Everyday Virtuality: A Multimodal Analysis of Political Participation and Newsworthiness

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital interactions ceased to be "just another form of communication”;indeed, they became the only means of social interaction, mediated and driven by information and communication technologies (ICTs). Consequently, working in a digital context switched from being a phenomenon to be studied to the primary means of socializing and the primary workspace for researchers. This study explores four different methodologies to question how discursive interactions related to power and newsworthiness may be addressed in digital contexts. The multimodal approach was reviewed through the affordances of critical discourse analysis, issue ownership and salience, morphological discourse analysis, and protest event analysis. It starts by theoretically addressing concepts of multimodality and phenomenology by focusing on the implications of both perspectives. It examines publications and interactions in digital contexts in Ecuador from March 2017 to December 2020 within three political phenomena. The results of the analysis of these publications and interactions suggest that when analyzing political participation and newsworthiness, the virtual becomes a subjective space. Moreover, qualitative research is one of the primary ways to combine multimodality with other forms of discourse analysis. This paper concludes that perceptions, practices, and meanings assigned to social online representations can be better analyzed through multimodality, which tackles the intertwined characteristics of virtual discourses. © 2023 by the authors.

Covid-19: Informational Inequality and Democracy

The crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic magnified social asymmetries. Declining income, greater ex-posure to unemployment, job instability, increased gender ine-qualities, collapse of public healthcare, and worse performance in learning and educational equality are some consequences of the increase in global inequality. This contribution defends the idea that inequity also manifested itself as informational inequality. In this context, where the weighing of information became more complex, and epistemic and axiological aspects of risk culture emerged with singular clarity, social identity affected the ability to evaluate technical and political facts. So-cial groups with less education and income had a more restricted informational diet, with an emphasis on social networks, less knowledge about the virus, ambivalence about the measures to be taken, or difficulties in considering the quality of media and institutional information. In short, they were more exposed to disinformation campaigns, particularly intensified with the rise of social networks in the world of digital capitalism. On an indi-vidual level, this asymmetry conspires against the autonomy of people and their condition as citizens. On the collective level, it threatens the scope and quality of scientific-technological culture and democratic governance. It is necessary to discuss the relationship between disinformation and democracy, and to reappraise the role of political participation for governance and of education for autonomy, thought, and the development of a cosmopolitan civic ethic.

The political field of the youths in Colombia in time of pandemic

This investigation has as main objective to describe to the political field of the youths of Colombia in times of the pandemic of the Covid-19, based on the social-legal study of the issue of the omission of the youths as political subjects for part of the legislator and the executive, in the decision making of general interest that directly affects them during the states of exception and that demonstrate faults of the political representation and the abuse of the administrative power in the management of the adopted measures in this conjuncture. The investigation apply a qualitative, reflexive, and of socio-legal carácter, through which it defends that the recognize of the youths as politics sujets and their paper in the politic are a social field in dispute. In the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu, the youths are excluded of the politic. In this orden, exist a reproduction of the inequality between adults and youths as also between the same youths. The originals results of this research allows to demonstrate the thesis bourdiana in the colombian case. In this sense, the investigation concludes that low the exceptional juvenile legal system impost with the exception state during the pandemic, the political treatment of the youths have been given of form vertical, universal and homogenizing with base in the absolute power of police of the state;while low this oppressor regimen exist a rule of the political structural inequiality. © 2022 Centro Universitario de Brasilia. All rights reserved.

The Why and Whither of Asian American Studies: Toward a Reckoning

Yuri Kochiyama (1921–2014) On March 11, 2020, roughly three months after the first death attributed to the newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus was confirmed in Wuhan, China, the World Health Organization elevated its characterization of the ensuing outbreaks from "public health emergency of international concern" (PHEIC) to global pandemic. [...]we editors, along with the contributors to this special issue, acknowledge from the outset that the formation of Asian American studies—along with ethnic studies and gender/sexuality studies—was first and foremost a paradigmatic endeavor, one that, as Lisa Lowe productively characterizes it, remains "key to thinking in comparative relational ways about race, power, and interconnected colonialisms. More than a few students found themselves spending more time in the community than in school. [...]were born a host of Asian American community organizations and services, as well as an increasing vector of Asian American political activism in defense of our communities. "4 Such reckonings, intimately tied to the formation of Asian American studies as a critical race-based interdiscipline born out of 1960s civil rights movements and liberation fronts, encapsulate the field's aspirational politics.

