Political Subjects Research Articles

14세기 프랑스 필사본 ‘Roman de Fauvel’ 연구

Roman de Fauvel conveys the turbulent politics of France during the reign of Philip IV (1268-1314) through poetry, music and painting. This thesis discusses how such political themes were expressed in paintings in Roman de Fauvel. Before discussing the paintings, a discussion of the two authors of Roman de Fauvel will examine the context in which they were created and their intentions. Because the manuscript was created from the perspective of Roman de Fauvel's alignment with political forces and criticism of his time. Based on this understanding, the painting techniques used in Roman de Fauvel to convey the intent of the work include the choice of colors according to the characters, Fauvel's imitation of the French royal family, and the use of anti-biographical techniques, which expose the fake as a clumsy imitation of the real thing. Through this study, we hope to get closer to the achievements of Roman de Fauvel, who achieved a complete fusion of literature, music, and painting.

Political Urban and Rural Studies: Introducing the Issue

The increase in the political subjectivity of non-state actors, primarily megacities, has long been articulated, but still has not received sufficient understanding. The ongoing processes of urbanization and globalization, on the one hand, and the processes of deurbanization and deglobalization, clearly manifested during the pandemic, give rise to many complex tasks of political management that require new approaches both in practice and in the theory of politics. The editorial board presents the current issue of the journal devoted to analysing the problems of the city and the countryside from a political perspective, stating political urban and rural studies as a subdiscipline of political science taking its first steps.

POULANTZAS's PARADIGM: RECONCEPTUALIZING POWER AND CLASS IN THE CAPITALIST STATE

This study argues that Nicos Poulantzas presents nuanced understanding of the state and its mechanisms in capitalist societies. Unlike conventional Marxist perspectives that view the state merely as a tool of oppression for the ruling class, Poulantzas's approach recognizes the potential for popular participation in socialist transformation. His standpoint emphasizes the state as a site of class struggle and highlights its role in establishing, maintaining, and perpetuating the relations of production. It stresses the significance of developing new political subjectivities to challenge the existing structures of power and domination. Poulantzas acknowledges complexities inherent in the state within capitalist societies and rejects deterministic interpretations of its function. He focuses on the various forms of exploitation experienced by subordinate classes across economic, political, and ideological domains. His ideas offer valuable insights into influence of state on socio-economic structures, contributing to debates about the role and purpose of the state. Study offered significant information in reaching conclusion and extracting recommendations.

Contentious heritage spaces in post-communist Bulgaria: Contesting two monuments in Sofia

This article examines public attitudes towards communist monuments as part of the contentious heritage of totalitarianism in post-communist Bulgaria from the 1990s to the present. Its main goals are, first, to analyse the place of political monuments as political subjects of social change during the Bulgarian transition from a totalitarian to a democratic society; second, to study the monuments as ‘realms of memory’ within the changes of collective memory in the post-communist period. The research combines the approaches of political (social) anthropology, cultural anthropology and historical geography. Exploring political subcultures, it investigates ex-communist and anti-communist activities regarding the future of totalitarian monuments. The research is focused on two urban landmarks in Sofia: the Mausoleum of the communist leader Georgi Dimitrov, and the Monument to the Soviet Army.

Settling environmental citizenship: The presentation of self in conservation encounters

AbstractFar from a settled fact, environmental citizenship is always in the making. In this article, we analyze how the settlers of a protected area in Patagonia, Argentina, seek to legitimize their claims for natural resources and territory through strategic representations of themselves. The self‐presentation molds not only their own political subjects, but also the public authority of the governing offices. We argue that the legitimization of public institutions is partial and fragmented, allowing settlers to legitimize their claims and become active producers of environmental citizenship. The conservation encounters reproduce social practices, cultural symbols, and governmental artifacts. In this way, they contribute to the affirmation of state authority and the hegemony of the nation‐state through their reproduction of the Patagonian imaginaries, while also curbing the sphere of influence of any particular institution.

