scholarly journals Pride parades and prejudice: Visibility of Roma and LGBTI communities in post-socialist Europe

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan McGarry

This article argues that public space is important for marginalised communities in order to ensure visibility and presence in public life. Often minority groups are excluded from democratic procedures which favour majority interests and preferences. This is not to say that minority interests are incompatible with those of the majority but some marginalised groups are not anchored in public space, can suffer discriminatory treatment and lack the ability to control dominant, usually negative, ascriptions of group identity. This article explores two cases of marginalised communities and access to public space in post-socialist Europe: Roma and the LGBTI communities. Both communities have attempted to ensure their presence in public space through ‘Pride’ parades across Central and Eastern European capitals. The purpose of pride parades is to demand rights as citizens, such as equality and respect, and to ensure visibility in public life. On the one hand, visibility is important for LGBTI communities who remain relatively hidden and fear ‘coming out’. On the other hand, for Roma, who are highly visible, pride offers an opportunity to harness this visibility to challenge prevailing negative stereotypes through an affirmation of group identity.

Author(s):  
Kapitolina Fedorova ◽  

Multilingualism in urban spaces is mainly studied as an oral practice. Nevertheless, linguistic landscape studies can serve as a good explorative method for studying multilingualism in written practices. Moreover, resent research on linguistic landscapes (Blommaert 2013; Shohamy et. al. 2010; Backhaus 2006) have shed some light on the power relations between different ethnic groups in urban public space. Multilingual practices exist in a certain ideological context, and not only official language policy but speaker linguistic stereotypes and attitudes can influence and modify those practices. Historically, South Korea tended to be oriented towards monolingualism; one nation-one people-one language ideology was domineering public discourse. However, globalization and recent increase in migration resulted in gradual changes in attitudes towards multilingualism (Lo and Kim 2012). The linguistic landscapes of Seoul, on the one hand, reflect these changes, and However, they demonstrates pragmatic inequality of languages other than South Korean in public use. This inequality, though, is represented differently in certain spatial urban contexts. The proposed paper aims at analyzing data on linguistic landscapes of Seoul, South Korea ,with the focus on different contexts of language use and different sets of norms and ideological constructs underlying particular linguistic choices. In my presentation I will examine data from three urban contexts: ‘general’ (typical for most public spaces); ‘foreign-oriented’ (seen in tourist oriented locations such as airport, expensive hotels, or popular historical sites, which dominates the Itaewon district); and ‘ethnic-oriented’ (specific for spaces created by and for ethnic minority groups, such as Mongolian / Central Asian / Russian districts near the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park station). I will show that foreign languages used in public written communication are embedded into different frameworks in these three urban contexts, and that the patterns of their use vary from pragmatically oriented ones to predominately symbolic ones, with English functioning as a substitution for other foreign languages, as an emblem of ‘foreignness.’


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Denio M. Benfatti ◽  
Eugenio F. Queiroga ◽  
Jonathas M. P. Silva

O trabalho reflete sobre as novas formas de expansão e crescimento metropolitano, associando-as a transformações igualmente importantes na esfera da vida pública. A expressão cotidiana desse processo de expansão e crescimento se deixa transparecer a partir de dois movimentos complementares. De um lado, o aumento em número e extensão dos deslocamentos cotidianos de uma comunidade a outra em um mesmo ambiente metropolitano. De outro, reflete as transformações resultantes do modo de vida metropolitano: horários variáveis e flexíveis, individualização das práticas de produção e consumo. Temos como objeto desta reflexão a Metrópole de Campinas como parte do território metropolitanizado que ocorre no entorno da capital paulista. Nossa hipótese é que essas transformações não se restringem anovas denominações de um processo ampliado de urbanização, mas que essas transformações têm engendrado novos padrões e espaços de sociabilidade e, mais do que isso, um modo de vida e produção específicos. Nesta reflexão, interessa-nos mostrar como essa nova dinâmica afeta a esfera da vida pública e a definição e constituição dos sistemas de espaços livres. Palavras-chave: megalópole; urbanização fragmentada; esfera da vida pública; espaço público; sistema de espaços livres. Abstract: The paper reflects on new forms of metropolitan growth and expansion, associating them with equally significant changes in the sphere of public life. The daily expression of this process of expansion and growth can be perceived through two complementary movements. On the one hand, the growth in number and extent of daily displacements between communities within the same metropolitan area. On the other, reflecting changes in the metropolitan way of life, flexible schedules and individualization of production and consumption practices. Our focus is the metropolis of Campinas as part of the metropolization process that occurs in the vicinity of the capital – São Paulo. Our hypothesis is that these transformations are not restricted to new names for an extended process of urbanization, but that they have generated new patterns and spaces of sociability, and more than that, they have generated a specific ways of life and production. In this reflection, we are interested in showing how this new dynamic affects the sphere of public life and in discussing the definition and constitution of open space systems. Keywords: megalopolis; fragmented urbanization; public life sphere; public space; open space system.


