Political Society Research Articles

From Kingdom to Colony: Framing the English Conquest of Ireland

Abstract This article offers a new way of framing the English conquest of Ireland by focusing on the development of a kingdom of Ireland both before and after the invasion of 1169. It thus spans the historiographical divides that tend to partition Irish history at the point of the English invasion, and which also frequently disaggregate the study of British and Irish history. By exploring the complexity of Irish political society and culture before 1169, one can see how King Henry II sought to use its structures to facilitate his annexation of ‘the kingdom of Ireland’ in 1171–2. This included the Church, which offered Henry’s dynasty the ideological support and legitimacy it had once provided for Gaelic kings of Ireland. Paying attention to the numerous references to the ‘kingdom of Ireland’ in the records of the English government also highlights the processes by which Henry’s son John and his successors sought to Anglicise this kingdom by imposing England’s laws, institutions and political culture upon it. Crucially, ultimate control of these structures remained with the administration in England, so in this way Ireland was transformed from a kingdom to a colony. Recognising this liminal period in the development of Anglo-Ireland provides context for the emerging colonial community in Ireland, as well as strategies of resistance and compromise employed by the Gaelic Irish under English rule.

Polite Social Practices in 18th-century Scotland

This article explores the role and influence of elite women in 18th-century Scotland, focusing on their engagement with polite social practices during the Scottish Enlightenment. The Scottish Enlightenment, characterized by its integration of various disciplines and emphasis on both theoretical and practical knowledge, was a period of significant cultural intellectual development. Central to this movement was the concept of politeness, which shaped the social interactions of the elite and played a crucial role in their personal and societal advancement. Elite women were integral to the social fabric of this era, participating in mixed-gender activities and shaping the cultural landscape through their involvement in social gatherings, education, and print culture. Despite being formally excluded from public office and direct political power, these women exercised significant influence through social networks, family ties, and patronage, subtly navigating the political and intellectual currents of their time. The study highlights how these women, while adhering to socially accepted norms, found ways to circumvent formal exclusions, thereby contributing to the broader cultural and political life of Scotland. Their participation in polite sociability not only facilitated their integration into elite society but also played a vital role in the broader program of social improvement that characterized the Scottish Enlightenment. This article underscores the complex interplay between gender, power, and politics, revealing how elite women helped shape “The Golden Age” of Scotland through their engagement in polite social practices.

Evaluation of influential factors on energy system optimisation

Energy system analysis is gaining more importance in political decisions, science, and society, thus, the basis of interpreting the results is increasingly being questioned. Different approaches have been used in energy system models: Scenario variations, changing base assumptions or sensitivity analyses. A direct comparison of these approaches aims to show that the influence on the results is comparable for all and thus needs to be considered alongside each other. Therefore, this paper uses energy system optimisation within a case study on Germany. It confirms that all approaches greatly influence the results and are thus suitable for discussing uncertainties. Among other things, the sole change of the reference weather year can have a comparable influence on the emissions just like the specification of an entirely different mobility scenario (+44% and +56% respectively). However, the target function (total costs) is significantly more influenced by scenarios. Among the evaluated parameters, the investment costs of renewable technologies and the potential of renewable feedstock affect the system the most. In summary, all three methods provide important insights into the optimisation model and should therefore be used together for validation, discussion and design of energy system models.

The Relationship between the Knowledge Economy and Marketing: a Bibliometric Analysis

Knowledge is a commodity of the knowledge economy, produced, disseminated and consumed in this environment. It should be noted that the main enablers, the political system and society, and the main consumers, the economy and society, are highlighted. Moreover, various marketing tools can be applied to promote a knowledge-based economy and ensure lifelong learning. The selection of marketing solutions is contingent upon the degree to which society is prepared to transition to a knowledge-based economy. Thus, a need exists to investigate the relationship between the knowledge economy and marketing. The aim of this research is: by applying the bibliometric analysis method, to analyse the relationship between the knowledge economy and marketing. The analysis conducted revealed that the knowledge economy is a relevant scientific field. Topic trend analysis revealed a shift in studies. From 2016 to date, the emphasis has been on decision-making, manufacturing, sustainability and sustainable development. The focus of studies has shifted from the United States and the European Union to China. This suggests future research directions, such as research into the application of the knowledge economy in different settings and different sectors, and research into the relationship between the knowledge economy and sustainability issues.

Newton’s disputes with Hooke and Leibniz: Institutional, scientific and personal aspects.

