Young people,social media and connective action: from organisational maintenance to everyday political talk

Social media is pervasive in the lives of young people, and this paper critically analyses how politically engaged young people integrate social media use into their existing organisations and political communications. This qualitative research project studied how young people from a broad range of existing political and civic groups use social media for sharing information, mobilisation and, increasingly, as a means to redefine political action and political spaces. Twelve in-person focus groups were conducted in Australia, the USA and the UK with matched affinity groups based on university campuses. The groups were of four types: party political group, issue-based group, identity-based group and social group. Our focus group findings suggest that this in-depth approach to understanding young people's political engagement reveals important group-based differences emerging in young people's citizenship norms: between the dutiful allegiance to formal politics and a more personalised, self-actualising preference for online, discursive forms of political engagement and organising. The ways in which political information is broadcast, shared and talked about on social media by engaged young people demonstrate the importance of communicative forms of action for the future of political engagement and connective action.     

Humor and satire in politics: Introducing cultural sociology to the field

The landscape of political humor and satire is changing rapidly, and it is becoming an increasingly relevant aspect of our culture. Although scholars have been actively trying to capture this change, majority of the existing frameworks for understanding humor and satire in politics still reduce these phenomena to mere genres or rhetoric tools. In addition, they provide insufficient accounts concerning the reception of humor and satire, and neglect to interpret and explain what they communicate. In the article, a general understanding of humor and satire outside of a political context, followed by an overview of studies discussing humor and satire in politics through their applications in social movements, as leadership tools, and through their manifestations in mass media has been presented. Lastly, a cultural sociological perspective to the field has been introduced. It has been argued that approaching humor and satire in politics through a structural hermeneutic method of the Strong Program will enable us to recognize and treat political humor and satire as autonomous and complex cultural systems which carry an internal power to move people.     

Contextual identity experiencing facilitates resilience in Native American academics

This article discusses the socio-cultural dynamics that interact with ethno-racial identity experiencing in a previously under-researched group. A qualitative interdisciplinary study with 40 Native American academics from 28 mainstream universities across the U.S. served as a case example with findings that contrasted with historically influential theoretical frameworks postulating identity confusion and conflicts at the intersection of one’s mainstream education and profession versus one’s ethno-racial community grounding. Instead of feeling pressure to identify with only one worldview, the contextual, dynamic identities associated with the inclusive and flexible self-concept of tribal participants allowed them to in turn take advantage of two divergent cultural meaning systems pertaining to their distinct socio-cultural contexts. These shifts were experienced as not endogenous but rather exogenous variables, which did not cause the historically theorized issues. Participants felt their tribal identities instead facilitated meaningful integration of the existing incongruences, which resulted in unexpectedly resilient subjective experiencing.     

Becoming Custodial Dads: Exploring Parenting Among Low‐Income and Working‐Class African American Fathers

The authors use an ecological framework and grounded theoretical analysis to explore the circumstances in which working‐class and low‐income custodial African American fathers gain custody of their children, their transition from part‐time to full‐time parents, and the role of support networks in enhancing or inhibiting these men's parenting. Twenty‐four men from an impoverished Midwestern urban area participated in the study. The findings suggest that these men, and perhaps others sharing their demographic profiles, generally become parents by default and are often reluctant to take on a full‐time, single parenting role. Adaptation to the role seems to be enhanced by these men's use of extended kin support networks and shared living arrangements. However, low wages, a lack of sufficient assistance from public assistance programs, and informal custody arrangements often inhibit their fathering.     

公民·公民教育·思想政治教育

公民概念在西方由来已久 ,它直接与国家相连并被认为是政治民主的一个关键因素。西方公民教育的核心 ,就是通过政治社会化形成公民意识。我国传统上只有臣民而无公民和公民教育 ,民国建立后所实施的公民教育也不成体系。真正将公民教育单独提出并加以强调 ,是在我国社会的转型时期。在社会主义市场经济条件下 ,立足于公民的塑造 ,培养公民的意识、观念与精神 ,是思想政治教育与时俱进、顺应时代发展的客观要求     

"20世纪文艺复兴"的重要篇章--两次大战期间的美国小说思潮述评

两次世界大战期间的美国小说,成就尤显卓著.它作为综合体现美利坚民族文化意识的最重要文学样式,充分显示了美国文学的现代性、多样性和独创性,并从不同的侧面,反映了发达的资本主义社会背景下的各种冲突和矛盾,刻印着社会心理嬗变的轨迹.     

论美国宪法政治形成发展的基础

美国宪法政治形成和发展的原因 ,在于有英国立宪政治的深厚文化与思想做基础 ,在于社会各群体有在法治状态下生活的习惯和传统。济济的法律人才在国家政治制度的设计上起了主导作用 ;社会经济制度为美国的宪法政治确立与发展奠定了坚固的基础 ;国家不豢养和保存大规模的常备军 ,人民的代议机关能牢牢控制国家武装力量 ,尤其能控制国家武装力量的经济命脉。另外 ,北美独立运动不是一场专制王权与民主力量之间的冲突与斗争 ,而是一场殖民地力量壮大以后争取分离的运动     

试论美国电影中的英雄情结

“英雄类”影片是好莱坞制造的最具轰动效应的神话之一。本文拟对美国影片中塑造的各类英雄形象加以梳理与阐释 ,并进而对这些英雄片背后的英雄情结进行剖析 ,以期管窥美国影片中一些深层文化心理机制     

一曲美国南方没落贵族的挽歌--评威廉·福克纳的《喧嚣与骚动》

《喧嚣与骚动》是美国现代著名作家威廉·福克纳的惊世之作。在小说中 ,福克纳刻画了一幅美国旧南方贵族没落的图景 ,为没落的旧南方贵族弹奏了一曲凄凉的挽歌 ,深刻地揭示了美国旧南方的衰败。本文从不同的角度来体现小说深刻的思想主题及作品鲜明的艺术特色     

英美法系和大陆法系刑事陪审制度功能之比较

陪审制度的功能是陪审制度得以存在和延续的理由 ,笔者首先剖析了陪审制度的沿革及其发展趋势 ;进而阐述陪审制度在两大法系中共有的功能 ;最后分别阐述英美法系和大陆法系刑事陪审制度功能