- Social Psychology, Positive Psychology, Moral Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Political Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, and 18 morePolitical Sciences, Social and Political Sciences, Theories and Methodologies of Political and Social Sciences; Researches on War and Peace, Conflicts and Mediations, Radical Politics in Live Art, Political and social sciences, philosophy, Politics, Nationalism, Contemporary History, Newspapers, Social Sciences, Radicalism, Political Violence, Political Associations, Mass Movements, Students and Politics, Peace and Conflicts Studies, International Relations, Good Governance, and Electoral Systemsedit
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As research on fake news and deepfakes advanced, a growing consensus is building towards considering critical and analytical thinking, as well as general or topic specific knowledge, which is related to information literacy, as the main... more
As research on fake news and deepfakes advanced, a growing consensus is building towards considering critical and analytical thinking, as well as general or topic specific knowledge, which is related to information literacy, as the main significant or effective factors in curving vulnerability to bogus digital content. However, although the connection might be intuitive, the processes linking critical or analytical thinking to manipulation resistance are still not known and understudied. The present study aims to contribute to filling this gap by exploring how analytically driven conclusions over a media content relate to proper evaluations of its credibility. In order to observe how observations highlighted through critical engagement with a specific content are related with awareness on its manipulative structure, a biased, not fake, journalistic article was first passed through Faircough’s (2013) model of Critical Discourse Analysis, which was adapted for media studies. The same ...
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Anti-austerity protests revived anti- and post-hegemonic sociopolitical imaginary, around the word. In Spain, 15M movement built the premises for political projects based on direct democracy and horizontal models of social organization,... more
Anti-austerity protests revived anti- and post-hegemonic sociopolitical imaginary, around the word. In Spain, 15M movement built the premises for political projects based on direct democracy and horizontal models of social organization, as defining features of the new muncipalists who won 2015 elections in several cities. The case of Madrid has revelatory value in the debate regarding outcomes of participatory innovations, as the alliance which pioneered digital democracy and multi-actor multi-level local governance lost elections of 2019. Although a relatively large body of research investigated the feasibility of democratic innovations by contrasting their designs and implementation processes onto the matrix of their objectives and underlying ideological principles, the literature explaining their outcomes is scarce. Few studies focus on factors modeling the sustainability of participatory democracy as city regime, and the most common approach stresses out neoliberal inhibitors, a...
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1. NOWADAYS PREFIGURATIVE POLITICSWithin the first age of the digital paradigm, the common man naturalized the public self-expression exercise. The non-political individual started to practice his ability to influence the political arena,... more
1. NOWADAYS PREFIGURATIVE POLITICSWithin the first age of the digital paradigm, the common man naturalized the public self-expression exercise. The non-political individual started to practice his ability to influence the political arena, regardless of his socio-political regimentation (Joyce, 2010). Since the digital infrastructure was liberalized and common people could not just use it, but also, produce it, a new conceptualization of power emerged. As people started to produce digital instruments and tools, apart from organizational monopolies that used to decide the distribution and the use of digital objects, several cultural values were weighed.A cultural disposition towards self-transcendence and openness to change (Schwartz, 1992) got deeply embedded within contemporary shared schemes of thinking. The model of emergent democracy (Steven, 2002) and the political philosophy of extreme democracy (Lebkowsky & Ratcliffe, 2005) were absorbed within the new world-view, by their pri...
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A qualitative reading of the main theories regarding collective behavior, social movements and social change would highlight a continuous shift in fermenting worldviews that go from total disregard for the common individual to his... more
A qualitative reading of the main theories regarding collective behavior,
social movements and social change would highlight a continuous shift in fermenting worldviews that go from total disregard for the common individual to his absolute centrality. So, it becomes arguable that the paradigm-shift that occurred via the evolution of the digital medium had profound effects not only on the way people interact with each other, but also on their main style of gaining and instrumenting knowledge as essential sequence of collective action scenarios.
social movements and social change would highlight a continuous shift in fermenting worldviews that go from total disregard for the common individual to his absolute centrality. So, it becomes arguable that the paradigm-shift that occurred via the evolution of the digital medium had profound effects not only on the way people interact with each other, but also on their main style of gaining and instrumenting knowledge as essential sequence of collective action scenarios.
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Contemporary social movements were repeatedly criticized because of their decentralized organization and their idealist objectives. The present study argues that considering connective actions as inefficient is to confuse them for... more
Contemporary social movements were repeatedly criticized because of their decentralized organization and their idealist objectives. The present study argues that considering connective actions as inefficient is to confuse them for collective actions, which are based on pragmatic objectives. More than that, it will be argued that pragmatic objectives within a social movement are conducing to violence and are symptomatic for seeking fast solutions to social problems, but not for profound social transformation. In contrast, connective social movements, which are based on horizontal communication and prefigurative politics, are conducive to both individual and social change, as they enhance self-expression and personal responsibility.
Keywords: Prefigurative politics, social change efficiency, quixotism .
Keywords: Prefigurative politics, social change efficiency, quixotism .