"Virtual Ethnic Town Hall": WeChat and Suburban Chinese Migrants' Multidirectional Activism

The so-called rise of the Chinese American right, particularly suburban migrants from mainland China who have become vocal in local and national politics, has gained both public and scholarly attention in recent years. This article focuses on a suburban Chinese community in Greater Boston and examines its 2017 and 2018 debates on WeChat (the most popular social media platform among ethnic Chinese) concerning the controversial Asian American data disaggregation bill H.3361. Along with in-depth interviews with community members and activists, these WeChat discussions show four different and subtle positions on the bill, revealing that suburban Chinese migrants are not a monolithic group and those opposing the bill are not always conservatives. Although some observers describe WeChat as the "virtual Chinatown," this article argues that it has been a "virtual ethnic town hall" where migrants can debate community issues, understand American society, and practice democracy. This article also provides a much-needed analysis of the sending country's impacts on migrants' views of race, class, mobility, and sovereignty. It ends with migrants' responses to more recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing China-bashing and anti-Asian hate (including the proposed WeChat ban), highlighting the community's vociferousness and resilience in defending its rights and redefining its identity at a historical crossroads. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of American Ethnic History is the property of University of Illinois Press 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 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 . (Copyright applies to all s.)

More stress, less voice? The gender gap in political participation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Initial fears of a standstill in political participation during the COVID-19 pandemic have not come true. Nevertheless, the voices heard in politics may have changed in such a radically altered social and political context. Specifically, the current article examines whether the gender gap in political participation has widened during the pandemic, reinforcing the gendered impact of the pandemic and state measures to cope with it. To empirically assess the development and drivers of the gender gap in political participation, we rely on original survey data for Germany collected in autumn 2020 and spring 2021. Based on retrospective questions about pre-pandemic behaviour and a within-pandemic panel, our results indicate three points: (1) the COVID-19 crisis has slightly increased the gender gap in participation;(2) COVID-19-related burdens (such as increasing care obligations) have not restrained, but fostered, participation;and (3) this mobilising effect is, however, stronger among men than women. © European Conference on Politics and Gender and Bristol University Press 2023.

HOW YOUNG ACTIVISTS RESPONDED TO THE FIRST WAVE OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS IN ITALY: VARIATIONS ACROSS TRAJECTORIES OF PARTICIPATION

This study explores how young activists in Italy responded to the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic using sixteen longitudinal qualitative interviews conducted in 2018 and 2020. Our fieldwork suggests that the Covid-19 crisis did not resonate with any significant shift in the trajectory of participation. At the same time, three major empirical observations with regard to time reappropriation, care practices, and digital activism were made, all of which worked in different ways according to the interviewees' trajectories of participation. This research extends beyond the Covid-19 crisis and contributes to the literature on political participation by providing a way of investigating how activists respond to critical events in different ways depending on their trajectories of participation.

The impacts of COVID-19 on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and political action among socioeconomic classes

Economic inequality qualifies as a structural characteristic leading to political action, albeit this relationship manifests differently across socioeconomic classes. COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing economic inequalities in ways that increased social tensions and political unrest around the world. This research investigates the effect of COVID-19 personal impacts on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and individuals' political participation. An online survey was administered to an Italian representative sample of 1,446 people (51% women, mean age of 42.42 years, SD = 12.87). The questionnaire assessed the perceived economic inequality, the personal impacts of COVID-19 (i.e., on finance, mental health, and ability to procure resources), and individuals' involvement in political participation. Moderation analyses were conducted separately for different socioeconomic classes (i.e., lower, middle, and upper classes). Results showed that individuals who perceive greater economic inequality, while controlling for perceived wage gap, are more likely to take action, but only if they belong to the higher class. For lower-class individuals, perceiving greater inequality erodes political action. Interaction effects occurred mainly in the middle class and with COVID-19 impacts on resources procurement, which inhibits political action. Copyright © 2023 Vezzoli, Mari, Valtorta and Volpato.

