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This is a story of costs of 114 million EUR incurred by stubbornness and unwillingness to cooperate, or, in other words, by sticking to dead ends in discussions where parties disagree strongly enough that they cannot find common ground. This paper proposes an approach to analyzing such cases of disagreement by employing a multidimensional model involving deontic, ontological, and ethical axes. We use an example of the Turów coal mine disputes, which, from March 2020 to February 2022, involved the governments of the Republic of Poland, the Czech Republic, and the European Court of Justice. Our model results in a tree-like structure of the consecutive issues being considered, represented by questions, governed by the dependency between questions and external actions and events related to the dispute. We aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and resolution paths in such complex disagreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that the way in which media speak about emerging technologies can influence the public perception of their benefits and risks. Risk statements highlight the possible negative effects, real or imaginary, that a particular event could have on audiences. Just as journalism varies over space and time, what is considered a risk is deeply rooted in specific social, economic, and technological contexts. This variability implies that journalistic practices are neither universal nor static; instead, they change and adapt according to circumstance. Moreover, technological advances have allowed the press to better understand their audiences and adhere to their demands. In this context, the discursive construction of the risk of artificial intelligence was studied in the press of four European countries: Belgium, Spain, France, and Portugal. In total, 290 texts published in January 2024 were examined. Mentions of "artificial intelligence" were found in the following newspapers: Le Soir, El País, Le Figaro, and Público. Fourteen risk categories and seven groups of voices responsible for their enunciation were identified, with significant variations between the studied newspapers. It was concluded that national contexts make it possible to differentiate the way in which the press communicates the risks associated with artificial intelligence. Although these results do not directly reflect public awareness of the risks in each of these countries, they open a line of research on the possible influences of the progressive monitoring and knowledge of audiences in the construction of the media agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of classical language education is subject to a fierce dispute, waged continuously and internationally. While some dismiss Classics as useless or elitist, others herald its extraordinary formative value and the many benefits that await pupils. This article aims to give a novel overview of the public debate regarding classical language education, which is defined as follows: the controversy about the instruction of Latin and/or Ancient Greek at the secondary educational level, as it emerges from Western traditional media in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The reader is provided with historical insight into this debate that many classicists find themselves in the middle of, as well as with a logical and coherent framework of the various arguments pro and contra. The arguments are embedded in the history of classical language education, classified into categories, analysed and discussed at length. The classification of arguments hinges on the two main lines of criticism towards the study of classical languages, which are inspired by egalitarianism and utilitarianism respectively. As a backdrop to the analysis, we rely on the sociolinguistic theory of language ideology. The general conclusions of this paper are that the value of classical language education is indeed a highly ideologically charged matter, and that the surrounding public debate has known a remarkably high level of continuity.

We examine how stakeholders (n = 74) in the United Kingdom, Finland and Norway perceive security authorities' online surveillance capabilities, and how these perceptions form patterns transcending national borders and organisational boundaries. Using a Q-methodological approach, we found variation within and between nations that is usually obscured in the polarised public debates. Furthermore, our stakeholders presented areas of consensus not usually apparent in public discourses. We argue for using awareness of this nuance and areas of convergence as platforms on which to build more effective public debates to further principles of deliberative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that the way in which media speak about emerging technologies can influence the public perception of their benefits and risks. Risk statements highlight the possible negative effects, real or imaginary, that a particular event could have on audiences. Just as journalism varies over space and time, what is considered a risk is deeply rooted in specific social, economic, and technological contexts. This variability implies that journalistic practices are neither universal nor static; instead, they change and adapt according to circumstance. Moreover, technological advances have allowed the press to better understand their audiences and adhere to their demands. In this context, the discursive construction of the risk of artificial intelligence was studied in the press of four European countries: Belgium, Spain, France, and Portugal. In total, 290 texts published in January 2024 were examined. Mentions of “artificial intelligence” were found in the following newspapers: Le Soir, El País, Le Figaro, and Público. Fourteen risk categories and seven groups of voices responsible for their enunciation were identified, with significant variations between the studied newspapers. It was concluded that national contexts make it possible to differentiate the way in which the press communicates the risks associated with artificial intelligence. Although these results do not directly reflect public awareness of the risks in each of these countries, they open a line of research on the possible influences of the progressive monitoring and knowledge of audiences in the construction of the media agenda.