Abstract This paper discusses the often fractious personal and academic relationships that Isaac Newton enjoyed with Robert Hooke and Gottfried Leibniz. It suggests that their disagreements operated at several levels: intellectual, methodological, institutional and personal. The disputes were related to a number of pre-existing rules of behaviour, notably those governing the correct ways to assign intellectual property and to manage disputes relating to it. Although these procedural codes concerned intellectual issues, they drew in part on etiquette in polite or genteel society more generally. The disputes were to some extent made possible by the appearance of new academies and societies, which provided new fora for disseminating results and for managing disagreements between scholars over extended distances. The presence of these intellectual institutions meant that there were novel aspects to the rules that governed these contests and indeed entirely new rules. Indeed, it was the way that the combatants attempted to get their preferred rules of engagement accepted more generally by others and the ways in which they manipulated them that conditioned the nature of their disagreements. More broadly, the capacity to engage in such contests was shaped by national pride, the ability to attract powerful support for respective causes and finally by the personalities of the individuals involved, which are perhaps best revealed in these situations.

Quiet Quitting as Compensatory Respect: Meaningful Work, Recognition, and the Entrepreneurial Ethic

AbstractThis paper employs Axel Honneth’s recognition theory to interpret ‘quiet quitting’ – the practice of limiting work efforts to contracted requirements – as a strategic response by workers facing misrecognition in their work environment. Honneth argues that misrecognition in any one of three social spheres (the family, political society, and the workplace) constitutes disrespect and causes psychological harm. While Honneth contends that experiences of disrespect tend to motivate collective “struggles for recognition,” we suggest that quiet quitters present an alternative response to disrespect, individually seeking recognition in other social spheres rather than engaging in collective action. Further, we draw on Honneth to suggest that the contemporary “entrepreneurial” work ethic – the widespread expectation that workers invest emotionally in their work role – can in practice undermine workplace recognition, contributing to quiet quitters’ compensatory emphasis on recognitive relations outside of work. This recognition-theoretical approach extends current discussions around quiet quitting and yields valuable insights for management theory and practice regarding the critical role of genuine employee recognition in promoting individual well-being and meaningful work experiences.

Liberal or Conservative? Analysing the Legacy of Abe's Women's Advancement Policy

Prime Minister Abe’s bold policy proposals focused on women attracted significant attention and various responses. However, going back to the fundamentals, LDP is a conservative political party, and Abe himself identifies as a conservative. During the backlash era, he attacked gender equality and emphasised traditional family values and patriotism. This paper reexamines the implications of the women's policies implemented under his leadership from a gender perspective. It sheds light on the deeply entrenched and complex gender inequality regimes that prevail in Japanese society. It becomes evident that Abe's administration carefully avoided any explicit reference to gender equality, skilfully incorporating recommendations such as promoting three-generation households, while consistently depicting women as operating under the guidance of men, signifying that the government's underlying “traditional” values had not changed. Women's Advancement policy, in essence, implies the deep entrenchment of a Japanese-style patriarchal, vertical society made up of political parties, administration, corporations, and society at large, where women are granted opportunities to succeed through assimilation into a gendered world involving subordination to men.

The Taliban Are Coming! How Intra-Oligarchic Conflict Proliferates Computational Propaganda in Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study examines online propaganda against fifty-seven former employees of the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, KPK). This propaganda, which centered on false allegations that these employees were radical Muslims similar to the Taliban, was used as a pretext to fire them after they had failed a controversial compulsory civics test. Using Gramscian concepts of civil society and the political economy of communication, this study argues that the rise of computational propaganda in Indonesia reflects fundamental conflicts over state power and economic resources within the spheres of civil and political society. The campaign to portray KPK employees as Taliban members was the digital corollary of a political struggle among oligarchic elites over control of the anti-corruption agency as an instrument to advance their political aims. This article showcases how intra-oligarchic struggles have shaped the formation of public opinion about the KPK, a key aspect of reform, and examines their longstanding attempt to enforce oligarchic hegemony. It challenges existing studies on computational propaganda that foreground the nature of the state, or regime type, and the state’s adaptability to information technology.

The War Against Ukraine and the EU: Facing New Realities, edited by Claudia Wiesner and Michèle Knodt. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. XIII, 230 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35040-5.