Togo: Opposition Rally

An alliance of seven opposition parties in Togo held a peaceful rally on January 14th in the capital Lome, after two years of bans due to Covid restrictions or for security reasons. The DMK also organised a rally in November 2022 in Vogan, 67 km north of Lome. "We have shown that it is now possible to organise rallies in Lome and everywhere in Togo. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social & Cultural Series is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 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 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 . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Bureaucratic Sociability, or the Missing Eighty Percent of Effectiveness: The Case of Diplomacy

This paper examines and theorises sociability–‘the play-form of association'–in diplomatic settings. I highlight the workings of sociable interaction in diplomacy and I explain how we can better discern its broader role in bureaucratic processes. Empirically, I use virtual diplomacy during the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the difference that in-person sociability makes in diplomatic practice. The second half of the paper title references a comment by Michael Clauss, Germany's ambassador to the European Union. Asked about virtual diplomacy, Clauss said that Zoom diplomacy is ‘20% as effective' as the in-person kind. Conceptually, I use contemporary political geography and international relations as well as two thinkers of earlier decades–sociologists Georg Simmel and Erving Goffman–to theorise sociability. Methodologically, I advocate a more playful approach to sources in our study of professional practice. My objective is to prompt further study of sociability in bureaucratic settings. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

COVID-19 stressors, mental/emotional distress and political support

The effects of COVID-19 on democracy and mental health are still under investigation. In this article, it is considered that, on average, higher COVID-19 stressors and symptoms of distress are associated with lower political support and that higher COVID-19 stressors are associated with higher symptoms of mental/emotional distress. This formulation was tested by conducting two online surveys in Britain in August 2020 and March 2021. Strong support was found for this hypothesis. Greater worry about COVID-19 life changes is associated with a lower evaluation of government performance on the pandemic and with a lower perceived responsiveness of the political system;higher COVID-19 stress resulting from anti-pandemic measures is associated with a poorer evaluation of government performance and, subsequently, with less trust in government. It was also found that higher COVID-19 worry and stress were associated with more symptoms of mental/emotional distress. These findings highlight that pandemic-related stressors may influence people's political engagement and mental health.

Virtuosos of Mimesis and Mimicry: a Case Study of Movements Propagating Conspiracy Theories in Ireland and Poland

In recent years, conspiracy theories have been increasingly defined as a new social enemy, a threat to democracy. But scholars of conspiracy theories also point out that we have very little research that examines a direct link between conspiracy theories and political practice. We still know very little about the ways in which conspiratorial beliefs influence different forms of civic engagement and democratic participation. By examining Irish and Polish movements that endorse vaccination-related conspiracy theories, this article explores what relation they have to civil society. I argue that, in order to shed the negative label of conspiracy theories, such movements engage in the practices of mimesis and mimicry. According to Markus Hoehne, mimesis is a form of positive appraisal, an art of imitating well-established models of social and political organization. Mimicry, on the other hand, involves the deceptive imitation of such models in order to attain one's own political agenda. What, then, are the Covid-19 era protests: masters of mimicry or masters of mimesis?

Differentiation in Protest Politics: Participation by Political Insiders and Outsiders.

The political participation literature has documented a long-term trend of the normalization of noninstitutional participation that is often equated with the conventionalization of engagement in protest politics. Less is known on the extent to which noninstitutional forms are differentiated by their mobilization context. Population surveys find it difficult to contextualize individual engagement, and on-site surveys point to effects that are hard to generalize. This study fills this gap by emphasizing differentiation and distinguishing participation according to the issue of engagement. It introduces a conceptual distinction between political insiders and outsiders, defined based on the extent to which they are embedded in the organizational landscape of the dominant cleavage dimension. Using an original survey conducted in Germany during the Covid-19 crisis, the analysis demonstrates that general-population surveys are fit to examine issue-specific participation patterns. The results expose an insider and outsider divide, captured by the effect of attitudinal and behavioral indicators, and demonstrates that the two groups are equally likely to participate in noninstitutional forms. However, insiders engage on the established issues of climate and anti-racism, whereas outsiders engage on the new issues of Covid-19 related economic assistance and civil liberties restrictions. In addition, dynamic models reveal that noninstitutional participation is rooted in volatile issue preferences. Overall, the paper argues that participation during the Covid-19 crisis has furthered the trend towards a differentiated protest arena. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-022-09846-7.

The Asian American Vote in 2020: Indicators of Turnout and Vote Choice.

What were the indicators of voter turnout and presidential vote choice among Asian Americans in 2020? We argue that 2020 was a unique year in which race was salient for Asian Americans due to the rise of anti-Asian attitudes attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunity to elect a vice presidential candidate of Asian descent. Because of this, racial considerations played a unique role that informed Asian American political participation and attitudes in this election. Using data from the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we identify the individual-level factors associated with turnout and presidential vote choice among Asian Americans. We find that stronger perceptions of racial discrimination were related to a higher likelihood of turnout and voting in support of the Democratic Party, especially among Asian immigrants relative to the native-born. This study offers new insight for when we can expect racial considerations to inform the politics of Asian Americans, who are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and therefore an increasingly important bloc of the electorate. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-022-09844-9.