J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy: A Departure from Harry Potter

This research paper explores the thematic evolution in J.K. Rowling's body of work, with a focus on her standalone novel, The Casual Vacancy, in relation to her globally acclaimed Harry Potter series. While The Casual Vacancy overtly delves into mature themes of social inequality, politics, and community, this study posits that these themes are subtly yet consistently present in the Harry Potter series as well. Drawing contrasts and parallels, the paper analyzes the depiction of social hierarchies, power dynamics, and community structures in both works. Through a comprehensive examination of narrative voice, character motivations, and overarching themes, this paper highlights Rowling’s consistent engagement with societal challenges, irrespective of the setting or target audience. The study concludes by recognizing Rowling’s multifaceted writing approach and her profound ability to resonate with readers on pressing societal topics.

Humanitarian aid under sanctions: From the problem statement to the search for solutions

In the context of a sharp aggravation of interstate rivalry, an increase in natural disasters and the emergence of new epidemiological challenges, the problem of timely provision of humanitarian assistance to the population of the most affected countries and regions becomes especially acute. Its solution, already fraught with a whole complex of objective economic, political and other difficulties, is further complicated by the existing practice of imposing unilateral and multilateral or international sanctions, which have become one of the key instruments of the leading subjects of world politics. And although formally sanctions regimes are provided with humanitarian exceptions designed to minimize their negative consequences for the population of target countries, their imposition inevitably results in new obstacles to the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need. The paper identifies the key challenges associated with provision of humanitarian aid under the existing sanctions restrictions, and assesses the prospects for addressing them in the contemporary context. The first section examines political and academic debates on the negative humanitarian consequences of sanctions and possible ways to overcome them. In particular, the author identifies the logic behind the transition from comprehensive to ‘smart’ sanctions, as well as the specifics of applying humanitarian exceptions. The second section outlines key aspects of the complex disruptive impact of restrictions on humanitarian assistance, including the technical and political barriers faced in the implementation of humanitarian exceptions. Finally, the third section identifies current trends in the use of humanitarian exceptions by the main initiators of restrictive measures. In this context, particular attention is paid to the UN Security Council Resolution 2664, adopted in December 2022, which mandates the inclusion of standardized exemptions in UN sanctions regimes in order to minimize the impact of restrictive measures on the provision of assistance and to alleviate the suffering of those in need. The author concludes that although there still remain possibilities to address the negative humanitarian consequences of sanctions, this requires strong political will on the part of the international community.

A smart city for all citizens: an exploration of children’s participation in Norway’s smartest city

ABSTRACT In recent years, a 'participatory turn' has emerged as a remedy to counter top-down and techno-centric smart city development approaches. While this shift in smart city policies and strategies offers promise, it also presents challenges. This paper scrutinizes the participatory shift within smart city policies and initiatives in Stavanger, Norway, a pioneer and driving force for smart city development in Northern Europe. Using a qualitative case study of the Lervig Smart Park project, with a particular focus on the inclusion of children and youth, we investigate the methods of participation employed and the stages at which children are integrated into the planning process. Our findings underscore the beneficial outcomes of including children and youth in the Lervig Park design process, yet also reveal significant limitations, especially in the perception of children as capable political subjects and the absence of suitable methodological tools for their engagement across planning phases.

Официальная цифровая политическая повестка дня политических лидеров мнения: основные точки пересечения политического дискурса и молодежных предпочтений

The authors examine the official digital political agenda in terms of young people’s perception of the political discourse broadcast by political actors in the online space. Social media contribute to the formation of a new political agenda involving users and political actors. This facilitates the integration of a political subject into the information and news flow, as well as to become a leader of socio-political opinion. The empirical base of the research was the content of the official accounts of D.A. Medvedev, S.S. Sobyanin and S.K. Shoigu (the method of linguistic and discourse analysis of publications, hashtags, photos, videos and feedback in the form of comments and reposts), which constitute the political content of the social platform “VKontakte” and messenger “Telegram” according to the rating of Medialogy for the period from June 1 to June 30, 2023. The empirical base also includes the results of the author’s projective methodology focused on studying of young people’s perception of the digital political agenda. As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that users perceive the digital political agenda in the online space in a non-linear way, reacting to visual and textual pat-terns, but not reproducing a holistic political picture, which is represented by a political subject in their social media.

