Political Responsibility Research Articles

How to Spark Joy: Strategies of Depoliticization in Platform’s Corporate Social Initiatives

Despite social media companies’ public commitments to do good, they regularly face international criticism. This article explores how platforms engage in corporate public relations campaigns to negotiate social and political responsibilities. Through a qualitative analysis of the values promoted in the social initiative TikTok for Good, I show how TikTok promotes messages that amplify positivity, minimize negativity, and focus on individual well-being, while consistently assigning responsibility to other actors. Together, these strategies allow TikTok to symbolically empower users while maintaining control. I conceptualize these strategies that downplay and distance a company from conflicts associated with struggles over power as depoliticization by platforms. This study highlights platform companies’ soft forms of governance and demonstrates how the analysis of platform values allows researchers to cut through the strategic vagueness of claims to do good.

Political Loyalty, Justice, and Trust

The Qur’ān emphasizes many virtues, including the ethics of covenant, justice, community trust, and institutional loyalty. In the Qur’ān, individuals and groups are obliged to uphold moral commitments, honour agreements, and foster justice and trust. On the other hand, Qur’ānic ethics provide an opportunity for repentance and behaviour modification for individuals who have violated the trust of others. Because Qur’ānic political ethics view moral responsibility for righteousness and self-redemption as remedies to betrayal rather than imposing punishment as the only option, it is conceivable to argue that Qur’ānic political ethics can be corrective, providing avenues for change for the treacherous. This article examines the sixteen instances of the root kh-w-n (to betray), in the Qur’ān and provides a contextualized, theme-based ethical analysis of each verse. It seeks to define the Qur’ānic corpus on betrayal (kh-w-n) and classify the latter into political betrayal, betrayal of justice, and betrayal of trust. It is concluded that this corpus describes betrayal as a consequence of a lack of moral responsibility.

International and legal regulation of the application of satisfaction as a form of political responsibility of states

The paper attempts to determine the principles of international legal regulation of the application of satisfaction as a form of political responsibility in international law. Theoretical provisions regarding the international legal regulation of the application of satisfaction as one of the forms of political responsibility according to international law are analyzed. Four forms of satisfaction were analyzed, which were derived by the famous researcher Patrick Dumberry from the University of Ottawa: The first - the responsible state simply apologized or officially expressed regret for committing an illegal act; The second - the state punished the representative or person responsible for the act; The third is when a judicial body makes a statement about the illegality of an action taken by the state. The fourth is monetary satisfaction. Satisfaction may be accompanied by symbolic material compensation for moral damage. The draft articles on the responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts developed by the UN International Law Commission (adopted by UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/56/83) were analysed. Thus, it is determined that the forms of compensation (reparation) are restitution, compensation and satisfaction: both separately and in combination (Article 34). Article 37 of the Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts of 2001 deals with satisfaction as a form of compensation for damages, which refers to the first type of satisfaction mentioned above. The practice of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations regarding ordinary satisfaction was considered - the case "Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro" (2007), the case "Rainbow Warrior", the case "Corfu Channel", the case "Armed activities on the territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda)" . An example of the implementation of extraordinary satisfaction in international law is considered - the Declaration on the Defeat of Germany and the Decision of the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference. Based on the presented material, it was concluded that the application of satisfaction is confirmed by international judicial practice, in particular, by examples of declarative statements. The decisions of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations on the award of satisfaction are widely accepted, to some extent because the condemnation of an internationally wrongful act by an authoritative third party aims to achieve a balance between the interests of the parties in a particular case, on the one hand, and the fundamental interests of the international community, on the other.

