The destructiveness of omnipotence and 'perverted containing': Psychoanalytic reflections on the dynamic between Donald Trump and his supporters

This chapter describes a model of 'perverted containing' to explain escalating destructive social processes rooted in phantasies of omnipotence and nourished by unconscious fears of annihilation, using the example of Donald Trump-a prime example of a destructive narcissistic populist who offers omnipotence as salvation. It combines Rosenfeld's theory of destructive narcissism and Bion's theory of the container/contained to describe the powerful dynamic existing between Trump and his voters in which the omnipotent appeal of the demagogue held his followers in thrall. Trump offers his supporters omnipotence as perverted containing. He embodies omnipotence as a person;therefore, he appears convincing, so people can easily believe in him-especially those who, on an early level of intensive anxieties, feelings of persecution, and longing for symbiosis, prefer to attach themselves to one person. Thus, he accommodates their desires to identify and bond symbiotically with one person in total consensus-without triangulation, without doubting and space to develop individual perception and judgment. In the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, Trump first used his usual means: distortion and denial of reality, self-praise and directing accusations towards the usual 'enemies'. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Politics Go "Viral": A Computational Text Analysis of the Public Attribution and Attitude Regarding the COVID-19 Crisis and Governmental Responses on Twitter

The U.S. confronts an unprecedented public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, in the presidential election year in 2020. In such a compound situation, a real-time dynamic examination of how the general public ascribe the crisis responsibilities taking account to their political ideologies is helpful for developing effective strategies to manage the crisis and diminish hostility toward particular groups caused by polarization. Social media, such as Twitter, provide platforms for the public's COVID-related discourse to form, accumulate, and visibly present. Meanwhile, those features also make social media a window to monitor the public responses in real-time. This research conducted a computational text analysis of 2,918,376 tweets sent by 829,686 different U.S. users regarding COVID-19 from January 24 to May 25, 2020. Results indicate that the public's crisis attribution and attitude toward governmental crisis responses are driven by their political identities. One crisis factor identified by this study (i.e., threat level) also affects the public's attribution and attitude polarization. Additionally, we note that pandemic fatigue was identified in our findings as early as in March 2020. This study has theoretical, practical, and methodological implications informing further health communication in a heated political environment. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Social Science Computer Review is the property of Sage Publications 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.)

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.

Social Transformations in India, Myanmar, and Thailand: Volume II: Identity and Grassroots for Democratic: Progress

This book explores the multifaceted obstacles to social change that India, Myanmar and Thailand face, and ways to overcome them. With a collection of essays that identify common challenges and salient features affecting diverse communities, this volume examines topics from subnational and local perspectives across the peripheries. The book argues that identity-based divisions have created a system of oppression and political contention that have led to conflicts of different kinds, and hence serving as the common cause of different social issues. At the same time, such issues have created space for marginalized groups around the world to call for change. The volume recognizes that social transformation comes into being through an active process of deconstructing and reconstructing shared norms and ideas. The contents in this book are thus centered around two focuses: The impacts of identities and grassroots. Both of these aspects are at the heart of each country's transformations towards democracy, peace, justice, and freedom. Under this framework, the chapters cover a diverse range of common issues, such as, minority grievances, gender inequality, ethnic identity, grassroots power in alliance-making towards community peace, recovery and resilience, digital freedom, democracy assistance and communication, and bridging multiple divides. As identity-based cleavages are daily lived experiences for individuals and communities, it requires grassroots initiatives and alliances as well as democratic communication to tackle obstacles at the root. Ultimately, the book convinces readers that social transformations must begin at the individual to communal level and local to national level. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

The Elephant (or Donkey) in the Room

With the United States presidential election merely days away (set to take place on 3 Nov. 2020), the world's gaze has shifted to the race for the White House and whether there will be a Republican or Democrat taking office. [...]if this circumstance were to change, there would be potential consequences for European pharma companies that have a presence in or deal with the US. If the Democrats win the presidency and have control over Congress, it is expected that foreign and generic-drug manufacturers would benefit as a result of lower market entrance barriers.

Ready for the Post-Pandemic World?