Beyond the state’s reach? Education and citizen making in China

Purpose This special issue aims to address the complexities and dynamics in contemporary China’s citizen-making processes, with a focus on the educational dimension. Design/methodology/approach The four articles in this special issue present citizen-making processes in both educational and cultural arenas. Based on the rich, first-hand data collected inside and outside China, the researchers revealed the dynamics of the educative processes, as the interplay of different mechanisms produces new understandings of citizenship practice. Findings This special issue sheds light on the rise of new types of citizens, who are emerging at the grassroots level in China, beyond the state’s strict direct regulations, along with the rise of market forces and multicultural communities in Chinese society today. Contributors to this special issue have captured an ongoing change, in that the diversified citizen-making mechanisms are, to a certain extent, mitigating the party-state’s definitive monopoly on forging citizens and are creating new spaces for individuals to develop fresh forms of political subjectivity and citizenship practice. In this sense, we argue for the unpacking of the citizen-making processes in present-day China not only from the lens of state-dominated, top-down initiatives but also from that of participatory, bottom-up initiatives performed by grassroots groups with differentiated socio-economic statuses and cultural traditions. Originality/value This special issue can be regarded as a contribution to the growing field of Chinese citizenship studies, which constitutes an integral part of the unfinished project of citizenship after orientalism.

Defamiliarizing Reality for Mental and Physical Subjection: Rereading Harold Pinter’s The Room and The Dumb Waiter as Political Comedies

While Pinter's earliest plays have been recognized in the modernist history of theatre as comedies of menace and his later plays as political comedies, this article argues that his earliest plays are equally very liable to be interpreted as political comedies. Regardless of their absurdist dramatization of people's helpless exposure to external, unidentifiable threats, a common post-WWII characteristic feature of human experience, I claim that The Room and The Dumb Waiter (both written 1957, staged 1960), two model examples of Pinter's earliest oeuvres, do not simply follow the aesthetic of absurdist theatre to express human futility. The audience's experience of viewing the theatrical performances of both plays in terms of discursive cyclicality or character normality is subverted into one of changeability, strangeness, and contradiction. To foreground the political implications of such revolutionary theatrical experience, Pinter's plays are examined in the light of his unique use of defamiliarization, relying not on Brecht’s traditional techniques of singing, dancing, image-projecting, or captioning, but on a simple, dual technique of image destruction and creation. It consists of divesting characters of their normality and portraying them instead as individuals who identify only with unusual images of place, time, body, and consciousness. Using this special technique of defamiliarization, both plays are examined to reveal Pinter's central political theme of undermining reality for purposes of mental and physical subjections.

“The heat of a multitudinous assembly”: Striking short fiction and the rise of feminist potencia

AbstractThis article considers how a recent wave of Latin American short fiction captures with immediate topicality new forms of transversal political subjectivity engendered by the international feminist reinvention of the strike in the 21st century. Drawing on Verónica Gago's theorization of the political cartography of feminist potencia (power), alongside the work of Silvia Federici, Rita Segato and Sayak Valencia, it considers how the short story form facilitates a strategic recognition of interconnected violences perpetrated against women and feminized bodies, “mapping forms of violence based on their organic connection, without losing sight of the singularity of the production of the nexus between them” (Gago, 2020, p. 58). In particular, the article examines two exemplary short story collections, Cars on Fire (2020) by Mónica Ramón Ríos and Things We Lost in the Fire (2017) by Mariana Enríquez, considering how these writers repurpose the potential for socio‐criticism embedded in the fantastical short story by offering a multi‐focal critique of how patriarchy and gender violence interact with the structural inequalities unleashed by neoliberal capitalism. The article also considers how these riotous collections mediate the transversal fabric of communitarian struggle in feminist imaginaries, drawing narrative energy from the localised proliferation of neighbourhood assemblies and solidarity networks, while speaking to transnational feminist movements more broadly.