Europe is in the midst of a double crisis: the rise of illiberal democracies and the reshaping of the so-called "world order." Illiberal and autocratic regimes are on the rise and the "illiberal temptation" is present even in countries with strong democratic traditions, such as in Europe. The conflict between constitutional democracies and autocratic regimes is at the heart of the current struggle for a new international order. In this context, the confidence we have in our shared democratic and humanist values is in crisis. Not only is there a debate about how these values should be interpreted—which is normal—it also seems that these values are no longer widely shared. Significant segments of the public no longer take democratic principles and the rule of law for granted. As a result, the use of violence is no longer taboo, not only in international relations but also within our own societies. This crisis is unfolding on a global scale, but it has implications for the European narrative, which is about both Europe's post-nationalist, democratic identity, and Europe's role in the world. In this article, I begin with some comments on this narrative, with an emphasis on the specificity of European cultural diversity. I then try to situate the role of intellectuals in this context. I examine (1) the task of interpreting the current historical situation, of raising collective awareness with regard to problems that require collective action (e.g. climate change, the reduction of gender and cultural discrimination, the prevention of armed conflicts, etc.); (2) the "universalization of tradition", that is, the hermeneutic process by which a tradition (ethical, religious, political, etc.) reinterprets itself in such a way as to make it understandable and meaningful to other traditions; (3) the impact that the practice of dialogue, as understood in the human and social sciences, should have on actual political discussion; and (4) the role that the human and social sciences have in articulating, within a meaningful discourse, the demands for greater justice and for a meaningful existence that arise in the form of collective feelings, emotions, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media platforms are too often understood as monoliths with clear priorities. Instead, we analyze them as complex organizations torn between starkly different justifications of their missions. Focusing on the case of Meta, we inductively analyze the company's public materials and identify three evaluative logics that shape the platform's decisions: an engagement logic, a public debate logic, and a wellbeing logic. There are clear trade-offs between these logics, which often result in internal conflicts between teams and departments in charge of these different priorities. We examine recent examples showing how Meta rotates between logics in its decision-making, though the goal of engagement dominates in internal negotiations. We outline how this framework can be applied to other social media platforms such as TikTok, Reddit, and X. We discuss the ramifications of our findings for the study of online harms, exclusion, and extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before the pandemic, Australia was already increasingly reliant on statistics for political debate. This was reflected not only in high levels of trust in statistical institutions, but in the privileged position of 'data-driven decisions' by politicians and the public. From a series of interviews across the public service, academia, media and politics, this article describes the exacerbated conditions of professionals working with public data in Australia during the pandemic, detailing both actual and perceived aspects of new pressures. Public health communication that emphasised data-driven decisions led to public demand for data access, increasing the work of scientists, public servants, researchers, and journalists to refine and communicate data releases and commentary more frequently – which in turn increased demand for more data from all. The acute pandemic pressure also revealed pre-existing issues with data management and infrastructure, and caused previously siloed professionals to stretch across multiple roles. Such acceleration necessitates less time and expertise available for interpretation or careful management. Alternatively, failure to accelerate can result in real or perceived gaps in knowledge that can discourage trust in state statistics. These reflections are critical, as laborious stopgap solutions – intended to be temporary in a crisis – seem to have settled in to stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Internacionales Mediterraneos is the property of Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterraneos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Internacionales Mediterraneos is the property of Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterraneos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aims: Because media portrayal reflects and shapes public opinion and health policy, investigating news coverage of public health issues is highly relevant for public health research and practice. Addressing a topical issue, this study investigated how newspaper coverage framed COVID-19 vaccines in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland and how it developed over time. Methods: A quantitative newspaper content analysis of six newspapers from Austria and German-speaking Switzerland published between January 1 and 31, 2022 was conducted. Frames were identified for each country separately through hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward's method) based on frame elements. Results: Four frames were identified in both countries: (1) Evaluating new vaccines, (2) Discussing mandates, (3) Promoting vaccination, (4) Mentioning vaccines. In Frames 1 (Switzerland 86.4%, Austria 93.3%) and 3 (Switzerland 92.7%, Austria 98.9%), most articles included vaccine-endorsing statements, with Swiss coverage including additional negative statements more often than Austrian coverage (43.2%/44.6% vs 4.0%/3.3%). Frame 2 was closely linked to vaccine skepticism only in Austria and contained more evaluative statements in Austrian newspapers (25.4% endorsing, 35.4% rejecting; in Switzerland 14.5%/18.1%). The Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung published most articles (497/1091, 45.6%). Conclusions: The