The migrant worker dormitory clusters, although certainly a serious matter, might seem like just a blemish in an otherwise stellar record of successful crisis management by a high-capacity government responsible for developing Singapore from a "Third World” to a "First World” country in a very short period. Made up of very capable technocrats with a pragmatic outlook, this government focused on results, were quick to react to problems as they surfaced, and never took its eye away from the unsentimental task of keeping its globally embedded economy going as a vital part of national survival. Some might argue, further, that the authorities and countless other people in Singapore who volunteered their support did the best they could, in the context of an unprecedented and unpredictable pandemic of this scale and magnitude. However, the dormitory clusters and other lapses are symptoms of deeper structural problems. This is an important perspective that can constructively provide insight into whether these kinds of problems will manifest again and again in occasional eruptions and disruptions, which are painful but manageable. Or whether they will lead to more systemically destructive outcomes over time, which will either ruin Singapore eventually or create the opportunity to rebuild something better. Given Singapore's track record of swift and effective reaction to problems, one can expect economic rejuvenation at some point, accompanied by social and cultural exuberance. But will this mean returning to business-asusual? And will the deep structures shaped by authoritarian politics and market fundamentalism continue to worsen income inequality, poverty, an over-dependency on exploited migrant workers, the neglect of heterotopic spaces of otherness, and a dogmatic refusal by the government to engage more widely and in good faith with a broader range of people and perspectives outside its circle? © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Who do we trust? Differences in types of trust and beliefs in conspiracy theories between vaccinated and unvaccinated Europeans across 17 European countries

A plethora of research has highlighted that trust in science, political trust, and conspiracy theories are all important contributors to vaccine uptake behavior. In the current investigation, relying on data from 17 countries (N = 30,096) from the European Social Survey we examined how those who received (and wanted to receive the COVID-19 vaccine) compared to those who did not differ in their trust in: science, politicians and political parties, international organizations and towards people in general. We also examined whether they differed in how much they believed in conspiracy theories. Those who received (or wanted to receive) the COVID vaccine scored significantly higher in all forms of trust, and lower in conspiracy theory beliefs. A logistic regression suggested that trust in science, politicians, international organizations, as well as belief in conspiracy theories were significant predictors, even after accounting for key demographic characteristics.

Lessons for the Age of Consequences: COVID-19 and the Macroeconomy

Comparative empirical evidence for 22 OECD countries shows that country differences in cumulative mortality impacts of SARS-CoV-2 are caused by weaknesses in public health competences, pre-existing variances in structural socio-economic and public health vulnerabilities, and the presence of fiscal constraints. Remarkably, the (fiscally non-constrained) U.S. and the U.K. stand out, as they experience mortality outcomes similar to those of fiscally-constrained countries. High COVID19 mortality in the U.S. and the U.K. is due to pre-existing socio-economic and public health vulnerabilities, created by the following macroeconomic policy errors: (a) a deadly emphasis on fiscal austerity (which diminished public health capacities, damaged public health and deepened inequalities);(b) an obsessive belief in a trade-off between ‘efficiency' and ‘equity', which is mostly used to justify extreme inequality;(c) a complicit endorsement by mainstream macro of the unchecked power over monetary and fiscal policy-making of global finance and the rentier class;and (d) an unhealthy aversion to raising taxes, which deceives the public about the necessity to raise taxes to counter the excessive liquidity preference of the rentiers and to realign the interests of finance and of the real economy. The paper concludes by outlining a few lessons for a saner macroeconomics.

RECENZE NA KNIHU: TERORISMUS A RADIKALIZACE V ČESKÉ REPUBLICE: MOŽNOSTI DETEKCE RIZIKOVÝCH OSOB

Z pohledu politologie i bezpečnostních studií lze konstatovat, že radikalizační tendence se projevují nejenom v on-line prostředí, ale i v české sociální realitě, kde již byly zaznamenány reálné trestné činy, které skončily odsouzením pachatelů (např. podle 312d financování terorismu, nebo 312e podpora a propagace terorismu dle Trestního zákoníku č. 40/2009 Sb.). Kolektivní monografie se snaží představit bezpečnostní hrozby radikalizace a terorismu nejenom z hlediska multidisciplinámě teoretických poznatků, ale i na základě zkušeností bezpečnostní praxe. Další komplikace při analyzování konkrétních motivů může být způsobena odmítnutím pachatele vypovídat a spolupracovat nejen s vyšetřovateli, ale i psychology/psychiatry. Ideologická rovina může být jen součástí celého komplexu vlivů, přičemž k dalším lze považovat osobnost pachatele, situační faktory, ale i představy a bludy (např. o postmortální slávě, blíže s. 16). Šestá kapitola, kterou napsala J. Mottlová, se zaměřuje na možnosti detekce radikalizace a extremismu z pohledu Probační a mediační služby (dále jen PMS). PMS je představena jako organizace zajišťující výkon alternativních trestů a opatření, týkající se trestní politiky ČR (dohledu nad obviněnými nebo odsouzenými osobami atp.). Autorka považuje PMS, především pak dohled probačního úředníka, za podstatný institut umožňující detekci radikalizačních procesů, resp. opatření v rámci deradikalizačních a nápravných opatření. Představeny jsou mechanismy, které obecně používá PMS, například dohled nahrazující ochranné léčení. Zajímavá je i uvedená kazuistika (s. 166 - 168), která blíže představuje procesy PMS u konkrétního pachatele (včetně výkonu ústavní léčby, ambulantní psychiatrické léčby, nepodmíněného trestu odnětí svobody atp.). První z obou zmiňovaných kapitol mj. popisuje polarizaci české společnosti v důsledku pandemických opatření, ale také uvádí nárůst tzv. dezinformací. Následně jsou popsány rekrutační praktiky na sociálních sítích, ale i teroristické činy v pandemickém období (Francie, Rakousko). Na základě zahraničních studií je diskutován vliv konspiračních teorií, propagandy (např. džihádistické, oslavující Covid-19 jako zbraň proti západním společnostem), nenávistných komentářů na sociálních sítích, ale také konkrétní aktivity, včetně demonstrací.

