National Myths

National Myths
Author: Gérard Bouchard
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2013-05-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136221107

Myths are a major, universal sociological mechanism which is still rather poorly understood Demonstrates the relevance and the potential of myths as a research area Provides a timely shift in the usual focus of national studies, which typically centers on ethnicity, immigration, integration, citizenship, cultural diversity and nationalism Demonstrates the nature and the functioning of myths in contemporary societies, as a nexus of meanings that feed identities, memory and utopias Contributions from international authors

The Media in Britain

The Media in Britain
Author: Jeremy Tunstall
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1983
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780231058162

British newspapers -- The Times, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, and Financial Times -- have long been considered among the best in the world, and the BBC has become the world's most venerated television and radio organization. In this book Jeremy Tunstall, author of The Media are American, surveys British media since 1945, including television, radio, films, newspapers, and magazines, with the purpose of studying how they operate and what the future holds for them. In the course of the book he discusses such issues as the relationship of politics to the media, media audiences, media biases, control of the media by conglomerates, and policies for the future.

National Myth and the First World War in Modern Popular Music

National Myth and the First World War in Modern Popular Music
Author: Peter Grant
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2016-12-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1137601396

This book looks at the role of popular music in constructing the myth of the First World War. Since the late 1950s over 1,500 popular songs from more than forty countries have been recorded that draw inspiration from the War. National Myth and the First World War in Modern Popular Music takes an inter-disciplinary approach that locates popular music within the framework of ‘memory studies’ and analyses how songwriters are influenced by their country’s ‘national myths’. How does popular music help form memory and remembrance of such an event? Why do some songwriters stick rigidly to culturally dominant forms of memory whereas others seek an oppositional or transnational perspective? The huge range of musical examples include the great chansonniers Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens; folk maestros including Al Stewart and Eric Bogle; the socially aware rock of The Kinks and Pink Floyd; metal legends Iron Maiden and Bolt Thrower and female iconoclasts Diamanda Galás and PJ Harvey.

Racism and Ethnicity

Racism and Ethnicity
Author: Ian Law
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2013-09-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317864352

Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Directions examines in detail the theories, histories and principal debates of race, racism and ethnicity within a global context. The text offers critical evaluation of the work of major figures from Du Bois to Goldberg, and presents new research on pre-modern racisms, contemporary scientific racisms, racist violence, racism reduction, ethnicity in the UK and European patterns of exclusion and discrimination. Richly illustrated throughout with examples and case studies drawn from across the world and time, the book also offers a range of in-text features to aid study, including: chapter summaries, key concept boxes, chapter activities and further reading. Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Directions will be core reading for students at all levels across the social sciences and the humanities ranging from history and cultural studies through sociology to political and policy analysis. It will also be of significant interest to researchers and policy makers in a range of fields.

Conspiracy Theories in Eastern Europe

Conspiracy Theories in Eastern Europe
Author: Anastasiya Astapova
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2020-10-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000214796

This collection of state-of-the-art essays explores conspiracy cultures in post-socialist Eastern Europe, ranging from the nineteenth century to contemporary manifestations. Conspiracy theories about Freemasons, Communists and Jews, about the Chernobyl disaster, and about George Soros and the globalist elite have been particularly influential in Eastern Europe, but they have also been among the most prominent worldwide. This volume explores such conspiracy theories in the context of local Eastern European histories and discourses. The chapters identify four major factors that have influenced cultures of conspiracy in Eastern Europe: nationalism (including ethnocentrism and antisemitism), the socialist past, the transition period, and globalization. The research focuses on the impact of imperial legacies, nation-building, and the Cold War in the creation of conspiracy theories in Eastern Europe; the effects of the fall of the Iron Curtain and conspiracism in a new democratic setting; and manifestations of viral conspiracy theories in contemporary Eastern Europe and their worldwide circulation with the global rise of populism. Bringing together a diverse landscape of Eastern European conspiracism that is a result of repeated exchange with the "West," the book includes case studies that examine the history, legacy, and impact of conspiracy cultures of Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, the former Yugoslav countries, and the former Soviet Union. The book will appeal to scholars and students of conspiracy theories, as well as those in the areas of political science, area studies, media studies, cultural studies, psychology, philosophy, and history, among others. Politicians, educators, and journalists will find this book a useful resource in countering disinformation in and about the region.