commercialized and comparatively high share of tabloid news coverage in Austria may have contributed to oversimplified and polarizing COVID-19 vaccine debates in this context. Insufficiently balanced and adequate information may contribute to a loss of public trust in vaccination and may therefore affect vaccination uptake. Authorities and public health professionals should consider this effect when designing information campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a comparative case study of public valuation of glaciers in Alaska and Norway. The first case examines Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier, which has been central in public debate over the US Forest Service's proposed expansion of the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. The second case centers on Norway's Svartisen glacier, which garnered international attention when the startup company, Svaice, announced its intent to extract glacier ice cubes for cocktail coolers at high-end bars and restaurants. A rhetorical analysis of newspaper coverage relevant to each case reveals that in both debates, instrumental, relational, and intrinsic values are attributed to the respective glaciers, and that government, business, and community actors hold the most power in these conversations. However, nuances within articulations of instrumental value suggest that Norwegian actors strive to balance human and glacier needs, whereas Alaskan actors largely prioritize human needs by constituting the glacier as a utilitarian object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to identify the anticipated political and social consequences for the security of Poland and its citizens due to the presence of hate speech in public discourse. A morphological method was used in the research. The paper consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. Introduction outlines the research problem and presents elements of research methodology. The second part provides examples of hate speech against refugees, migrants, national minorities, people with different culture, skin color, religion, while the third part characterizes attitudes and behaviors expressed in hate speech against LGBT people. The fourth part characterizes examples of hate language used in the political debate taking place in Poland. The conclusion summarizes the research results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public debates structure election cycles, feature in news media, and are privileged as a form of academic exchange. Yet, public debate is poorly understood from the perspective of political theory. While theorists often talk about "public debate," they usually mean diffuse discussion on a topic in the public sphere. This article considers how literal public debates—multisided, publicly accessible and publicly oriented performances of reason-giving—may be normatively distinct from other forms of rhetoric. Drawing on the "constructivist turn" in the scholarship on representation and the philosophy of Gadamer, I offer a hermeneutical approach for assessing public debates. I argue that public debates do not merely provide a platform for opinions to be broadcast, they also purport to provide a representative spectrum of opinions. In so doing, they help to construct the borders of the public sphere itself. I conclude by considering the significance of protest to public debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a holistic view of the emergence of shareholder activism (SA) in India. However, specifically, this study aims at fulfilling the research gap by discussing the policy and legal advancement in the area of SA and investigating the chronological evolution of SA, manifestations of SA, motives of SA, outcome of SAs and impact of SA on the financial performance of the firm. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a mixed methodology (both qualitative and quantitative) to draw inferences, including content analysis, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test. The data has been collected from the annual reports of the sample companies and the Prowess database. Return on assets and return on equity have been used as measures of financial performance while investigating the difference in financial performance between firms subjected to SA and firms not subjected to SA. Findings: The findings of this study suggest that there has been significant growth in the occurrence of SA incidents in India in the past decade, with shareholders prominently manifesting by opposing the proposals at annual general meetings/extraordinary general meetings, mostly involving governance-related demands. The findings from the independent sample t-tests revealed that there has been a significant difference in the financial performance of the sample subjected to SA and firms not subjected to SA. Furthermore, the results of the paired sample t-test provide strong evidence of significant improvement in the financial performance of firms' post-SA. Practical implications: The findings of this study have implications for various stakeholders. The findings of this study suggest that SA has been relatively more successful in the Indian context and may encourage minority shareholders to follow active participation through shareholder proposals and votes rather than a passive strategy to trade and exit. For firms, it can provide valuable inferences about the emergence of SA and how it has a positive impact on the financial performance of the firm, which can lead to a change in the perception of investors and promoters who perceive SA as a threat (Gillan and Starks 2000; Hartzell and Starks, 2003). For policymakers, it can act as a tool to investigate whether the regulatory changes have been able to bring the intended transparency, accountability and enhanced shareholder participation. This will encourage policymakers to be more agile, as their efforts are bearing fruit. This will also act as a guide to formulating future policies and regulations. Originality/value: This study is an effort to provide a holistic view of SA scenarios in a developing economy setting like India, where SA is a very recent phenomenon. Although there are studies in the area of SA, there is a dearth of studies that have investigated the various dimensions of SA in the Indian context in a very systematic and extensive manner, investigating all the different dimensions of SA. Furthermore, this