James Dennis at PSA: Welcome to the Afterparty

The NPCU’s James Dennis will present this week at the Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual International Conference, ‘The Party’s Over?’, in Cardiff. Full details of his paper below. 

Tuesday 26th Match, 14:00-15:30

Panel title: Media and Politics 2: Technology and Development

Function Room B

Welcome to the Afterparty: 38 Degrees, Social Media and the Rise of New Repertoires of Political Engagement

This paper will examine the role of emerging, digitally-focused organisations in facilitating political engagement through their use of social media. A case study has been conducted of the British advocacy group 38 Degrees and their national campaign against corporate sponsors for the London 2012 Olympics benefitting from a tax-break, and local campaigns lobbying Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) to adopt constitutional amendments. 

Building on the theoretical contributions of Bennett and Segerberg, Chadwick, and Papacharissi, this paper will argue that low-threshold interactions conducted online are not ineffective and narcissistic acts of slacktivism, but integral components within a scaled continuum of participation. The paper will illustrate the evolving perception of what constitutes political involvement, formed as a result of the convergence of the public and private, and decline of a static, collective political consciousness. This has been replaced by a more reflexive, individually-defined notion of political identity. Maximising personal efficacy has become a priority and subsequently individuals are being driven from traditional structures of participation to new territories. The digitally-networked platforms employed by 38 Degrees provide the optimum space for engagement with these personalised political issues.

O'Loughlin to speak at Glasgow conference on Memory, History and Conflict

Borges' AlephOn 18-19 March the University of Glasgow is hosting a conference on Memory, History & Conflict. Ben O'Loughlin has been invited to present a paper, Images of the World, Images of Conflict. The abstract is below. At the time of writing, a few places are left at the conference for the 18th - register for free here. 

Images of the World, Images of Conflict

In the short story Pascale's Sphere Borges wrote, “universal history is the history of a few metaphors.” The history of world politics certainly seems marked by a few recurring concepts and metaphors: the universal and the particular, the inside and the outside, the balance of power, and the ideal of symmetry and actuality of chaos. Across eras, these concepts have shaped the image of world politics held by leaders, citizens and scholars. Such concepts are abstract but become visualized through diplomacy, war and cartography and through the lived experience of world affairs. For critical scholars of International Relations, these concepts and the images they translate into are responsible for conflict, for they become concrete in the states, borders and security dilemmas that propel us from conflict to conflict. It follows that there is a relationship between “the image of world politics” and actual visual images of world politics; between abstract, conceptual understandings of the ontology and mechanics of International Relations and the horrific news and events we witness every day. Borges concludes his story, ‘Perhaps universal history is the history of the various intonations of a few metaphors.’ If so, we are doomed to variations on the same bleak events and the practice of international relations is ultimately tragic, as many of its founders believed. 

We are recruiting: 4 new tenured posts

The New Political Communication Unit at Royal Holloway is based in the Department of Politics and International Relations, which is hiring four new tenured/permanent posts. We hope to receive applications in the field of Political Communication and related areas. Details below.

Department of Politics and International Relations

Lecturer in Politics

Lecturer in International Relations

Lecturer in Politics or International Relations (Quantitative Methods)

Senior Lecturer/Reader in International Relations

Lecturer salary is in the range £39,516 to 46,741 per annum inclusive of London Allowance

Senior Lecturer/Reader salary is in the range £48,075 to £55,367 per annum inclusive of London Allowance

The Department of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, invites applications for four posts, three at Lecturer and the fourth at Senior Lecturer/ Reader level.

We welcome applicants whose research includes a broad range of theoretical and methodological approaches, including, as indicated by the listing of posts above, candidates able to teach and research using advanced quantitative methods. The department has particular interest in research and teaching in the following areas: American Politics; Asia and the Middle East; Development; Elections, Public Opinion and Parties; International Organizations; International Security; Political Communication; Public Policy.

Successful candidates will be expected to contribute to foundational teaching at undergraduate and/or postgraduate level, as well as offer specialist option courses in their particular fields. They will have an established record of research excellence, or demonstrable potential for such excellence.

For the junior positions it is expected that the successful appointees will have been awarded their PhDs by September 1, 2013.

These are full time and permanent posts, available from September 2013. This post is based in Egham, Surrey where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London.

 

For an informal discussion about the posts please contact the Chair of the Search Committee: Dr Nathan Widder (Head of Department), preferably by email on n.e.widder@rhul.ac.uk. See also our department website: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/politicsandir/

To view further details of these posts and to apply please visit https://rhul.engageats.co.uk. The RHUL Recruitment Team can be contacted with queries by email at: recruitment@rhul.ac.uk or via telephone on: +44 (0)1784 41 4241.

Please quote the appropriate reference:    

Lecturer in Politics -Ref: X0213/7189

Lecturer in International Relations -Ref: X0213/4775

Lecturer in Politics or International Relations (Quantitative Methods) -Ref: X0213/7188

Senior Lecturer/Reader in International Relations -Ref: X0213/6839

Closing Date:  Midnight, 26th March 2013

Interview Date: Interviews are expected to take place in late April 2013.

The College is committed to equality and diversity, and encourages applications from all sections of the community.

Seminar on Tuesday 19 Feb: The New Mass: The Return of Political Collectivity?

Neurosis in mass society America, from Crooks & Liars

On 19 February at 5.15pm Ben O'Loughlin will present the early stages of his new work with Andrew Hoskins. Please join, details below.

