–politics and religion–state nexuses may be shaped and reshaped through discourse contestations within public spheres in Muslim-majority states such as the Maldives.

The rules we make that coyotes break

ABSTRACT We used mixed-methods to explore human experiences and motivations towards co-existence with coyotes in the Foothills Parklands of Alberta, Canada. Traditionally agricultural, this is one of Canada’s fastest urbanising landscapes, offering insight into a plurality of viewpoints and feedback loops related to the social construction of and co-existence with coyotes. Invoking theories of place and transgression, we provided a new lens on the problem of human–coyote entanglements. We interviewed 60 respondents (27 males; 33 females) on 48 properties (agricultural = 23; rural residential = 25). We posed closed- and open-ended questions exploring experience, perception, beliefs, sentiments and actions. Selected data were analysed here. Our word analysis neatly depicts the tension surrounding human engagements with coyotes. Respondents articulated critical distances reflecting ‘home place’. When coyotes transgressed the boundaries of the latter, respondents considered this un-natural behaviour or a biosecurity threat punishable by death. Landuse type, gender and prior depredation did not predict coyote killing. However, female respondents appeared more likely to view killing as ‘OK’ after a depredation event. Understanding motivations for killing requires further analysis and is essential to realising co-existence.

The Right Stuff? The Original Double Jay as Site for Youth Counterculture

The Right Stuff? The Original Double Jay as Site for Youth Counterculture

Changing Face of News Media: Implications on Democracy and Governance

In India the liberalisation and expansion of the economy combined with increased education resources has led to the rapidity of expanding markets for the news media. With this the profession of journalism is witnessing drastic and dramatic changes in recent years. A cursory look at the history of media technology indicates that with the advent of every media technology some sort of changes had been taking place in the way journalism was practiced, but the basics of journalism remained more or less the same; the profession was under the full control of the professional journalists. However, the recent developments in the new media technology made profound influences in the way journalism was practiced and conceived. It is not to say that the new media technology is the sole reason for all of this. There were several factors and forces that influenced this upheaval, including the process of globalization. But the major force in this direction of change is the advent of new media technology and its affinity towards democratization. Now even the critics of technological determinism cannot disagree with the fact that the new media technology has been making a tremendous influence on the profession of journalism. Now the profession is undergoing a change towards: deinstitutionalization, democratization, decentralization, to name a few of the changes that we are witnessing in the field. Due to rapid changes in the field of new media technology new forms of journalism are increasingly visible. These new developments and their effects on the journalism raise many professional questions including the conception of news, ethical practices, etc. The consequence may be that there will be new opportunities for plurality of viewpoints. Keeping in view of the above facts, the present paper critically examines the changing face of the news media and their implications on democracy and governance from the post modernist perspective.

Social Norms and Disclosure Policy: Implications from a Comparison of Financial and Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

Recently, pressure from multiple stakeholders regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and activities has resulted in firms' increased effort to measure and report information on numerous environmental and social issues. Disclosure of CSR information has generally been voluntary, and guidelines regarding the measurement and reporting of such information have been developed by stakeholder groups, evolving as a function of social norms. In spite of the apparent plurality of viewpoints contributing to the process, research results indicate that the outcomes seldom reflect the full range of stakeholder concerns, and often reflect only the preferences of dominant corporate interests (see, for example, Archel et al., 2011). Shortcomings in existing reporting and the perceived importance of this information for stakeholder decision making are factors in the call for greater regulation of CSR reporting to facilitate both the existence and comparability of CSR disclosure. While accountability to society requires input by a broad range of stakeholder groups, regulation has traditionally been implemented by a hierarchical governance structure. We examine the historical development of financial and CSR reporting for insight into how the process can include relevant stakeholders while still ensuring adequate disclosure. Based on our analysis, we believe that CSR reporting should be mandatory, but that the specific information content of CSR to be required in CSR reports should be developed by a dialogical process that includes a wide range of stakeholder groups.

Attitudes of social workers and their patients concerning early identification of alcohol-related problems

This qualitative study compared social workers’ and their patients’ attitudes toward screening for alcohol-related problems. Existing studies on attitudes toward alcohol screening have largely been quantitative and have typically been conducted in primary-care settings. The aim of this qualitative research was not to make generalizations from sample to population but to analyze plurality of viewpoints with regard to screening. Social workers (n = 14) and their customers (n = 14) were interviewed. All interviewees were asked to comment on the following statement: It is stigmatizing to ask a client, who is not a heavy drinker, about their alcohol consumption. Both social workers and their patients presented a range of positive, reserved, and negative attitudes towards the statement. Participants in both groups justified their agreement with the statement by referring to the assumption that asking about alcohol consumption implies a suspicion of heavy drinking. Social workers also connected this suspicion to a stereotypical view of social work clients and thought their patients would want to avoid such stigmatization. Reserved attitudes of social workers and their patients were justified from the viewpoint that, even if they personally did not perceive asking about alcohol consumption to be stigmatizing, others might think so. Finally, while justifying their negative attitudes towards the statement, both groups considered asking about alcohol consumption to be an integral part of social work. These findings suggest that social workers and their patients have similar attitudes toward the alcohol screening. Further research is warranted.