study also intends to investigate the impact of SA, which is normally perceived as a threat to financial performance and provide valuable contrasting evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papeles del CEIC is the property of Centro de Estudios sobra la Identidad Colectiva, Facultas de Ciencias Sociales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper contains a theoretically inspired discussion of recent Norwegian controversies related to the management of public library space as a civil public sphere. Design/methodology/approach: This study engages with theories of civil public spheres and their application within a Nordic context. The theories are applied in discussions of recent controversies related to the management of Norwegian public libraries as civil public spheres, as represented in professional journals and press articles. Findings: Through the discussion, it becomes apparent that the value of neutrality and librarians' inclusive practices on the part of societal minorities might be conflicting when managing public libraries as civil public spheres. Originality/value: This paper engages with recent library controversies in Norway and discusses them in light of recent scholarly work on library activism in a Nordic context, as well as recent theorizations of civil public spheres in the Nordic countries. It thus connects ongoing discussions among Norwegian librarians with recent library research and ongoing theorization of civil public spheres within the Nordic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Politica y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodistico is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines the debates surrounding Chile's economic model after the 2019 social uprising. It does so by studying how the leading columnists in the Chilean print media discussed the country's economic model between 2019 and 2021. The social uprising shook the political stability, social order, and economic certainty that had characterized the Chilean model for thirty years. Further, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic triggered a triple crisis—socioeconomic, political, and medical—that raised serious questions as to the market model's ability to guarantee social security. The analysis of the public debate shows how two landmarks of the Chilean model, namely, its legitimacy as a development path and the exclusive right of economists to discuss the economy, were subjected to questioning. The columnists' debate reflects a model in crisis that contrasts drastically with the optimistic narrative of Chile as a "model" country in Latin America. The 2019 social uprising also marked a critical shift in both the ways in which the economy is discussed and who is authorized to legitimately debate economic issues in the public sphere, thus constituting a break from the technocratic consensus regarding market-led policies. If the aftermath of the social uprising triggered the cultural decline of the Chilean model as a dispositive to justify market-oriented policies, the way in which the economy is publicly discussed also changed radically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concept of 'free speech' appears to have reached a position of significant prominence in public debate. In this context, we ask how the concept of free speech was used discursively by the Morrison-led government. Utilising a political discourse analytic approach, and examining texts from 2019 to 2021, we argue that, and show how, the government engaged in multiple discourses around free speech that were incompatible, inconsistent and incoherent. These inconsistencies and discontinuities were so significant as to render this a 'weaponisation' of free speech discourse. Thus, the article both reveals the complexities of the Morrison government's discursive positioning of free speech, and renders sensible the otherwise nonsensical way in which 'free speech' was used to garner support for a range of public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the presence of techno-scientific issues within public discourse, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This proliferation has been attributed to the pervasive attention economy, which drives actors in hybrid media ecosystems to seek attention-grabbing topics. Socio-technical issues, known to evoke strong emotions like outrage and rivalry, have become recurring themes in both news and social media discussions. However, the regulatory mechanisms of the attention economy often impede the full exploration of these controversies in the public sphere, as news cycles and audience attention accelerate due to the prioritization of engaging content on social media platforms. This trend towards attention-driven content has compelled news organizations to adapt their business models, resulting in an environment where citizens may rely on confirmation bias, ultimately leading to polarization of public opinion. Consequently, effectively addressing controversies in today’s public debate has become increasingly challenging. To understand the extent of influence exerted by junk news – a transient form of content that distracts rather than nourishes public discourse – we conducted a case study focused on the controversy surrounding the adverse and lethal side effects of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during the vaccination campaign in Italy. Our analysis, based on a comprehensive dataset of 798,954 tweets and 31,169 news articles spanning a six-month period, reveals three interconnected information disorders. Firstly, the vaccine debate displayed a relatively stagnant progression punctuated by sporadic spikes of attention. Secondly, the peaks of the debate involved sensationalized coverage in journalism and amplified discussions on Twitter, primarily centred around suspected vaccine-related deaths. Lastly, reports of these deaths by legacy media accounts on Twitter correlated with an increasing ideological and partisan reaction from social media users over time, contributing to polarization. These findings shed light on how the junk news regime can impede the shaping of public debates, particularly on contentious socio-technical issues such as vaccination campaigns. The implications of this research extend to the broader understanding of public engagement with science and the challenges posed by attention-driven media ecosystems.

