Berlin: Narratives of metropolitan transition and national unity

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990 profoundly changed the role of Berlin. The move of the capital from Bonn to Berlin was to take nearly a decade. In the process, the complex national agenda of reunification was projected onto a city rich in meaningful landmarks and cultural developments. In the 1990s, carefully orchestrated building and marketing strategies focused on urban revival at select locations, including the new government quarter and Potsdamer Platz. Today, however, 1990s Berlin is remembered for the contemporary countercultures that serve to epitomize the city’s creativity over time. This article explores how Berlin developed post-Wall narratives of new beginnings that affirmed a sense of identity well beyond that of the role of national capital.

Humanising the Energy Transition: Towards a National Policy on Energy Poverty in the Netherlands

Energy poverty is emerging as a national agenda in the Netherlands. Local authority leadership and action on this agenda, and European Union reporting requirements around the energy transition have aligned to create an opportunity to establish a national agenda on this issue. Early action on energy poverty by local authorities stemmed from their recognition of the value of addressing environmental, health, social welfare and poverty goals through measures to address the problem. In contrast, the experiences of vulnerable energy consumers have limited recognition in national policy. Meanwhile EU requirements for climate reporting include a specification for measuring and monitoring energy poverty. This growing momentum has resulted in an emerging interest in energy poverty as a means to achieve a just transition at a national level, as reflected in the Dutch National Climate and Energy Plan. In this paper, we profile the case of the Netherlands, and outline the opportunity we see for the development of an energy poverty agenda in national energy transition policy, as part of a multi-level energy governance effort. We report on a national stakeholder workshop that we led, linking the lived experience of energy poverty in the Netherlands with policy solutions. Following the clear call for a national policy in this workshop, we also outline a strategy for engagement with energy poverty in the Netherlands, published recently in a white paper on this topic.

Analysis of Advertisements from Different Sectors in Turkey within the Context of Gender Equality

The concept of gender equality, which is among the most frequently discussed topics in our country, especially in recent years, appears as an area that has been examined intensively in the national agenda. As a result, different discussions may arise about the conceptual dimension. Even today, gender equality can often be confused with different disciplines. The best example of this is the misconception of the concept of feminism as gender equality. However, contrary to popular belief, feminism does not have the same meaning as gender equality. Although feminism is related to gender equality, they are not really substitute terms. Nevertheless, in many articles or researches, it can be seen that they are described as if they were the same. And yet, when the recent studies on gender equality are examined, these misunderstandings are observed to have begun to be overcome. At the same time, awareness is raised about gender equality thanks to these contents, and it is gradually increasing with the support of non-governmental organizations, big brands and platforms. The biggest indicator of this increase is the increased number of advertisements based on gender equality and the granting of awards related on the topic. For this reason, within the scope of this study, literature review is conducted on the advertisements that ranked in the category of Gender Equality at the 2019 Crystal Apple Award Ceremony and semiotic analysis methods, and interpretations are made on the advertisement pillar of the gender equality movement and the perception of gender in our country.

O The student occupations movement in Pará, Brazil in 2016

A historical interpretation of the occupations of high schools in Pará, in 2016, is made, trying to understand their characteristics and their political and formative practices, based on the category of Thompson's experience and that of Rancière's historical subject. Five interviews were conducted in 2019, listening to young people who participated in the movement in four municipalities. As a result, Pará joined the national student occupation movement in a very active way, both adhering to the national agenda and proposing its own demands. Also, students experienced formative practices that gave new meaning to school culture, youth culture and political culture, combining both the autonomist tendency and the political orientation of student entities, producing significant impacts on the educational and political trajectories of the subjects interviewed.

A discourse for the prevention of radicalization in the Netherlands: Curbing the radical inflow

This chapter is arranged around a theory about egocentric and sociocentric individuals and cultures. The theory outlines different experiences and trajectories of individualists and communities when it comes to sympathizing with radicalization, the emergence of violent protest, carrying out attacks on civilians and general populations, and travelling to war zones. The present chapter highlights a discourse that might place the prevention of radicalization higher on the national agenda. We do this in order to prevent the recruitment of ‘radicals’ at different levels. We illustrate that the British example—of few resources and efforts for the prevention of radicalization as a response to fear and panic after certain attacks—is not followed by the Netherlands, where there the focus is on investment, interventions, and community policing. Themes for intervention to prevent radicalization are described.

Changing Atmospheres: The Proto-Ecological Landscapes of Nikolai Astrup

The innovative artist and smallholder Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928) spent most of his career devoted to portraying variations of his home village of Jølster. The early reception and framing of Astrup’s work as ‘national’ was, by large, a result of the budding national art institutions’ efforts towards unifying the diverse regional cultures into a single national identity. This chapter questions to what degree Nikolai Astrup’s artistic project adhered to a national agenda. Through the lens of ecocritical art history, Astrup’s art can be seen as an expression of proto-ecological sensibilities and a reaction to the environmental changes of his time. His landscape paintings often include humans working on the land, and appear to represent an opposition to the nature-culture dichotomy and the increasing separation between humans and their environment that occurred during Astrup’s lifetime. His representation of his surroundings was that of the place-specific, cyclical and particular. In this chapter, these characteristics of Astrup’s artistic project are discussed in light of Arne Næss’ notion of deep ecology.

‘The secret power of England’

This chapter, which considers the Second World War and its aftermath, reveals how the clubhouse provided a meeting place for those members whose contribution to the war effort kept them in London in 1939, as it had in 1914, and for those engaged in new debates on economic and moral reconstruction which arose before war broke out, continued throughout hostilities, and shaped the national agenda in 1945. In the case of Arthur Bryant's and Sir Charles Waldstein's own club, the 'secret power of England' was to be found in the lives and work not only of its leading politicians and serving officers who ran the war and became household names, but also its moralists, theologians, and economists who applied their minds to the demands of a future peace. Crucial to the war effort were those less well-known civil servants and intelligence officers, scientists, and engineers who used the clubhouse. While valiant efforts were made to maintain the usual services during the war, many aspects of club life were adversely affected. In its domestic economy, the Athenæum's responses to the exigencies of war were often reminiscent of those recorded in 1914–1918; shortages led to all kinds of restrictions.