This book discusses the multiple implications of the war against Ukraine for the EU political system. It draws on a number of different authors to analyse the main dimensions of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent large-scale war, which impact the global order and EU foreign policy. In the context of war and Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU needs to position itself in a changing world order, internal and external challenges to liberal democracy and the development of its strategic autonomy. In various chapters of the book, the development and strengthening of strategic partnership and friendship with Ukraine is considered by the EU as one of the central foreign policy priorities. Without the support of the Ukrainian partner, it is difficult for the EU to achieve positive results in European politics and play the role of an influential power in the international arena. In this context, various authors note that only the formation of political and economic ties between the EU and Ukraine will be the optimal way out of the full-scale war and crisis that Ukraine has found itself in. Only the combination of opportunities and efforts will allow the Ukrainian political elite and society to eventually stand on par with leading European countries.

Rituals of Colonial Memory: Crafting Imperial Nostalgia in Republican Italy

The latest historiographical trends are revealing how the end of colonialism has influenced the political and social configuration of former metropolitan centres. In particular, the return of former colonial settlers has raised a series of issues that have resonated in European political debates and societies. In Italy, these processes were shaped by a peculiar decolonization process, coinciding with the equally tortuous transition from fascism to the Republic. Drawing on recent historiography on the return of colonial settlers, and expanding the chronological span and methodological scope of previous works through original archival sources, my intervention aims to reconstruct how imperial nostalgia became a political resource exploited by both repatriate associations and conservative political factions. Although similar to contemporaneous cases, in Italy colonial commemorative practices had peculiarities linked to the role of Catholicism and to the fact that far right and even neo-fascist movements exploited the demands of repatriates for their own political benefit. This article thus broadens the historiographical understanding concerning the decline of Italy's empire and deepens the analysis of its lasting impacts on the politics and society of Republican Italy.

Modernization of the Constitutional Norma in the Context of Modern Civilizational Development of Russia

The paper provides the author’s point of view regarding modernization of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in the context of civilizational development of Russia. The paper examines the interrelation between the content of the constitutional norm and dynamically changing conditions of its operation and determines the reasons for the transformation of the nature of constitutional regulation. In the authors’ opinion, strengthening of the civilizational foundations of Russian society in the face of growing contradictions in the world political arena and in the global economy is possible only by referring to the rich historical experience of domestic state and legal construction, as well as by improving constitutional regulation aimed at affirming and strengthening state and national sovereignty. Modernization of the Constitution of the Russian Federation by introducing amendments in 2020 created the prerequisites for further sustainable development of the country’s political system and society as a whole.

Pakistan's national COVID-19 response: lessons from an emergent response to the pandemic.

In 2020, Pakistan faced the formidable challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic with an existing yet disjointed healthcare infrastructure, that included by over 18,000 public and an estimated 75,000 private health facilities and some elements of an epidemic surveillance and response system. This descriptive study examines how Pakistan developed a COVID-19 response, driven by establishing a central coordination and decision-making mechanism to overcome these systemic challenges. The study is based on interviews and interactions of the many actors in the response by the authors, who also participated in nearly all proceedings of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and many of the National Coordination Committee (NCC). This information is supplemented by reviewing documents, reports, news items, media and social media, and journal articles. The study highlights the critical role of political arrangement, where the NCC, comprising of ministers, bureaucrats, and military personnel, facilitated federal and provincial integration. The NCC found resources and set policy. Its direction was implemented by the NCOC, a top-down yet inclusive platform, integrated political, military, and civil society actors, to ensure cohesive decision-making and implementation. It provided technical guidance, harnessed data for strategic decisions and held implementers accountable. At its peak, the NCOC boasted nearly 300 personnel, including high-ranking military officers, a stark contrast to the limited staffing in most ministries. In addition, the response's success is attributed to the perception of COVID-19 as an existential threat, leading to unprecedented collaboration and decisive actions that were enforced authoritatively. Pakistan's experience offers valuable insights for proactive management of health emergencies in resource-limited settings. It underscores the necessity for inter-sectoral dialog and data-driven policy implementation, especially in the context of political economies where activity-driven governance often overshadows objective-driven policy execution. However, the lessons from the COVID-19 response, including a blueprint for future epidemic responses and lessons for use of data and evidence in developing country health systems, if not institutionalized, risk being lost in the post-pandemic era.

Understanding the Barriers to Prostate Cancer Population-Based Early Detection Programs: The PRAISE-U BEST Survey.