Geopolitics and Identity in British Foreign Policy Discourse

Geopolitics and Identity in British Foreign Policy Discourse
Author: Nick Whittaker
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2023-07-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1000916464

This is the first book to examine Britain’s geopolitical identity and how it is expressed in foreign policy discourse. It demonstrates how British imperial thought, related to its island status, has remained important for British Members of Parliament in their debates of contemporary issues. It presents an exciting and provocative new reading of modern British foreign policy that decentres traditional notions of rationalism and pragmatism by foregrounding the much-neglected aspects of identity and geopolitical space. As British foreign policy-makers wrestle with how to define Britishness outside of the EU, this analysis provides a fresh perspective. It presents a much-needed historical contextualisation of long-standing concepts such as insularity from Europe and a universal aspect on world affairs. This book will be highly relevant for students, researchers and professionals that are seeking to understand British foreign policy. It will be of interest to those researching and working within geopolitics, identity, sociology, foreign policy analysis and international relations.

Nexus of Patriotism and Militarism in Russia

Nexus of Patriotism and Militarism in Russia
Author: Katri Pynnöniemi
Publisher: Helsinki University Press
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2021-05-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9523690353

This edited volume explores patriotism and the growing role of militarism in today’s Russia. During the last 20-year period, there has been a consistent effort in Russia to consolidate the nation and to foster a sense of unity and common purpose. To this end, Russian authorities have activated various channels, from educational programmes and youth organizations to media and popular culture. With the conflict in Ukraine, the manipulation of public sentiments – feeling of pride and perception of threat – has become more systemic. The traditional view of Russia being Other for Europe has been replaced with a narrative of enmity. The West is portrayed as a threat to Russia’s historical-cultural originality while Russia represents itself as a country encircled by enemies. On the other hand, these state-led projects mixing patriotism and militarism are perceived sceptically by the Russian society, especially the younger generations. This volume provides new insights into the evolution of enemy images in Russia and the ways in which societal actors perceive official projections of patriotism and militarism in the Russian society. The contributors of the volume include several experts on Russian studies, contemporary history, political science, sociology, and media studies.

Against Old Europe

Against Old Europe
Author: Raphael Schlembach
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2016-04-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317183886

In the wake of the Iraq war, the term Old Europe was appropriated by politicians, civil society and social movement actors alike to rally in defence of supposedly social and civilized values against the perceived predatory forces of American finance. Against Old Europe sheds light on the social movement politics encapsulated in the protest slogan 'Fight Old Europe'. Within what is broadly labelled the global justice movement, it explores a particular, radical perspective that warns against the identification with European values by movements resisting neoliberalism. Exploring the work of key theorists critical of globalization, including Habermas, Negri, Holloway, Postone and de Benoist, the book examines critical theory approaches to alter-globalization, illustrated with concrete examples of movements within contemporary Europe. In so doing, it invites readers to explore the charges of nationalism, anti-Americanism and antisemitism brought against parts of the alter-globalization movement. Providing a new perspective on critiques of globalization, Against Old Europe will appeal to sociologists and social and political theorists studying social movements, anti-globalization activism and European politics and identity.

Performing the Reformation

Performing the Reformation
Author: Barry Stephenson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2010-04-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199745315

The home of Martin Luther for thirty six years and seat of the German Reformation, Wittenberg, Germany is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Wittenberg has long been Protestant sacred space, but since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city and surrounding region have been developing their considerable cultural capital. Today, Wittenberg is host to two large-scale annual Luther-themed festivals, and is becoming a center for pilgrimage and heritage tourism. In a recent study, Charles Taylor notes that festivity is experiencing a renaissance as "one of the new forms of religion in our world." Festivals and pilgrimage routes are an integral part of contemporary religion and spirituality, and important cultural institutions in a globalized world. In Performing the Reformation, Stephenson offers a field-based case study of contemporary festivity and pilgrimage in the City of Luther. Welcome to Lutherland, where atheists dress up as monks and nuns for Luther's Wedding; conservative Lutherans work to sacralize the secular, carnival-like festivities; and medieval players, American Gospel singers, and Peruvian pan flute bands compete for the attention of the bustling crowds. Festivals and tourism in Wittenberg include a range of performative genres (parades and processions, liturgies and concerts, music and dance), cut across multiple cultural domains (religion, politics, economics), and effect connections and shifts among identities (religious, secular, American, German, traditional, postmodern). Incorporating visual methodologies and grounded in historical and social contexts, Stephenson provides an on-the-ground account of the annual Luther's Wedding Festival, the Reformation Day Festival, and Lutheran pilgrimage. He also brings his case study into dialogue with important methodological and theoretical issues informing the fields of ritual studies and performance studies. A model of interdisciplinary research, the book includes a DVD with over 2.5 hours of material, extending and animating textual accounts and interpretations.

Taking Up the Torch

Taking Up the Torch
Author: Edward Timms
Publisher: Apollo Books
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2011
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781845193850

Introduces English and American readers to an important and evolving field of historical and cultural studies through intellectual autobiography. This title documents the formative experiences of a scholar who was to become a pioneering teacher and researcher in the field of German culture and politics.