Author(s):  
Darin Stephanov

‘What do we really speak of when we speak of the modern ethno-national mindset and where shall we search for its roots?’ This is the central question of a book arguing that the periodic ceremonial intrusion into the everyday lives of people across the Ottoman Empire, which the annual royal birthday and accession-day celebrations constituted, had multiple, far-reaching, and largely unexplored consequences. On the one hand, it brought ordinary subjects into symbolic contact with the monarch and forged lasting vertical ties of loyalty to him, irrespective of language, location, creed or class. On the other hand, the rounds of royal celebration played a key role in the creation of new types of horizontal ties and ethnic group consciousness that crystallized into national movements, and, after the empire’s demise, national monarchies. The book discusses the themes of public space/sphere, the Tanzimat reforms, millet, modernity, nationalism, governmentality, and the modern state, among others. It offers a new, thirteen-point model of modern belonging based on the concept of ruler visibility.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
Лариса Міщиха

У статті зроблено спробу проаналізувати феномен "досвід" у форматі дослідження творчого потенціалу особистості. Теоретико-методологічними засадами заявленої вище проблеми стали концептуальні засади гуманістичної психології, феноменологічного підходу. Досвід, як вагома складова творчого потенціалу особистості, розглядається у співвідношенні таких провідних тенденцій, як стереотипність та оригінальність. Наголошується, що досвід, з одного боку, може сприяти все більшій алгоритмізації та стереотипізації, консерватизму у розв’язанні нових задач, що безумовно перешкоджає творчості. З іншого боку, в осіб з високим творчим потенціалом він стає інтегрованою формою життєтворчості, де в структурі старих знань завжди знайдеться місце новим знанням як привнесених "ззовні", так і знанням, що їх отримує автор через власні ініціації, пошук, накреслюючи власноруч вектор руху. Звідси він отримує "побічний продукт" творчої діяльності – саморозвиток. Відтак творчий досвід трактується як такий, що містить у собі акумуляцію та інтеграцію усіх прижиттєвих творчих напрацювань особистості, готовність її до творчої діяльності та безперервної освіти. Суб’єкт творчої діяльності залишається відкритим новому досвіду, сповнений готовності до нового пізнання, творчих пошуків. In the article there was an attempt to analyze the phenomenon "experience" in the form of investigating a person’s creative potential. The theoretic methodological background of the performed above problem is conceptual background of humanistic psychology and phenomenological approach. Experience as an essential part of a person’s creative potential is regarded in relation to such leading trends as stereotype and originality. On the one hand, the experience is emphasized to be able to promote the model of algorithm and stereotype, conservatism in solving new tasks that is certain to inhibit creativity. On the other hand, personalities with high creative potential have an experience that is becoming an integral form of life work where in the structure of old knowledge you can always find a place for both new ones coming out "from inside" and the ones the author takes due to his own initiation and search. In this way he sketches motion vector and gets the "by-product" of his creativity, it means self-development. Hence, creative experience is interpreted as the one to absorb accumulation and integration of all creative experience in a person’s life; also his/her readiness to creativity and continuing education. The subject of creativity remains opened to a new experience that is fully ready for a new cognition and creativity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 161-168
Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed ◽  
Beate Bartlmä ◽  
Ana Daniela Dresler ◽  
Christina Englmann ◽  
Maxi Jager ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Michael D. Minta