In the irrigated areas of Mendoza province, located in the central-west region of Argentina, trees play a central role in the construction of places and the definition of identity. The landscape, understood in a relational and historical sense, emerges as an interesting category for analyzing how material and discursive phenomena and dynamics shape environments that are considered characteristic of an identity. Based on a study of historical and current discourses and materialities regarding the formation of the forest landscape in the central-northern region of the province (currently known as the northern oasis), our objective is to analyze the role of these plants in the shaping and consolidation of distinctive environments, ways of experiencing these landscapes, and ethnic and provincial identities. The historical analysis is approached through a synthesis of archaeological and documentary data, which allows for the delineation and distinction of indigenous, colonial, and modern landscape formations. Current materialities are analyzed through agronomic studies, environmental reports produced by state agencies or provincial legislations, and own records. Discourses are examined through research in local media, web forums, and public debates. This article provides a synthesis and new insights on the topic, particularly by discussing various previously isolated sources. This holistic and historically informed analysis allows us to observe how narratives and materialities are intertwined in the unique construction of the forest landscape in Mendoza’s irrigated areas, shaping a distinct environment, experience, and identity in the study region, impacting various fields of knowledge and practice.

Assez méconnues dans leur diversité, les procédures d’initiative populaire sont de plus en plus présentes dans les constitutions des États. Permettant aux citoyens d’être plus directement impliqués dans le processus normatif et dans le contrôle de l’activité de leurs représentants, de telles procédures tentent de répondre à la défiance citoyenne et de donner plus de légitimité à la manière dont fonctionnent les démocraties. Dans les travaux de recherche, elles sont généralement appréhendées à travers l’étude d’un système juridique en particulier ou d’un type de mécanisme. Ainsi, les procédures de référendum d’initiative populaire, appelées « initiatives populaires directes », ont tendance à mobiliser les commentaires de la doctrine et des médias en raison de leur visibilité et de la radicalité de certains sujets adoptés. Les initiatives populaires indirectes, ou d’agenda, sont beaucoup moins étudiées et pourtant sont souvent présentes à l’échelle nationale et même supranationale, à l’instar de l’Initiative citoyenne européenne. Les initiatives suspensives ou abrogatives sont également prévues dans certains États mais, à l’exception de l’Italie et de la Suisse, font l’objet de peu de commentaires. Les procédures révocatoires, permettant notamment d’éprouver les choix effectués par les élus ou leur probité au cours d’un mandat, font l’objet d’études qui restent souvent cantonnées aux États-Unis. L’intérêt de cette contribution est de proposer une typologie des différentes formes d’initiatives populaires pour témoigner de la richesse des mécanismes consacrés en droit constitutionnel. Même si beaucoup de ces initiatives échouent à atteindre leur objectif premier, elles peuvent contribuer à sensibiliser les élus aux effets de leurs choix et comportements et attirer l’attention de l’ensemble de la communauté politique sur certains sujets.