Putin: populist, anti-populist, or pseudo-populist?1

ABSTRACT Vladimir Putin’s populism is much contested. There are three research questions. The first is empirical: is Putin a populist, and on what grounds? The second is methodological: can comparative measuring techniques help analyse the presence of populism? The third is theoretical: what (if anything) does the case of this ‘populist icon’ tell us about the populist phenomenon? Four domains of Putin’s politics are analysed: Russia’s support for international populists, Putin’s leadership style, and his leadership ‘strategy’; finally, content analysis is utilized for an in-depth look at the articulation of ideas in Putin’s principal speeches from 1999 to 2023. Putin is not substantively a populist, since the state (not the people) is his central political subject and his ‘populism’ reinforces centralized state authority. Ideationally, he is demotic (people-centrist), but also fundamentally statist, which vitiates this people-centrism. Some populist themes are used instrumentally in foreign policy, but even here the statist impulse predominates. Methodologically, the content analysis works well at showing the limited articulation of populist themes relative to demotic ones. Theoretically, this study is fully consonant with recent movements in populist studies to provide complexity-oriented accounts which avoid reifying and over-emphasizing populism.

A BRIEF STUDY OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ART PRACTICES IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN PAINTINGS

This research paper investigate about the Autobiographical Art Practices in Indian Paintings. The study was undertaken with the purpose of exploring the concept of autobiography, its societal implications, and fostering an understanding of our own identity and humanity by delving into the lives of others from different times and locations. The main objective was to shed light on the nature of self-awareness and our interconnectedness with the human experience. Further, it discussed individuality, which encompasses our perceptions of our personality traits, physical attributes, skills, values, and duties as well as the understanding that we exist as unique beings. And has also shown that practice of autobiographical art can be found in a variety of Indian paintings, which are about protagonist’s journey to share their experiences with the world.Moreover, the subjectivity of arts leads to autobiographical art practices, as subjectivity in Indian art arises from the artist’s personal experience, belief, and values. The autobiography is used to express the artist’s individual perspective on life, culture, and the world around them. Indian artists have continued to explore their subjectivity through their art, often using it to explore themes of identity, politics, and social issues.Further, autobiographical art in India can also be seen as a way for artists to explore their own personal struggles and triumphs, and to share their stories with the world. Furthermore, it also explored the complexities of the Indian diaspora, and to create a dialogue between the artist and a viewer and to create space for dialogue and understanding.

The Power of Oedipus: Michel Foucault with Hannah Arendt

Abstract: It has become increasingly common to draw connections between Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt: there are strong continuities between their respective theories of power, and Foucault and Arendt share an account of modernity and of the entry of biological life into the political sphere. Both thinkers are also immersed in the texts of antiquity and place an analysis of the ancient world at the heart of their thinking about the modern condition. This article explores how their different accounts of Oedipus as a political figure reveal their preoccupations with questions of power and political subjectivity.

Environmental Education as a Catalyst to Teach Students About Their Economy and Politics

This conceptual paper highlights the potential of environmental education to teach students about their economy and politics. It begins by emphasising the significance of environmental education in shaping students' attitudes and behaviours towards environmental issues. The paper explores the link between the environment, economy, and politics and argues that comprehending these connections is essential for students to become informed and engaged citizens. Environmental education can offer a platform for teaching students about the intricacies of the economy and politics, including sustainability, resource allocation, and social justice. The paper draws upon examples from existing environmental education programs and presents strategies for integrating economic and political topics into environmental education curricula. Overall, the paper contends that environmental education can empower students to become informed and active participants in their economy and political systems, contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future.