We adapted the Barriers to Effective Screening Tool (BEST) survey to the PCa context. However, it has not been validated in this context. We translated it into all spoken languages in the EU27 and disseminated it to different stakeholders across the EU using a snowballing approach. We received 410 responses from 55 countries, of which 301 (73%) were from the 27 EU MSs. The most represented stakeholder group was urologists (218 (54%)), followed by general practitioners (GPs) (83 (21%)), patient representatives (35 (9%)), policy stakeholders (27 (7%)), researchers (23 (6%)), oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, nurses, and others (16 (4%)) and one industry representative. Among all respondents, 286 (69%) reported the absence of a population-based screening programme, mainly attributed to resource limitations and a lack of political and medical society support. Out of these 286 respondents, 196 (69%) indicated that opportunistic screening is being applied in their country, and 199 (70%) expressed their support for population-based screening programmes (which was highest amongst patient representatives and urologists and lowest amongst GPs and policy stakeholders). The highest scored barriers were lack of political support, insufficient operational resources, and inadequate participation. Suggested solutions to overcome these included awareness campaigns, consensus meetings, political lobbying and European guidelines (to overcome political support barriers), compatible IT systems (to overcome operational barriers), and easy access (to overcome participation barriers). Participants have noted the presence of opportunistic screening, and particularly urologists and patient representatives expressed their support for the establishment of a population-based PCa screening programme. Nevertheless, successful implementation of population-based screening programmes is complex; it requires political and medical society support, operational resources and capacity, awareness campaigns, as well as the development of protocols, guidelines, and legal frameworks.

Arqueología pública y cartografías participativas: institucionalidad y resignificaciones locales del patrimonio arqueológico del Sígsig, Ecuador (2022-2024)

The objective of the article is to identify the perceptions, meanings, and resignifications that the inhabitants of Sígsig canton, Azuay province (Ecuador), assign to archaeological heritage. It also attempts to explain how these ways of understanding and using such heritage come into conflict and friction when managed exclusively within a legal and institutional framework. To analyze the ambiguities arising from the dichotomy between public management and the local populations’ uses and meanings of heritage, this study employs the theoretical frameworks of public archaeology and the methodological approach of participatory cartographies. By analyzing national and local heritage regulations and conducting interviews and mappings with actors from the educational, political, and general society sectors, it is suggested that institutional management views heritage as an identity, historical, and economic resource through tourism. Additionally, this management is characterized by a fiscalizing, regulatory, and sanctioning logic, while the inhabitants understand, incorporate, and use archaeological objects and vestiges in their daily lives. This usage fosters a direct connection with oral traditions, intangible aspects, and, above all, with nature. Thus, frictions were identified between the social and political uses of heritage, which regularly involve themes such as gold, mining, and water, within a framework of collective imaginaries and discourses.

СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЙ ФАКТОР В ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ КУЛЬТУРЕ КЫРГЫЗСТАНА

The article examines the influence of socio-economic factors on the formation of the political culture of civil society in Kyrgyzstan. The study employs comparative analysis, synthesis, and generalization of data from various sources, including statistics and scientific publications. The findings reveal that socio-economic issues such as poverty, unemployment, and social inequality negatively impact the development of political culture and civil society in Kyrgyzstan. Political instability, in turn, slows economic growth and causes material damage to the country. The importance of a comprehensive approach to addressing socio-economic problems and developing democratic institutions is emphasized to foster a mature political culture and active civil society in Kyrgyzstan.

Fichte’s world of wordless lies

ABSTRACT Catholics condemn Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) as a fanatic; he fails to cushion ‘Never lie' with a distinction between venial and mortal sin. But Kant has secular substitutes: lie/mislead, candor/honesty, commission/omission, deception/illusion, discursive/pictorial. Kant weaves these distinctions into a safety net for polite society, business, politics, and religion. Kant's break-away disciple, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) removes this safety net. Any intentional propagation of error suffices for lying. Ditto for refraining to correct a remedial error. Why? Because we all have a duty to perfect each other. This moral development requires rational informed choice. Being misinformed subverts freedom. The medium of misinformation is irrelevant: utterances, silences, pictures, music, dance, private thoughts, telepathy. To Fichte's relief, Kant overcame the temptation to save an innocent man from murder by lying. But Fichte still thought Kant manifested a corrupt mind by merely considering lying!