In‐Between Child and World: Educational Responsibility with and against Arendt

AbstractA key aspect of the educator's responsibility as understood by Hannah Arendt is its dual character. Educators are responsible for both the life and development of the child and the continuance of the world, as Arendt puts it in “The Crisis in Education.” Moreover, these aspects of responsibility are in tension with each other. Arendt's own accounts of responsibility in her political writings are, in a similar way, riddled with tension. What should we conclude from this about the nature of educational responsibility? To address this question, Julien Kloeg and Liesbeth Noordegraaf‐Eelens first reconstruct the meaning of responsibility in Arendt's political writings. They find a broad distinction between political responsibility and personal responsibility: the former consists in contributing to a community (by extension, the world), and the latter in the “two‐in‐one” of silent self‐dialogue. While political responsibility is close to Arendt's description of the responsibility of the educator (for the continuance of the world), personal responsibility does not find an obvious home in her educational thought. From this ambiguous situation of education and Arendt's own theme of the “in‐between” arises the possibility of introducing a concept of educational responsibility that further develops Arendt's position. Kloeg and Noordegraaf‐Eelens's concept of educational responsibility suggests a theory and practice of navigating tensions between conflicting commitments. In their view, this is both an appropriate extension and reform of Arendt's educational work and an insight that does justice to the practical situation of educators in the modern world.

Rethinking Responsibility for Mitigating Climate Change Harm: Advocating Remedial Responsibility

ABSTRACT Global climate change poses an urgent crisis that requires immediate action. However, conceptualizing human responsibility for mitigating the harm caused by climate change has proved challenging. I assess traditional concepts of moral responsibility and political responsibility for structural injustice and demonstrate that both have notable shortcomings. Building upon the limitations of these concepts, I establish five criteria that a responsibility concept must fulfill to be both effective and fair in mitigating the harm of climate change. Guided by these criteria, I propose remedial responsibility as a more appropriate concept that better meets these requirements.

Response to Focus Issue

ABSTRACTBarnett responds to three articles that put the thought of Søren Kierkegaard in conversation with modern popular media. He argues that each of these pieces demonstrates that Kierkegaard's criticism of the burgeoning free press remains relevant today, particularly in the areas of journalistic practice, mental health, and political responsibility. At the same time, however, Barnett wonders if the radical nature of the Dane's critique has been fully considered. For Kierkegaard, in other words, it is not just that popular media have flaws in need of correction; it is that the media constitute “the evil principle in the modern world.”

Sayyid Qutb's Interpretations: A Focus on Political Concepts

Sayyid Qutb's thinking influenced many Islamic scholars. His book, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an, is the greatest work and influential among the world's Muslim community. This study aims to identify Sayyid Qutb's interpretation, especially political verses in Fi Zilal al-Qur'an, and describe the meaning of politics from his perspective. Establishing an Islamic state is crucial for the implementation of sharia, as political power is necessary for its implementation. Furthermore, it is crucial to understand the correct methods of interpreting Qur'anic verses from modern exegetes. We employ a qualitative approach in our writing, concentrating on library research and gathering information from diverse sources of literature. The approach used is multidisciplinary, encompassing interpretive, historical, and sociological perspectives. The study utilizes primary data, specifically the book Fi Zilal al-Qur'an, as well as secondary data, which includes materials related to Fi Zilal al-Qur'an and sources that can support this writing. The research reveals that Sayyid Qutb employed the tahlili method to interpret the Islamic political verses. Subsequently, Sayyid Qutb's interpretation of politics posits that the government bears the political responsibility of managing and overseeing the affairs of Muslims. Next, the first principle of reign Islam emphasizes who is worthy to be called ulul amri, followed by upholding Allah’s law and, finally, being fair to all human groups.

The politics of corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from China

While businesses fluctuate with politics, firms try to find ways to deal with uncertainty. We investigate how political incentives shape corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting activities using the setting of China. Based on a sample of non-mandatory CSR disclosure firms, we find that firms experiencing political turnover are more inclined to issue CSR reports voluntarily, supporting the political connection demand hypothesis rather than the political cost hypothesis. Such effects are more prominent when the political turnover is unexpected and successors are non-locals. Meanwhile, non-SOEs, not politically connected enterprises, and firms located in low government efficiency areas are more likely to issue CSR reports. Further analysis shows that these firms disclosed CSR information experiencing political turnover fail to ensure the reporting quality but can obtain resources in the future. Overall, we highlight that CSR disclosure is a way for firms to establish political connections with politicians. Our study sheds light on the determinants of voluntary CSR disclosure from a political perspective.