Research Agenda for Regional and Local Government, Edited by Mark Callanan and John Loughlin

Chapter 7, "Regional and local government and the European Union" by Mark Callanan and MichaëlTatham, also focuses on the European dimension of regionalization, looking at the mutual influence and interference between the EU and local government. I A Research Agenda for Regional and Local Government i is an edited book that aims to identify new trends and developments in regional and local governments in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008. [Extracted from the article]

Trust in Media and Technological Communication Tools During the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Study on Mexican Youth

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an undeniable acceleration of time when social distancing measures were in place. Digital natives are the population group that was most accustomed to online tools, which allowed them to stay in contact and carry out their daily activities during the most critical stage of the pandemic. An important element that strengthens interaction in digital media is trust, both in the sources of information and in the medium. For this reason, quantitative research was developed in which the associations between trust in social networks and other digital communication tools in Mexican youth were analyzed. The study was conducted with students from public and private universities during 2021, when strict confinement measures still prevailed in Monterrey, Nuevo León. The study confirms some of the findings of other research in which trust is a fundamental variable in effective communication through digital channels. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

El apagón político-participativo por covid-19 y el turismo para la sustentabilidad en Mazunte, Oaxaca

La pandemia generó una interrupción en las relaciones personales, un apagón en el medio social y en la participación política. El objetivo de este trabajo es establecer algunas consecuencias de este apagón en la toma de decisiones en tres comunidades oaxaqueñas regidas por usos y costumbres, considerando una perspectiva crítica de la sustentabilidad. Con una metodología cualitativa que implicó diálogos con diferentes actores en condiciones de aislamiento, se encontraron situaciones que rompen el equilibrio que buscan en sus procesos de turismo para la sustentabilidad;la reconexión requerirá mucho trabajo comunitario y el acompañamiento de autoridades, academia y organizaciones civiles.Alternate :The pandemic generated an interruption in interpersonal relationships, a blackout in the social environment and in political participation. This work aimed to establish some consequences of this blackout in decision-making in three Oaxacan communities governed by customs and customs, considering a critical perspective of sustainability. Under a qualitative methodology that involved dialogues with different actors in conditions of isolation, situations were found that break the balance they seek in their tourism processes for sustainability;reconnection will require a lot of community work and the accompaniment of authorities, academia, and civil organizations.

Democratic backsliding in illiberal Singapore

Singapore is a well-known illiberal democracy, ruled by one party, the People's Action Party (PAP), uninterruptedly since 1959. The rise of disinformation, the leadership succession crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have posed challenges to the ruling party's technocratic, 'soft-authoritarian' governance style. Is it business as usual in Singapore? Or has its democracy backslid like its regional neighbours? Drawing on an established index of accountability and V-Dem's democratic indicators, our study investigates whether democratic institutions in hybrid regimes such as Singapore have changed. We find that mechanisms of diagonal accountability related to media and civil society have declined. Vertical and horizontal accountability remains weak as expected in a hybrid regime such as Singapore. The PAP government has returned to relying on the law as a 'fist in velvet glove' to muzzle dissent and constrain information that may last post pandemic.

On the possibility of engaged ethnography in prison

The state responded brutally to lockdown protests in Italian prisons soon after Italy announced its first national Covid‐19 lockdown. This article affirms the need for prison ethnographies, exploring ethical and methodological directions to research what is potentially a violent environment. However, within a prison context devoted to secrecy and suspicion, this research focuses on mundane fieldwork topics ‘other than violence';namely, everyday life in prison (such as food, health and spirituality). Such a focus allows us to develop cultural intimacy in formal institutions while preserving political engagement.

Introduction

17 See I Making Waves: French Feminisms and their Legacies 1975-2015 i , ed. by Margaret Atack, Alison S. Fell, Diana Holmes and Imogen Long (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2019) for the continuities between second-wave and post-#MeToo feminism in France. 8 Sarah Barnet-Weiser, Rosalind Gill and Catherine Rottenberg, 'Postfeminism, Popular Feminism and Neoliberal Feminism? This special issue of I Nottingham French Studies i began life as a May 2021 workshop on the theme of I Postfeminism à la française i , organized by me (Diana Holmes) in my role as Honorary Professor (2019-21) at the University of Nottingham's School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, and held online due to the restrictions imposed by Covid. [Extracted from the article]