Dampak Dinasti Politik Terhadap Culture Demokrasi Pancasila di Indonesia

Abstract This article examines the development of political dynasties in Indonesia and their impact on Pancasila democracy. The phenomenon of dynastic politics at the local level, which is increasingly prevalent in various regions of Indonesia, is the background of this discussion. The emergence of politics under this dynasty presents various positive and negative aspects, which reflect the dynamics of the political culture of Indonesian society in politics and democracy. Families maintain power by placing their members in strategic positions in the formal (government) and informal (business or project) sectors. The history of Indonesian governance shows the existence of political dynasties that last for years. If not addressed, these political dynasties can flourish, creating pros and cons amidst the implementation of Pancasila democratic governance. This research aims to explore the implementation of governance in Indonesia and understand how political dynasties affect the development of Pancasila democracy in the country.

Public management in the conditions of European integration and globalization: challenges and prospects

The article reveals the peculiarities of the development of public management in Ukraine in the conditions of European integration and globalization. It has been established that public management is a complex and multifaceted entity as an object of scientific knowledge, the basis of which is a concept based on the close relationship between politics and law, management and power, the political system and society in general, as well as the interaction of society with various elements of social systems. It is noted that there is No. stable, comprehensive and universally recognized formulation of public management in the literature. The definition of public management is approached rather from the standpoint of the actual content of the activity or the forms it can take. It was revealed that the main characteristics of the public management system in each state depend on the state structure, political regime and political culture, functioning of political institutions, electoral system, relations between politicians and civil servants, between authorities and institutions of civil society. It was established that the processes of globalization and integration are especially relevant for the development of the modern period of public management. It is emphasized that an important problem for the domestic management system is the search for effective concepts of public management and their implementation in the modern state-building practice.This issue becomes particularly relevant in view of the fact that, having ratified the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, on the other hand, Ukraine has defined the state policy as such, aimed at bringing the standard of living of Ukrainian citizens closer to European standards, instilling European values in all spheres of functioning of the Ukrainian state and society. It was concluded that European integration and globalization make their own corrections in state management, and now the focus is on ensuring the effective work of public management in the face of European integration and globalization challenges. One of the main options for the effectiveness of public management in those conditions is the full consolidation of efforts and mutual understanding at all its levels, which is now extremely important, the establishment of close cooperation with society.

Hegemony of Independent Campus Learning (Antonio Gramsci's Hegemony Study in the Indonesia Education System)

Freire once revealed how education could liberate with the essence of "free"; truly "free". The existence of opportunities, challenges and demands continues to grow, especially for outsider students whose numbers continue to increase from year to year and need to be reviewed by the government. Through the MBKM, the government as the highest political society holder becomes an agent capable of making elements within it to submit and obey any policy made. The objective of the research is to explore the MBKM program that is proposed as a way out of the educational problem that has long been considered not to be able to meet the needs of the post-graduate student industry and titles as a Bachelor's. The goal of the researchers is to critically uncover and analyze the intellectual agents in the education system that dominate the element of the College through the practice of MBKM. The research method uses qualitative descriptive methods by borrowing the concept of Gramsci that produces descriptive data in the form of written and oral words of people and observable behavior. The results of the research show that the MBKM is an extension of the political practice of the state that is playing its role of power. MBKM is a neo-liberalization of education because the role of the state is increasingly diminishing and replacing with the private role. Students are no longer expected to contribute to the self-development or intellectuality of the nation, but what is important is to serve the private.

Why do business leaders, senior politicians and civil servants move to leading positions in EU civil society? Exploring capital gains through boundary crossing

ABSTRACT Why do business leaders, senior politicians and civil servants move to leading positions in EU civil society? The article addresses this question through thirteen unique life-work history interviews with leaders of some of the most prominent EU civil society organisations (CSOs). Inspired by sociological approaches in EU civil society research, the article combines insights from the literature on EU lobbying and CSO professionalisation with the Bourdieusian concept of capital to explore the specific social resources that EU civil society and individual elite actors gain through the process of boundary crossing. It shows how EU civil society gains predominantly cultural capital (organisational and procedural knowledge), social capital (professional and personal networks), and symbolic capital (status and publicity), while individual elite actors gain primarily a form of civil society-specific symbolic capital that is associated with the alleged goodness of civil society and the act of ‘doing good’ that might facilitate policy influence. The article provides original, first-hand insights into how the civil society sector seeks to strike a balance between passion and professionalism and raises important normative questions about the integration of elites across economic, political, and civil society fields in Brussels.