A research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy

For many years universities around the world have sought to articulate the nature of the education they offer to their students through a description of the generic qualities and skills their graduates possess. Despite the lengthy history of the rhetoric of such policy claims, universities' endeavours to describe generic attributes of graduates continue to lack a clear theoretical or conceptual base and are characterized by a plurality of view-points. Furthermore, despite extensive funding in some quarters, overall, efforts to foster the development of generic attributes appear to have met with limited success. Recent research has shed some light on this apparent variability in policy and practice. It is apparent that Australian university teachers charged with responsibility for developing students' generic graduate attributes do not share a common understanding of either the nature of these outcomes, or the teaching and learning processes that might facilitate the development of these outcomes. Instead academics hold qualitatively different conceptions of the phenomenon of graduate attributes. This paper considers how the qualitatively different conceptions of graduate attributes identified in this research have been applied to the challenge of revising a university's policy statement specifying the generic attributes of its graduates. The paper outlines the key findings of the research and then describes how the university's revision of its policy statement has built upon this research, adopting a research-led approach to academic development. The resultant two-tiered policy is presented and the key academic development processes associated with the disciplinary contextualization of this framework are considered. The discussion explores some of the implications of this novel approach to structuring a university's policy, in particular, the variation in the relationship between discipline knowledge and generic attributes which was a key feature of the qualitative variation in understandings identified in the research.

The Hezekiah—Sennacherib Narrative as Polyphonic Text*

2 Kings 18—19 is commonly viewed as an incoherent narrative composed of multiple sources, necessitating a diachronic approach. However, this hypothesis is only a heuristic model suggesting we read the pericope in this way. This article instead takes a Bakhtinian approach, viewing 2 Kings 18—19 as a polyphonic composition which accounts for both the disjunctions within the narrative and its unity. Viewed as a dialogue of genres (history-like narrative, direct speech and prophetic oracle) in implicit dialogue, this narrative is `dialogic' as different voices intersect in this pericope, revealing a plurality of viewpoints. A Bakhtinian approach not only allows a fresh exegesis of the narrative but also has implications regarding the composition of the narrative, allowing the Deuteronomist more creativity than is often the case.

Activity theory, cognitive ergonomics and distributed cognition: three views of a transport company

Activity theory, cognitive ergonomics and distributed cognition are three theoretical frameworks used to understand cooperative work settings. In the past, each has used case studies to describe and defend its point of view. However, comparisons are made difficult by the fact that these studies are usually based on different work settings. This paper describes the application of each framework to exactly the same setting. We believe our approach shows the features that are emphasized and those that are ignored in each framework, enabling us to differentiate their relevant questions. We discuss the effects of a theoretical filter on understanding the work setting, the differences in the concept of activity, the tools and interactions between humans and tools, the concept of representation, and we look at how a plurality of viewpoints may broaden any interpretation.

10.1023/A:1005864803564

This article uses Hans Kelsen's theory of a legalsystem to take a fresh look at European Community law,and the relationship between the European Community,its Member States, and international law. It arguesthat the basis of the Community's legal legitimacy isindeterminate, and offers a model to accommodate thatindeterminacy. This model is founded on aconstructivist approach suggested to be particularlyuseful in the EC context. Using this approach, it isargued that the concepts of system, autonomy andsovereignty in the Community can only be understoodthrough the recognition of a plurality of viewpoints,and that it is crucial, in describing the Community,to distinguish between a concept per se and thechoice to adopt that concept.

Value Judgments and World Views in Sexuality Education

This essay argues the need for making distinctions between facts values as subject matter (values as facts) value judgements and world views when addressing the goals and methods of sexuality education. Facts are defined as empirically verifiable but yesterdays facts after new observations can become todays myths. The study of a plurality of behaviors historical contexts and social standards in sexuality education makes values a portion of the factual base which the educator must consider and incorporate. Value judgments are personal and subjective and underlie the selection and treatment of facts in a curriculum. The question is how to incorporate value judgment fairly. Value judgments often reflect world views--coherent bodies of belief which contain fundamental conceptions of self society and the purpose of existence. Since a world view is assumed to constitute reality it is generally not questioned or articulated. The Shornack and Shornack/Scales debate on sex education exemplifies a conflict stemming less from factual sources than from fundamentally divergent world views. Examining such a debate reveals how each side has an opportunity to see its own unreflected assumptions about reality by noting the different metaphysical basis behind the others argument. As with educati on in general sexuality education should aim to develop skills of critical inquiry to understand the hidden assumptions behind values and motivations and to consider how authority in matters of sex is established and changes. Value judgments are an inevitable part of sex education but a fair presentation of a plurality of viewpoints can help students begin to think critically about their own assumptions and to make efforts to forge their own point of view. This should be the primary goal shared by all sexuality educators regardless of their own specific value judgments or world views.