Flood vulnerability assessment in rural and urban informal settlements: case study of Karonga District and Lilongwe City in Malawi

Flood vulnerability assessment (FVA) informs the disaster risk reduction and preparedness process in both rural and urban areas. However, many flood-vulnerable regions like Malawi still lack FVA supporting frameworks in all phases (pre-trans-post disaster). Partly, this is attributed to lack of the evidence-based studies to inform the processes. This study was therefore aimed at assessing households’ flood vulnerability (HFV) in rural and urban informal areas of Malawi, using case studies of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kilupula of Karonga District (KD) and Mtandire Ward in Lilongwe City (LC). A household survey was used to collect data from a sample of 545 household participants. Vulnerability was explored through a combination of underlying vulnerability factors (UVFs)-physical-social-economic-environmental and cultural with vulnerability components (VCs)-exposure-susceptibility and resilience. The UVFs and VCs were agglomerated using binomial multiple logit regression model. Variance inflation factor (VIF) was used to check the multicollinearity of variables in the regression model. HFV was determined based on the flood vulnerability index (FVI). The data were analysed using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), artificial neural network (ANN) and STATA. The results reveal a total average score of high vulnerability (0.62) and moderate vulnerability (0.52) on MCA in T/A Kilupula of Karonga District and Mtandire Ward of Lilongwe City respectively. The FVI revealed very high vulnerability on enviroexposure factors (EEFs) (0.9\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$0.9$$\\end{document}) in LC and(0.8\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$(0.8$$\\end{document}) in KD, followed by ecoresilience factors (ERFs) (0.8) in KD and(0.6\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$(0.6$$\\end{document}) in LC and physioexposure factors (PEFs) (0.5)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$0.5)$$\\end{document} in LC besides 0.6 in KD for the combined UVFs and VCs. The study concludes that the determinants of households’ flood vulnerability are place settlement, low-risk knowledge, communication accessibility, lack of early warning systems, and limited access to income of household heads. The study recommends that an FVA framework should be applied to strengthen the political, legal, social, and economic responsibilities of government for building the resilience of communities and supporting planning and decision-making processes in flood risk management.

The Frozen Conflict in Western Sahara and the Forgotten Question of Sahrawi

Western Sahara’s “frozen conflict” is one of the major and forgotten issues that, so far, the international community could not settle. This article aims to shed light on the historical events and the political responsibilities that led to a protracted stalemate over the Sahrawi question. The paper retraces the historical roots of the claims over the disputed territory by the Polisario Front, as the representative of the Sahrawi people, over the disputed territory, and analyzes their foundations under the light of international law.

Catch me if you can: how episodic and thematic multimodal news frames shape policy support by stimulating visual attention and responsibility attributions

Using media coverage of animal welfare as an example, this study examines how the perception of multimodal news frames shapes recipients’ visual attention, attributions of responsibility, emotions, and policy support. To investigate the mechanisms of multimodal-episodic versus thematic framing, we combined eye-tracking measurements with a pre-post survey experiment in which 143 participants were randomly assigned to an episodic or a thematic multimodal framing condition. The results show that episodic multimodal frames are viewed longer than thematic frames, elicit stronger individual and political responsibility attributions, and increase political support for stricter animal-welfare laws. Understanding multimodal framing as a multistep process, a serial mediation model reveals that episodic frames affect viewing time, which leads to stronger attributions of political responsibility and, in turn, stronger policy support. Our results support the idea of a complex interplay between subsequent stages of information perception and processing within a multimodal framing process.