Exploring Public Discourse About Spent Nuclear Fuel Management on Twitter

Twitter provides a complementary source of information to more traditional mechanisms of data collection of public opinion about technically complex and controversial topics like spent nuclear fuel (SNF) management. In this study, we apply content and network analysis to investigate the discourse surrounding public concerns about SNF management in the United States on Twitter during 2021. We explore two key research questions: (1) What issues do individuals bring up in the messages about SNF on social media platforms like Twitter? and (2) What can we learn from the network structure of online conversations about SNF management on Twitter? The results indicate that tweets about technology, community, health and safety, and legal and political topics consistently outpaced concerns about economic and environmental impacts connected to SNF management on Twitter, emphasizing potential risks more than benefits. This study also found that Twitter users’ conversations about SNF occur in tightly clustered groups of users centered around a small number of accounts. Together, the content and structure of the online discourse offers insight into public attitudes and concerns about SNF management from a variety of sources, providing experts with a baseline analysis of potentially salient issues that can inform communication with public audiences.

Multinational People of Russian Federation (Russian Nation): Discursive Representation of a Political Subject

On the basis of the ‘Strategy of State National Policy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025’, this study examines the semantic and pragmatic features of representing the subject defined by the formula ‘multinational people of the Russian Federation (Russian nation)’, which serves as an actual instrument for expressing state ideology. The relevant attributes of the subject are reconstructed. It is established that the formula realizes the semantics of unity (integrity) at the legal, socio-cultural, and subjective levels. Unity is represented as the assumed state of the subject, acquired through the transformation of its normative, epistemic, and ethical orientations. Regular collocations representing situations causing the relevant attributes of the subject are identified and analyzed, with their implementation being the subject’s normative obligation. The axiological status of the formula is determined as a ‘normative judgment’, expressed through contrast with aberrations identified by lexemes that actualize the semantics of violating unity in political-legal texts. The ideological nature of the formula is demonstrated as a norm of ethical and epistemic nature, implying the subject’s internal non-utilitarian motivation based on its evaluation of unity (integrity) as an ideal and unconditionally true state.

Modeling climate migration: dead ends and new avenues

Understanding and forecasting human mobility in response to climatic and environmental changes has become a subject of substantial political, societal, and academic interest. Quantitative models exploring the relationship between climatic factors and migration patterns have been developed since the early 2000s; however, different models have produced results that are not always consistent with one another or robust enough to provide actionable insights into future dynamics. Here we examine weaknesses of classical methods and identify next-generation approaches with the potential to close existing knowledge gaps. We propose six priorities for the future of climate mobility modeling: (i) the use of non-linear machine-learning rather than linear methods, (ii) the prioritization of explaining the observed data rather than testing statistical significance of predictors, (iii) the consideration of relevant climate impacts rather than temperature- and precipitation-based metrics, (iv) the examination of heterogeneities, including across space and demographic groups rather than aggregated measures, (v) the investigation of temporal migration dynamics rather than essentially spatial patterns, (vi) the use of better calibration data, including disaggregated and within-country flows. Improving both methods and data to accommodate the high complexity and context-specificity of climate mobility will be crucial for establishing the scientific consensus on historical trends and future projections that has eluded the discipline thus far.

Selection and Application of Current Affairs and Politics Materials in Political Classroom Teaching in Senior High School

Based on the practice of political education in high school, this article takes the application of current affairs and politics materials as the starting point, and analyzes and discusses in turn the outstanding value of the proper use of current affairs and politics materials in high school political classroom teaching, the principles that should be adhered to, and the opportunity for scientific introduction. The purpose is to guide more high school political subject teachers to pay attention to current affairs and politics materials, and to use and apply them reasonably.