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The following research dives into the area of a newly articulated motive of self which gains social momentum through the use of decentralized connected communities. The quixotic motive implies an universalist schemata and a transcendent... more
The following research dives into the area of a newly articulated motive of self which gains social momentum through the use of decentralized connected communities. The quixotic motive implies an universalist schemata and a transcendent attitude towards change (Salgado & Oceja, 2011). Even if the literature on altruism and gift is wide developed, neither the quixotic motive for action, nor the digital enabled gift economic systems received a fair attention (Harvey, Golightly, & Smith, 2013). It is hypothesized that shared economy based communities are conducive for the centrality of the quixotic motive. The changes of egotism, communitarianism and quixotism are investigated through a longitudinal analysis on two shared economy based communities over an one year period. Implications are discussed, as the new-new social
movements (Feixa, Pereira,& Juris, 2009) enhance the preference for self-transcendent knowledge (Scharmer, 2011) and the social role of flux (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996) is, thereto, weighted.
Keywords: social movements, gift economy, quixotism, self transcendent knowledge
movements (Feixa, Pereira,& Juris, 2009) enhance the preference for self-transcendent knowledge (Scharmer, 2011) and the social role of flux (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996) is, thereto, weighted.
Keywords: social movements, gift economy, quixotism, self transcendent knowledge
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Purpose: The research is scrutinizing how transparency and public engagement are impacting the success odds of a collaborative legislation initiative. It is generally accepted that engagement and transparency are key ingredients when... more
Purpose: The research is scrutinizing how transparency and public engagement are impacting the success odds of a collaborative legislation initiative. It is generally accepted that engagement and transparency are key ingredients when aiming to meet citizens’ needs while also reducing the gap between a community and how its life is shaped through state mechanisms. However, participatory methodologies are still under experimentation and little can be said based on more than individual case studies.
Design/methodology/approach: The present research analyses two strings of collaborative legislation initiatives, based on CONSUL and, respectively, DECIDIM methodologies, issued before 2019, the results highlight a more complex web of relations between factors which drive the success of participatory legislation.
Findings: According to the results, nor public engagement or the degree of transparency were found to significantly predict the success of a collaborative law document, when success is defined as the chances of such a collaboratively produced document to get processed and adopted by a local government. While such results should be cautionary interpreted, they still trigger a more nuanced discussion, as the success of a collaborative legislation initiative seems to be related with processes which mirror the institutional modus operandi, by bringing
specialists at work, and not by harvesting the collective knowledge within a community.
Originality/value: The authors examine collaborative legislation processes from the viewpoint of governmental transparency and citizens’ engagement. The study permits an enhanced understanding of collaborative legislation initiatives and how they function as well as their linking variables to public involvement and participation.
Design/methodology/approach: The present research analyses two strings of collaborative legislation initiatives, based on CONSUL and, respectively, DECIDIM methodologies, issued before 2019, the results highlight a more complex web of relations between factors which drive the success of participatory legislation.
Findings: According to the results, nor public engagement or the degree of transparency were found to significantly predict the success of a collaborative law document, when success is defined as the chances of such a collaboratively produced document to get processed and adopted by a local government. While such results should be cautionary interpreted, they still trigger a more nuanced discussion, as the success of a collaborative legislation initiative seems to be related with processes which mirror the institutional modus operandi, by bringing
specialists at work, and not by harvesting the collective knowledge within a community.
Originality/value: The authors examine collaborative legislation processes from the viewpoint of governmental transparency and citizens’ engagement. The study permits an enhanced understanding of collaborative legislation initiatives and how they function as well as their linking variables to public involvement and participation.
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The article holds that along with the media paradigm shift, a new generation emerged, a more balanced, awake and participatory one. Its core is represented by tech savvy citizens with both a social and an international conscience, fueled... more
The article holds that along with the media paradigm shift, a new generation emerged, a more balanced, awake and participatory one. Its core is represented by tech savvy citizens with both a social and an international conscience, fueled by global interconnectivity. The model of Media Related New Humanism, designed by UNESCO specialists in 2010, is tested. The model implies that new media technologies conduce to a more critical thinking, more socially responsible and more humanity-conscious society. The present research analyzed the change rate of balanced discourse published by citizen journalists connected to authoritarian states phenomena. A longitudinal analysis showed that over a period of five years, no significant change was registered, and the balance of discourse was rather stable. Citizen journalists who are writing for an international public are the most representative figures of the new generation regarded by the new humanism model. To avoid the bias which appears when samples are collected from a liberal society, which is prone to enhance autonomy and personal responsibility, there were purposely selected samples of citizen journalists from Russia and Iran, which are states with a high degree of authoritarianism. Results indicated that people with both a social and an international conscience hold their balanced view even when they are subjected to a repressive reality. The implications are discussed, as Millennial Generation conceptual description is not to be applied exclusively to the western world, but to the worldwide youth.
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Law-making should not exclude citizens. The following paper analyses how citizens‟ engagement in policymaking fails because of citizens‟ illiteracy in law and administration knowledge and provides an updated scenario for building common... more
Law-making should not exclude citizens. The following paper analyses how citizens‟ engagement in policymaking fails because of citizens‟ illiteracy in law and administration knowledge and provides an updated scenario for building common knowledge through discourse production along policy drafting. In a context of a huge appetite for active participation in the decision-making processes, it is of vital importance to collect people‟s views and gain their confidence and support. Creating a constant habit from citizen participation is not only bringing added value in law making, but it is also a guarantee that they will meet the needs of citizens and therefore generate public commitment. Although citizens can contribute with their input, they have limited understanding and control over the data they provide and the results, often remaining detached from the very mission and scope of such involvement.