AI and the future of IR: Disentangling flesh-and-blood, institutional, and synthetic moral agency in world politics

AbstractIntelligent machines – from automated robots to algorithmic systems – can create images and poetry, steer our preferences, aid decision making, and kill. Our perception of their capacities, relative autonomy, and moral status will profoundly affect not only how we interpret and address practical problems in world politics over the next 50 years but also how we prescribe and evaluate individual and state responses. In this article, I argue that we must analyse this emerging synthetic agency in order to effectively navigate – and theorise – the future of world politics. I begin by outlining the ways that agency has been under-theorised within the discipline of International Relations (IR) and suggest that artificial intelligence (AI) disrupts prevailing conceptions. I then examine how individual human beings and formal organisations – purposive actors with which IR is already familiar – qualify as moral agents, or bearers of duties, and explore what criteria intelligent machines would need to meet to also qualify. After demonstrating that synthetic agents currently lack the ‘reflexive autonomy’ required for moral agency, I turn to the context of war to illustrate how insights drawn from this comparative analysis counter our tendency to elide different manifestations of moral agency in ways that erode crucial notions of responsibility in world politics.

Unveiling the role of political education for political participation in China

It is a well-known fact that political education plays a pivotal role in shaping informed, engaged, and responsible citizens in a country. The empirical literature lacks the exploration of the impact of political education on political participation in addition to political efficacy and social media usage. This study investigates the interconnected relationship between political education, social media usage, political efficacy, and political participation in China. Drawing upon a sample of 843 participants across various regions, this research explores the extent to which these factors influence political participation within the Chinese context by applying the structural equation modelling for empirical results and establishing a positive association between political education and political participation. Furthermore, the mediating role of social media and political efficacy is uncovered in relationship of political education and political participation in China. It is suggested to emphasize and invest in comprehensive political education programs through colleges, universities and social media that promote critical thinking, information literacy, and political responsibility for the well-being of the Chinese society.

Nafplion Blues: Prison Stories. The Prisons of Nafplion as Brutal Scenographies

The prison sites and their timeless presence in the city of Nafplion were the starting point for two workshops for students of the University of the Peloponnese. The result of these workshops titled Nafplion Blues: Prison Stories, was presented in the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2023 as part of the Greek student exhibition. Students of the module “Performance and space” created the site-specific performance Listen-Watch-Βe Silent in which performers and spectators participated in a pilgrimage procession to former prison sites in Nafplion. The module “Social Theatre” was held at the Agricultural Prison of Tiryns. After a series of theatre workshops, the inmates and the students presented the devised performance The Journeys of the Potato, from Andes to Tiryns: Legends and Truths to only two spectators and the prison guards. In the present paper, the authors focus on the use of the prison – in the present and in the past – as performance space. Prisons function as the absolute dystopian places that oscillate between private and public space: from the Agricultural Prison of Tiryns’ hermetically sealed, private space to the open, public space of the historic city of Nafplion, where the buildings that once housed prisons are scattered throughout the city. In this type of found spaces, the spectators and the performers are moved both emotionally and physically. Through the brutality emitted by the real substance of the sites, the “scenographic city” reveals stories and traumas, while inviting spectators and creators to assume social and political responsibility. Keywords: performance space, found space, public space, private space, site-specific performance, social theatre.

Design and Politics: Graphic Design in Socialist Countries

As a part of the big culture and a component of the superstructure, design art and politics interact and restrict each other. Design art has always been created and accepted in the political society, while design art often unconsciously assumes the political responsibility of transforming the society and becomes a political expression. Politics plays an important role in the evolution and development of design art. The influence of design art on politics comes from the acceptability of the meaning contained in symbol products. With the rapid development of contemporary media and information technology, the richness and diversity of communication media make the global cultural communication break through the technical limitations. While communication is smoother and visual culture is unprecedentedly popular, cross-cultural, cross-language and cross-ethnic language symbols are designed. New and more influential political and cultural systems are emerging at a faster pace.

The miraculous end of political hope

ABSTRACT Two common criticisms of hope in politics are that 1) it tacitly assumes an exploded metaphysical idea of historical progress and that 2) it thereby relieves humans of political responsibility and even robs them of agency altogether. The criticisms have a common source in hope’s religious and particularly Christian conceptual history in the West. This article argues for a secular understanding of political hope as empowering collective agency that retains the utopian impulse expressed in religion yet which neither holds a monological account of historical change nor a supernatural agent of its effectuation. It does so by reconstructing the notions of transcendence, impossibility, the miraculous, and redemption in a secular manner in light of the thought of Ernst Bloch, Hannah Arendt, Václav Havel, and Walter Benjamin, among others.