This paper addresses contemporary political debate regarding the dispute over “right-wing populism”, the strong polarisation and cognitive credibility of the conflicting opinions, the controversial nature of its key concepts and intellectual conformism to the dominant climate of opinion. The key point of the entire text concerns the source of cognitive defects in contemporary criticism of “right-wing populism”. It expresses the author’s conviction that they result from the approval of the hegemonic aspirations of the liberal mind. The aim of the article has critical and apologetic aspects. The former refers to the style of polemics used regarding dissenters against the liberal democratic consensus, which discredits it with the stigmatising epithet “populism”. The latter applies to this tradition of understanding the origins and nature of Western freedom (present, for example, in the Tory traditionalists of the “Peterhouse School” also known as the “Salisbury Group”), which emphasises not only the importance but also the vitality of the premodern political legacy. The analyses contained in the article represent an interpretative theoretical approach. The article uses a comparative and historical method. The research procedure here includes, among others, the confrontation not only between different opinions, but also the clash of two historical perspectives, i.e. the contemporary discussion on “right-wing populism” and, in the longer term, debate on democracy and liberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the last decade, journalism has progressively incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into several processes: information analysis, content extraction, audience research, and automated copywriting, among others. ChatGPT, which has a great capacity for interacting with people through natural language and providing a response to almost any topic, focuses on content creation. This significant technological advancement rekindles the debate on whether machines will replace humans, including journalists. Focusing on the case of the Spanish press and using the framework of studying media participation in the public debate, we are interested in the press's reaction to ChatGPT's launch. Specifically, we asked the following questions: What were the issues that dominated the debate, and what voices were called upon to express their opinions? The stream of opinion on this issue was analyzed from a communication studies and discourse analysis perspective, starting with the identification of opinion statements expressed in articles of various journalistic genres conveyed by the press during the first 100 days since the launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022. We worked with 176 press articles that addressed the subject in five Spanish generalist newspapers. The results showed that the flow of opinion developed from 8 subtopics and 11 groups of voices. The prevailing opinion during this period was that ChatGPT is an extraordinary technological milestone, even if it makes mistakes that reveal the technology's immaturity. The main shortcomings identified were the inability to distinguish between what is true and what is false, its tendency to function as a black box, and its failure to account for the sources it uses. However, owing to the business potential that it heralds, it is clear that a real war for the dominance of AI has broken out, which makes it necessary to put regulations in place to reduce the risks of malicious use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversial "gain-of-function" research (GoFR) aims to improve understanding of human health by studying behavior of genetically altered viruses in laboratory experiments. GoFR proponents tout its potential to support public health disease surveillance, drug development and vaccine innovation, while skeptics warn that unplanned laboratory release of genetically altered pathogens could harm millions in pandemics caused by science. Public interest in GoFR grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, as theories circulated that SARS-CoV-2 was the result of GoFR conducted at China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. Analysis of a 2015 public debate on GoFR research, reconstructed according to pragma-dialectical argumentation theory, sheds light on the increasingly salient scientific controversy and contributes to the growing literature on argumentation and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The relevance of this topic is determined by the need to develop ef-fective mechanisms for socio-political interaction and practices for responding to social demands, the importance of which increases at the crisis stages of the development of so-ciety. The purpose of the study is to analyze the discussion of the draft Constitution of 1977 by the population of Penza region and the reaction of the authorities as a reflection of the process of formation of Soviet identity at the end of the modern era. Separate aspects of the problem are: the study of the procedure for conducting the discussion, as well as the content of the proposals and comments of Soviet citizens. Materials and methods. The study was carried out on the materials of the fund r-2038 (Executive Committee of Penza Regional Council of People’s Deputies) of the State Archives of Penza Region. The methodological tools of the new political history, orienting the researcher to the “psychologization” of the problem, to “biased” attention to the strategies of behavior and thinking, to mass political culture, was applied in this article. The focus of modern researchers is everyday life, symbolism and semantics, the space of communication and information exchange, which is due to the “practical”, “cultural” and “linguistic” turns of humanitarian knowledge. One of the key tools in this regard is the formation of group identity as a special construct, identical to a certain set of values and aspirations. Results. The goals and objectives, the mechanism for conducting a “nationwide discussion” of the Constitution of 1977 on the materials of Penza region are studied. A comparative analysis of the basic constructs of mass political culture in the USSR in the 1930s and 1970s has been carried out. The content components of the Soviet identity of the late USSR are described. Conclusions. Another mobilization cam-paign, which manifested the formation of the “ideal Soviet man”, revealed the discrepancy between imaginary and real practices and provoked an undesirable surge of social activity. In addition, the regional dimension of mass political culture in the period of “mature socialism” allows us to conclude that there are innovative elements characteristic of post-economic civilization: technocracy, creativity, the unconditional priority of education and culture.

