Going to write

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenza Mondada
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
Multimodal Approach ◽  
Public Writing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Video Recordings

This paper offers a multimodal approach of writing as an embodied interactional action, prefigured by the movements of the entire body, projecting going to write. It considers grassroots participatory democracy meetings as an exemplary setting for studying issues related to writing in public, for the public and on behalf of the public. In this context, a facilitator is in charge of writing down the outcome of the participatory discussion, in a way that is public, transparent and intelligible for the audience. On the basis of extensive video recordings, I study the methodic embodied practices that precede and lead to public writing. The analysis shows that the writing of proposals is contingent on the establishment of an agreement about them: clear agreement is followed by a straight and brisk walk of the facilitator towards the board, projecting the inscription. By contrast, when there are problems in establishing the agreement, his walk is more discontinuous. Finally, in case of persisting disagreement, the walk deploys in very different manners. Thus embodied movements of the facilitator are reflexively related to the agreed upon vs. disagreed status of the proposal that the facilitator is going to inscribe. This demonstrates how writing is strongly projected by walking; and how writing is observably done in a public, transparent, and revisable way as the product of a collective action.

DIRECTIONS FOR PROVISION OF PUBLIC BODIES’ TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY DEVELOPMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 144-154
Author(s):  
Olga Mykhailоvna Ivanitskaya
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Main Task ◽  
The Public ◽  
State Governance ◽  
Legislative Initiative ◽  
The Government ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

The article is devoted to issues of ensuring transparency and ac- countability of authorities in the conditions of participatory democracy (democ- racy of participation). It is argued that the public should be guaranteed not only the right for access to information but also the prerequisites for expanding its par- ticipation in state governance. These prerequisites include: the adoption of clearly measurable macroeconomic and social goals and the provision of control of the processes of their compliance with the government by citizens of the country; ex- tension of the circle of subjects of legislative initiative due to realization of such rights by citizens and their groups; legislative definition of the forms of citizens’ participation in making publicly significant decisions, design of relevant orders and procedures, in particular participation in local referendum; outlining methods and procedures for taking into account social thought when making socially im- portant decisions. The need to disclose information about resources that are used by authorities to realize the goals is proved as well as key performance indicators that can be monitored by every citizen; the efforts made by governments of coun- tries to achieve these goals. It was noted that transparency in the conditions of representative democracy in its worst forms in a society where ignorance of the thought of society and its individual members is ignored does not in fact fulfill its main task — to establish an effective dialogue between the authorities and so- ciety. There is a distortion of the essence of transparency: instead of being heard, society is being asked to be informed — and passively accept the facts presented as due. In fact, transparency and accountability in this case are not instruments for the achievement of democracy in public administration, but by the form of a tacit agreement between the subjects of power and people, where the latter passes the participation of an “informed observer”.

scholarly journals Climate Change Inaction and Optimism

Philosophies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Philip J. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Collective Action Problem ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Positive Action ◽  
Ideological Fantasy

The problem of climate change inaction is sometimes said to be ‘wicked’, or essentially insoluble, and it has also been seen as a collective action problem, which is correct but inconsequential. In the absence of progress, much is made of various frailties of the public, hence the need for an optimistic tone in public discourse to overcome fatalism and encourage positive action. This argument is immaterial without meaningful action in the first place, and to favour what amounts to the suppression of truth over intellectual openness is in any case disreputable. ‘Optimism’ is also vexed in this context, often having been opposed to the sombre mood of environmentalists by advocates of economic growth. The greater mental impediments are ideological fantasy, which is blind to the contradictions in public discourse, and the misapprehension that if optimism is appropriate in one social or policy context it must be appropriate in others. Optimism, far from spurring climate change action, fosters inaction.

scholarly journals Heiner Goebbels's Stifters Dinge and the Arendtian Public Sphere

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-127
Author(s):  
Luke Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Collaborative Working ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Working Processes

Heiner Goebbels’s works are examples of “postdramatic” theatre works that engage with the political by seeking to challenge socially ingrained habits of perception rather than by presenting traditional, literary-based theatre of political didacticism or agitation. Goebbels claims to work toward a “non-hierarchical” theatre in the contexts of his arrangement of the various theatrical elements, in fostering collaborative working processes between the artists involved, and in the creation of audience-artist relationships. In offering a reading of Goebbels’s “no-man show” Stifters Dinge, this paper seeks to situate Goebbels’s practice within a theoretical tradition that also encompasses Hannah Arendt’s deployment of the theatre as a metaphor for the public sphere. Within this analysis, I suggest, theatre can be seen to offer the possibility of a participatory democracy through its attention to disappearance and absence.

Collective conflict in the public sector in France

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 688-700
Author(s):  
Marie-Armelle Souriac
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Public Enterprises ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right

The right to strike has been recognised in France, even as a right guaranteed by the Constitution, since 1946. Strikes in the public sector are subject to specific legal regulation, including requirements for minimum notice periods and, in some circumstances, minimum service requirements. This contribution examines these special legal features of public-sector strikes. It is necessary to clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of the management of public enterprises (or administrative authorities) and the government. The article also considers alternative (and new) forms of collective action and agreements. In the future there may well be even greater scope for the regulation of strikes to be covered by collective bargaining.