Ethisch overleg op regionaal niveau: ervaringen van het forum voor ethische reflectie van de regio Île-de-France

Ethics consultation at a regional level: the experience of the forum for ethical reflection of the Île-de-France region Referring to experiences in healthcare ethics, we seek to better understand and assume our moral and political responsibilities in a democratic society. One of the reference points is ‘Espace éthique AP-PH’, the ethics forum of the public hospital network in Paris. Its creation in 1995 dovetailed with the upheavals of the ‘AIDS years’, in which the patient’s voice increasingly penetrated public life and spurred political mobilisation. In 2014, it was expanded into the Île-de-France region’s forum for ethical reflection. The forum for ethical reflection is a place where the art of dialogue and discussion is elevated to a normative level, which is indispensable for understanding, deliberation and joint endorsement of an ethical approach that implies responsibility. France now has 15 regional forums for ethical reflection that contribute to the development of a genuine ethical culture among healthcare providers and the general public in their region.

The relationships between land tenure, cattle production, and climate change – A systematic literature review

Climate change is one of humanity’s greatest concerns because of its environmental, economic, and social impacts. Our study addresses land tenure (expressed through agrarian reforms) and traditional livestock farming (countered by practices such as silvopastoral systems) among the numerous causes of this phenomenon. To do this, we conducted a systematic literature review, based on empirical evidence from six countries in the Global South: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The results reveal that agrarian reforms have contributed to deforestation but have not yielded positive effects such as improved access to credit for adopting sustainability practices. Furthermore, the implementation of silvopastoral systems faces common challenges, such as a lack of technical support and financial resources, thus hindering the mitigation of impacts from traditional livestock farming, particularly deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. The historical perspective allows us to comprehend political responsibilities across the Global South when it comes to climate change. This assertion does not negate ongoing efforts to increase sustainability but underscores the need to overcome systemic challenges such as inadequate state control in certain territories or mismanagement of public resources.

More than sports? A study of Norwegians’ opinions on sports’ social and political responsibilities

Sports are criticised for their lack of social and political responsibility. In this study, I ask people about the extent to which they think it is important that sports should be sociopolitically responsible regarding ten issues: health, social communities, gender, racism, integration of minorities, sexual orientation, social inequality, disabilities, doping, and the environment. Next, I investigate how people’s opinions vary according to their social backgrounds, affiliation with sports, and political party voting. The study is based on a survey of a representative sample of Norwegians (N = 1,131, age 18–79, response rate 26%). I analyse data using simple relative frequencies and logistic regression models. I build a theoretical framework based on various issues’ closeness to sports’ and how politically contested they are. I found that many Norwegians think it is ‘very important’ for sports to be sociopolitically responsible − 80% (most) saying this for doping and 47% (least) doing so for the environment. Women demand more sociopolitical responsibility for sports than men, and those affiliated with sports state that health and social relations should be issues for sports and political orientations influence the view on politically contested issues. The support for sports being sociopolitically responsible could indicate a potential for sports to be involved in social and political issues. How sports organisations meet these challenges will influence sports’ capacity to recruit volunteers, political legitimacy, and ability to attract commercial sponsors.

ESG rating and labor income share: Firm-level evidence

This study investigates the relationship between ESG (environmental, social, and governance) ratings and labor share at the firm level. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2011 to 2021, we find a significantly positive relationship between the two. Furthermore, we document that state-owned enterprises do not demonstrate a strong sense of political and social responsibility in their employee recruitment projects, while companies with high ESG ratings in East China could increase their labor share due to less stringent financial constraints. Finally, the employment-creation effect of ESG ratings is one of the important channels for improving labor share. Considering the increasing awareness of ESG concepts and the boom in ESG investing, our findings hold significant relevance for employees, directors, investors, and public policymakers.