Gene drive is an emerging biotechnology with applications in global health, conservation and agriculture. Scientists are preparing for field trials, triggering debate about when and how to release gene-drive organisms. These decisions depend on public understandings of gene drive, which are shaped by language. While some studies on gene drive communication assume the need to persuade publics of expert definitions of gene drive, we highlight the importance of meaning-making in communication and engagement. We conducted focus groups with humanities and science teachers in the United Kingdom and United States to explore how different media framings stimulated discussions of gene drive. We found diversity in the value of these framings for public debate. Interestingly, the definition favoured by gene drive scientists was the least popular among participants. Rather than carefully curating language, we need opportunities for publics to make sense and negotiate the meanings of a technology on their own terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the irrigated areas of Mendoza province, located in the centralwest region of Argentina, trees play a central role in the construction of places and the definition of identity. The landscape, understood in a relational and historical sense, emerges as an interesting category for analyzing how material and discursive phenomena and dynamics shape environments that are considered characteristic of an identity. Based on a study of historical and current discourses and materialities regarding the formation of the forest landscape in the central-northern region of the province (currently known as the northern oasis), our objective is to analyze the role of these plants in the shaping and consolidation of distinctive environments, ways of experiencing these landscapes, and ethnic and provincial identities. The historical analysis is approached through a synthesis of archaeological and documentary data, which allows for the delineation and distinction of indigenous, colonial, and modern landscape formations. Current materialities are analyzed through agronomic studies, environmental reports produced by state agencies or provincial legislations, and own records. Discourses are examined through research in local media, web forums, and public debates. This article provides a synthesis and new insights on the topic, particularly by discussing various previously isolated sources. This holistic and historically informed analysis allows us to observe how narratives and materialities are intertwined in the unique construction of the forest landscape in Mendoza's irrigated areas, shaping a distinct environment, experience, and identity in the study region, impacting various fields of knowledge and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of global mobility regimes, some bodies are encouraged to move while others are pushed back. Nation-states create control mechanisms to block those who are "undesirable". Apart from political utility, the colour of the bodies is indicated by the critics as the main criterion of division. However, one more important dimension that intersects with race here is the gender of these bodies. A woman fits the figure of an ideal victim better due to the nationalist patterns of femininity: she is vulnerable, submissive, and deprived of agency. Contrary to a man: his duty in the context of war is to remain in his homeland and fight for it. A man who does not do that, seeking asylum in Europe, is morally doubtful: he is a migrant posing a threat to "our" prosperity and security. This is how people crossing the Polish-Belarusian border are presented to public opinion and contrasted with female Ukrainian refugees. The article offers a critical analysis of gender representations of refugees in the Polish public debate through the prism of postcolonial theory, demonstrating that gendered and racialised colonial discourses underpin rationalisations about who has and who does not have a right to be a refugee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Prudentia Iuris is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we developed a digital methods mapping of the controversy arises from the adoption of the so-called "Green Pass" in Italy Adopting an "agnostic" approach to our object of study, we used a well-established research design: namely, to collect all the tweets that contain words related to conversations about the green pass in Italy (e.g.: green pass, #greenpass). In this way, the sample collected amounts to 4.307.487 tweets, published between June 15, 2021, and December 15, 2021. To bring out the "voices" of the different actors involved in the controversy we adopted a quali-quantitative approach: on the one hand, by means of computational techniques, we reconstructed the structural relations in which the actors are involved and its evolution over time; on the other hand, by means of content analysis we enriched our map with an interpretation of the discourse surrounding the controversy. Finally, these cartographic results are discussed considering the Italian media system functioning, in order to understand how its conformation may have influenced the public debate concerning the green pass.

Despite the growing importance of new technologies, research on individual opinion formation in the digital domain is still in its infancy. This article empirically examines citizens’ use of social media in the context of direct democracy. Based on previous work, we expect men to form their opinions on social media more frequently than women (gender gap hypothesis). In the second step, we focus on the contextual level by examining the role campaigns play in reducing this discrepancy. More specifically, we hypothesize that the presumed gender gap narrows in accordance with the increasing intensity of public debates that precede ballots (interaction hypothesis). The empirical analysis draws on 13 post-ballot surveys held at Switzerland’s federal level from 2016 to 2020 and supports both the gender gap and the interaction hypotheses.