The new mass: the return of political collectivity?

Department of Politics and International Relations: Seminar Series 2013

Founders West room 101

5.15pm – 6.30pm

For information on further seminars please click here.

Ben O'Loughlin to address Council of Europe hearing on Internet and Politics

Ben O’Loughlin has agreed to make a formal contribution to the hearing on “Internet and politics: the impact of new information and communication technology on democracy” that will take place at the Council of Europe in Paris on 11 March 2013, from 2 pm to 5.30 pm. Ben will discuss the impact of the Internet on political communication and political mobilization and the challenges of e-democracy. These include:

  • Changes in communication patterns provoked by new information technologies, such as the blurred frontier between public and private space and socialization/democratization of information and knowledge.
  • Impact on people’s political mobilization, from the “flash mobs” to the Arab Spring.
  • Changes in the relationship between political forces and electorates, for instance in the selection of leaders and candidates, in the marketing of party programmes, and the rise of a new kinds of parties such as the Pirates or the Italian Cinque Stelle (five stars).
  • New possibilities for citizens to participate in decision making.

The other invited experts are Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz, Director of the Hans-Bredow-Institut für Medienforschung, Hamburg, and Prof. Patrice Flichy, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, Director of Réseaux.

2013-03-07: Andrew Chadwick Giving the 2013 Attallah Lecture, Carleton University, Ottawa

I am excited to announce that I will be giving the 2013 Attallah Lecture at Carleton University on March 7, 2013. The Lecture takes place annually in honour of Paul Attallah and is part of Carleton's Communication Graduate Caucus Annual Conference, whose theme this year is [Re]visions: Protest and Resistance.

Many thanks to Carleton's CGC and to the Faculty of the School of Journalism and Communication for inviting me. It is a real honour and I very much look forward to participating in the conference.

Attallah Lecture specifics:

Date: Thursday, March 7, 2013.
Time: 6:30 PM.
Location: National Arts Centre, Ottawa, 53 Elgin Street, at Confederation Square, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5W1, Canada.
Free and open to the public.
Map.

Christopher Boerl's new article: "From Monologue to Dialogue: How the Internet is Empowering the Evangelical Periphery" in iCS

Christopher Boerl, who was recently awarded his PhD for research he carried out here in the New Political Communication Unit, has a new article out in Information, Communication and Society. Here is the abstract and a link.

Abstract

Contrary to the effects of broadcast media, a medium through which American evangelicals were largely unified along conservative theological and political lines, this article explores how the Internet is empowering divergent religious movements within the evangelical community. As a result of this development, the previously unfettered authority of the Christian Right is being usurped and the religious monologue it once enjoyed is gone. Instead, today's evangelical media landscape is more diversified, more decentralized, and ultimately more politically moderate than it once was. Understanding this phenomenon is of central importance to this article.

Link.

2012-11-29: Andrew Chadwick Speaking at Westminster Event on the European Citizens' Initiative

A quick note to say that I'll be speaking at an event about the European Citizens' Initiative in central London this coming Thursday, November 29. 

Organized by the European Parliament Information Office, held at Europe House, Smith Square, Westminster, and entitled Can Digital Democracy Work? the meeting will consist of MEPs and representatives from the Officer of the Leader of the House of Commons, 38 Degrees, and transnational civil society movement, European Alternatives.

More details at the European Parliament Information Office site and links to a series of articles to accompany the event (including one by me), published by The Independent.

If you would like to attend the discussion, please RSVP to Agnieszka.PIELA@ext.ec.europa.eu

Links:
European Citizens' Initiative.
Article for The Independent.
38 Degrees.
European Alternatives.
Timothy Kirkhope MEP.

Tomorrow: O'Loughlin at UWS: Post-Fukushima Activism & the Mediality of Critique

Ben O'Loughlin is the invited speaker at tomorrow's Digital Media Research Seminar at the School of Humanities & Communication Arts, University of Western Sydney. His presentation explores how media have been used in the expression of critiques by activist groups in Japan since the 3/11 disaster. It draws on research in progress with Chris Perkins at the University of Edinburgh, who completed his PhD here at the NPCU. Details of the talk are below. If you're in Sydney, drop in.

Date: Thursday 15 November
Time: 1-3pm
Venue: EB2.21 Parramatta Campus, UWS, Cnr of James Ruse Drive and Victoria Road, Rydalmere.

All welcome.

 

Post-Fukushima Activism and Global Indignation: The Mediality of Critique in Japan

This paper explores how digital media and political claims-making enabled activists in Japan to link their critique of the Japanese state to activism around the world in 2011, including the Indignados in Spain and uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. The Japanese government was found lacking both in its pre-disaster planning and its inability to form a convincing strategic narrative about Japan’s future that could rally citizens after the 3/11 disaster. In response, activists and opposition voices started to drill down from specific policy complaints to the constitutive arrangements of the polity itself. This is a more abstract level of justification and one that is more easily linked to global struggles. This paper explores how these critical operations were launched from diverse political positions and through different medial practices and media forms, including Sakaguchi Kyohei’s best-selling book How to Build an Independent Country, film by the Radioactivists, the 'Sayonara Genpatsu' (Goodbye Nuclear Power) movement, and digital self-publishing by individual citizens. The paper applies an analytical framework derived from Boltanski and Thevenot’s work to examine how critique and justification operate through media ecologies marked by modulating experiences of distance, proximity, insecurity and uncertainty.