This book answers the question of whether black and Latino legislators better represent minority interests in Congress than white legislators, and it is the first book on the subject to focus on congressional oversight rather than roll-call voting. The book demonstrates that minority lawmakers provide qualitatively better representation of black and Latino interests than their white counterparts. They are more likely to intervene in decision making by federal agencies by testifying in support of minority interests at congressional oversight hearings. Minority legislators write more letters urging agency officials to enforce civil rights policies, and spend significant time and effort advocating for solutions to problems that affect all racial and ethnic groups, such as poverty, inadequate health care, fair housing, and community development. This book argues that minority members of Congress act on behalf of broad minority interests—inside and outside their districts—because of a shared bond of experience and a sense of linked fate. It shows how the presence of black and Latino legislators in the committee room increases the chances that minority perspectives and concerns will be addressed in committee deliberations, and also how minority lawmakers are effective at countering negative stereotypes about minorities in policy debates on issues like affirmative action and affordable housing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-41
Author(s):  
Paweł Pistelok

Abstract A city’s public spaces ought to meet a number of requirements to serve their main purpose, that is to foster public life. They need, for instance, to answer people’s needs, fulfil certain social functions, and let people use their basic rights, among them the most important right of access. In Katowice, one of the most prominent examples of the regeneration of public spaces is now the Culture Zone. The aim of this paper is to discuss the development of social functions in the area mentioned, a fine example of the post-industrial heritage of Upper Silesia. Applying some of the qualities of public space identified in the theories adopted, the paper discusses how the Culture Zone [in Polish: Strefa Kultury] fulfils the above-mentioned demands and requirements. Is it accessible? Does it meet the need for comfort? Does it function as a leisure space? By referring to analyses and opinions presented in the literature and comparing them with the results of the author’s own empirical research, this article discusses the importance, opportunities, and shortcomings of the Culture Zone as a public space.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Stutz

AbstractWith the present paper I would like to discuss a particular form of procession which we may term mocking parades, a collective ritual aimed at ridiculing cultic objects from competing religious communities. The cases presented here are contextualized within incidents of pagan/Christian violence in Alexandria between the 4th and 5th centuries, entailing in one case the destruction of the Serapeum and in another the pillaging of the Isis shrine at Menouthis on the outskirts of Alexandria. As the literary accounts on these events suggest, such collective forms of mockery played an important role in the context of mob violence in general and of violence against sacred objects in particular. However, while historiographical and hagiographical sources from the period suggest that pagan statues underwent systematic destruction and mutilation, we can infer from the archaeological evidence a vast range of uses and re-adaptation of pagan statuary in the urban space, assuming among other functions that of decorating public spaces. I would like to build on the thesis that the parading of sacred images played a prominent role in the discourse on the value of pagan statuary in the public space. On the one hand, the statues carried through the streets became themselves objects of mockery and violence, involving the population of the city in a collective ritual of exorcism. On the other hand, the images paraded in the mocking parades could also become a means through which the urban space could become subject to new interpretations. Entering in visual contact with the still visible vestiges of the pagan past, with the temples and the statuary of the city, the “image of the city” became affected itself by the images paraded through the streets, as though to remind the inhabitants that the still-visible elements of Alexandria’s pagan topography now stood as defeated witnesses to Christianity’s victory.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 672-689
Author(s):  
Vlada Baranova ◽  
Kapitolina Fedorova

AbstractThe study deals with linguistic prejudices of citizens of the two main Russian cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, toward speakers of foreign languages. It aims to reveal possible recent changes in the language ideology dominating Russian society. Monolingual and linguistically normative orientations rooted in the Soviet ideological approach are being challenged nowadays by global processes of migration and cultural diversification, which influence the everyday reality of Russian megalopolises. The research is based on the analysis of two sets of data: (1) meta-discourse on language attitudes derived from interviews with labor migrants and native Russian speakers in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and posts and comments on issues of language, migration, and linguistic landscapes, collected from websites and social media and (2) linguistic landscape data collected in 2016–2019, mainly in St. Petersburg, which reflect recent changes in attitude toward linguistic diversity in public space. These data show, on the one hand, that most city dwellers still relate to monolingual speech norms and try to implement control over public space; on the other hand, that the tolerance toward multilingual communication has been increasing over the years. The study suggests that these “first cracks” in monolinguals facades of Russian cities could eventually lead to the establishing of a less rigid language regime.


2021 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-113
Author(s):  
Thomas Wabel

Abstract The article explores changes in public self-awareness resulting from the reduction of social interaction in physical presence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the three dimensions of shared public space, social interaction in direct encounter, and shared meaning, the text argues that dwindling opportunities to experience social cohesion may become paradigmatic for more fundamental deficiencies in societal interaction. Seen in this light, church services in physical presence can help to maintain a sense for public life in physical presence, unmediated by digital tools.


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