The objective of this article is to analyze the structure and evolution of public debate on drug policy in Brazil between 2003 and 2016. To do so we analyzed 306 articles in the newspaper Zero Hora. The analysis shows significant changes in the public debate on the "drug problem" in the country in the past decade. More specifically, it shows that public debate tends to be more heterogeneous, in terms of agents and framings, than what is expressed in the current drug policy. Identifying and analyzing this heterogeneity is important for understanding the controversies and positions in dispute concerning drug policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Politics and history are closely intertwined and historians play a vital role in British public life. Yet, British political history, which has a critical contribution to make for understanding British politics today, faces two urgent challenges. First, academic history has retreated from subjects that remain hugely popular in media and trade publishing and of interest to social scientists, such as the histories of political institutions and formal power structures. Second, political history is disconnected from innovative trends in the wider historiography of modern Britain. Combined, these issues leave political historians in an ambiguous position in relation to the wider field, to other academic disciplines and to contemporary political debates. After discussing these challenges, this introduction surveys this special issue, which reflects on what (if anything) is distinctive about political history as practised today, and what its contribution to historiography, social science and public life should be. It ends by posing key questions for historians of all methodological stripes who investigate Britain's political past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerial sciences are generally considered to be the art of efficiently running business. Their influence, though, extends far beyond the corporate sphere, and they play an important part in public administration and in particular in its dialog with society at large. Here, from the viewpoint of historical institutionalism, we document one of the earliest successful examples of the wider application of management science: the 1914 antitrust rules (the Clayton Antitrust and Federal Trade Commission Acts) from the perspectives of economic scholars as technical experts, the early years of the Wilson administration, and the spheres of business and society. The societal debate about business and efficiency and the successive implementation of scientific managerial ideas in the administrative sphere, saw management science permeate the whole of American society and become an almost irrefutable aspect of everyday life and representations, thereby enabling it to spread well beyond the boundaries of the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Aussen- und Sicherheitspolitik is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As the ecological crisis deepen, new environmental controversies emerge. Whereas traditional environmental conflicts mostly concern socio-economic interests clashing with environmental protection, recent conflicts are increasingly pitting different environmental considerations against each other. These green conflicts have received scattered attention in the scholarly literature, mostly in the form of case studies in relation to renewable energy plants, such as wind turbines and solar panels. However, there is a need for more systematic approaches to conceptualize the green conflicts. This article embarks on that task by developing a typology of green conflicts as they appear in public discourse and mediated communication. We test the model on public debates on four different topics: national parks, organic farming, wind turbines, and nuclear energy. Our data suggests that green conflicts can increasingly be found across a wide range of environmental and climate change issues. However, green conflicts are not simply replacing traditional environmental conflicts, but are rather adding new layers to environmental controversies by reconfiguring conflict lines, actor positions, spatial scales, and temporalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journalism is presented as fundamental to democratic accountability in that news media are both able and expected to hold power to account. Such normative expectations, which justify the protections given journalists and news media, are most frequently studied with regards to state power as the natural object of press scrutiny. This article reports on a successful effort to conduct a replicable analysis of a paradigmatic case of corporate power, the UK chicken meat production industry, that asked whether and how newspapers hold corporate power to account. The analytic framework that we developed to support our two-stage framing analysis decomposed accountability into problematization, causal interpretation and attributions of responsibility, thus allowing us to systematically describe how newspapers shape the public debates in a large heterogeneous dataset. We examined a census of relevant articles from seven UK outlets published between 1985 and 2016 (N = 766). While we were pleased to find that our method, if labor intensive, was fully workable, we were concerned to find that media practice was not compatible with holding corporate power to account. These findings raise serious concerns at the levels of this case, for media practice and for media scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing importance of new technologies, research on individual opinion formation in the digital domain is still in its infancy. This article empirically examines citizens' use of social media in the context of direct democracy. Based on previous work, we expect men to form their opinions on social media more frequently than women (gender gap hypothesis). In the second step, we focus on the contextual level by examining the role campaigns play in reducing this discrepancy. More specifically, we hypothesize that the presumed gender gap narrows in accordance with the increasing intensity of public debates that precede ballots (interaction hypothesis). The empirical analysis draws on 13 post-ballot surveys held at Switzerland's federal level from 2016 to 2020 and supports both the gender gap and the interaction hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]