Responsible Citizens, Irresponsible States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avia Pasternak
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
State Level ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
State Policies ◽  
The State ◽  
Punitive Damages ◽  
The Public ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Full Sense ◽  
Corporate Liabilities

International and domestic laws commonly hold states responsible for their wrongdoings. States pay compensation for their unjust wars, and reparations for their historical wrongdoings. Some argue that states should incur punitive damages for their international crimes. But there is a troubling aspect to these practices. States are corporate agents, composed of flesh and blood citizens. When the state uses the public purse to finance its corporate liabilities, the burden falls on these citizens, even if they protested against the state’s policies, did not know about them, or entirely lacked channels of political influence. How can this “distributive effect” of state-level responsibly be justified? The book develops an answer to this question, which revolves around citizens’ participation in their state. It argues that citizenship can be a type of massive collective action, where citizens willingly orient themselves around the authority of their state, and where state policies are the product of this collective action. While most ordinary citizens are not to blame for their participation in their state, they nevertheless ought to accept a share of the remedial obligations that flow from their state’s wrongful policies. However, the distributive effect cannot be justified in all states. Specifically, in (some) nondemocratic states most citizens are not participating in their state in the full sense, and should not pay for their state’s wrongdoings. This finding calls then for a revision of the way we hold states responsible in both the domestic and international levels.

Shaping Digital Democracy in the United States

2014 ◽  
pp. 213-231
Author(s):  
Rachel Baarda ◽  
Rocci Luppicini
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Public Sphere

Ethical challenges that technology poses to the different spheres of society are a core focus within the field of technoethics. Over the last few years, scholars have begun to explore the ethical implications of new digital technologies and social media, particularly in the realms of society and politics. A qualitative case study was conducted on Barack Obama's campaign social networking site, my.barackobama.com, in order to investigate the ways in which the website uses or misuses digital technology to create a healthy participatory democracy. For an analysis of ethical and non-ethical ways to promote participatory democracy online, the study included theoretical perspectives such as the role of the public sphere in a participatory democracy and the effects of political marketing on the public sphere. The case study included a content analysis of the website and interviews with members of groups on the site. The study's results are explored in this chapter.

Institutions as Fields of Action

2018 ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Albert W. Dzur
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
The Social

Institutions shape how citizens think about the social problems they handle, repelling public awareness and involvement by performing tasks in ways that neutralize the citizen’s role. Democratic professionals seek to change this dynamic by building access points and infusing citizen agency at critical junctures throughout major public institutions. The kind of citizen–professional collaborations democratic professionals aim to foster directly address the kinds of counter-democratic tendencies that reinforce callousness and make social problems difficult to handle. The motivations of democratic professionals can be understood through the theory of participatory democracy, which draws attention to the hazards representative governments create by thinking and acting for citizens. Participatory democrats acknowledge the difficulties of fostering civic agency in modernity and attempt to theorize how citizens can occupy a more active role in contemporary political culture and take up a civic responsibility for the public goods and social harms produced by their institutions.

Nudity, feminists, and Chinese online censorship: A case study on the anti-domestic violence campaign on SinaWeibo

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-293
Author(s):  
Ling Han ◽  
Chengpang Lee
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Action Potential ◽  
Potential Theory ◽  
Feminist Movement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Discussion Threads

Chinese feminist activists are actively participating in the Chinese online public sphere. In this study, we examine a case – the Anti-Domestic Violence with Nude Photos Campaign (裸照反家暴活动) – and the response of Chinese online censorship to this campaign. Campaign activists used nude photos to mobilize the public’s support. According to the existing theoretical perspectives such as the collective action potential theory, this kind of online campaign with pornographic elements and the potential to mobilize people is very likely to be censored. Counter to this expectation, we found that not all of the original photos were removed. Our finding suggests that the interactive manner in which activists responded to the public on SinaWeibo’s discussion threads matters in terms of the degree of censorship. This study complements the existing studies on the Chinese online censorship system, echoes scholars’ call for studies on censorship from a more interactive angle, and furthers our understanding of the Chinese feminist movement.

Collective Action and Political Change: Public and Semipublic Strategies of Brazilian Rural Movements (1990s–2017)

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 113-130
Author(s):  
Priscila Delgado de Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Political Change ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

A study of the Brazilian Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultores during recent moments of regime change suggests two main strategies for understanding the impacts of political change on social movement action: assessing the degree of political proximity between activists and the government and the presence or absence of institutional venues for interaction and looking beyond the public expressions of contention to consider semipublic action. When there is political proximity the public activities of movements tend to be less contentious, and when there are institutional venues for interaction protests will be routinized rather than disruptive. When proximity is lacking activists are likely to perform disruptive protests and to give priority to disputing meanings within society and within their own constituencies. Um estudo do Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultores do Brasil durante momentos recentes de mudança de regime sugere duas estratégias principais para entender os impactos das mudanças políticas na ação do movimento social: avaliar o grau de proximidade política entre ativistas e o governo e a presença ou ausência de espaços institucionais para interação e olhar além das expressões públicas de discórdia para considerar a ação semipública. Quando há proximidade política, as atividades públicas dos movimentos tendem a ser menos contenciosas e, quando existem canais institucionais para interação, tende-se a rotinas de protestos pouco disruptivos. Quando falta proximidade, é provável que os ativistas dêem prioridade a protestos disruptivos e a disputas de significados na sociedade e dentro de seus próprios quadros.

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