Is the liberal media dead?: A critical analysis of Modi's Government and the performance of Indian Media

This paper presents a study of Indian media. Utilizing the Propaganda Model formulated by Herman and Chomsky in the book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media (1988), the paper aims to critically assess the news patterns and media performance of the mainstream Indian media. The contribution of the paper will be the application of the propaganda model in the context of Indian media. For this study, we have analyzed the media coverage of two events – India's ban on Chinese apps and the Pulwama attack. We focus on how Indian Media has helped the Government to establish the propaganda of nationalism during both events, which is explained by Herman and Chomsky in the five filters of news production. We investigate how the anti-China sentiment and the Pulwama attack have been used by the Government to divert attention from their failure of governance, and mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. The corporate media is playing its part in the machinations of the ruling BJP party. We conclude that the plurality of voices amongst journalists is in decline. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of India Review is the property of Routledge 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.)

The reversal of populism. Assessing the explanatory power of the ideational approach in contemporary Argentina

In this study we conduct a least-likely case study in order to assess the analytical power of the ideational approach to populism. We do so by testing the direct and conditional effects of populist attitudes on vote choices in Argentina. We examine whether populist attitudes are associated with the Peronist vote, as more essentialist interpretations would lead us to expect, or, on the contrary, linked to vote for right parties, an expectation that is more consistent with thin-ideological approaches. Our data consists of an original online survey carried out in September 2020, a specific juncture at which the Peronist government had to deal with widespread popular discontent caused by intense economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings reveal that populist attitudes are positively associated with voting for right parties and that the effects of such attitudes are conditioned by ideological preferences. These results underscore the explanatory power of ideational approaches to the electoral activation of populist attitudes. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Political Science Review is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. 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.)

Cutting through the noise during crisis by enhancing the relevance of research to policymakers

Background:It is widely recognised that policymakers use research deemed relevant, yet little is understood about ways to enhance perceived relevance of research evidence. Observing policymakers' access of research online provides a pragmatic way to investigate predictors of relevance.Aims and objectives:This study investigates a range of relevance indicators including committee assignments, public statements, issue prevalence, or the policymaker's name or district.Methods:In a series of four rapid-cycle randomised control trials (RCTs), the present work systematically explores science communication strategies by studying indicators of perceived relevance. State legislators, state staffers, and federal staffers were emailed fact sheets on issues of COVID (Trial 1, N = 3403), exploitation (Trial 2, N = 6846), police violence (Trial 3, N = 3488), and domestic violence (Trial 4, N = 3888).Findings:Across these trials, personalising the subject line to the legislator's name or district and targeting recipients based on committee assignment consistently improved engagement. Mentions of subject matter in public statements was inconsistently associated, and state-level prevalence of the issue was largely not associated with email engagement behaviour.Discussion and conclusions:Together, these results indicate a benefit of targeting legislators based on committee assignments and of personalising the subject line with legislator information. This work further operationalises practical indicators of personal relevance and demonstrates a novel method of how to test science communication strategies among policymakers. Building enduring capacity for testing science communication will improve tactics to cut through the noise during times of political crisis.

In Theory: Nine Degrees of Uncertainty in Negotiations

Joint decision-making processes such as negotiations play a vital role in diverse societal contexts spanning from business and politics to sustainability-related negotiations. One of the most prominent examples of how negotiations play an important role in overcoming societal challenges was the COVID-19 vaccine supply negotiations. These negotiations have put the spotlight on an aspect of joint decision-making that always has been of great interest to both negotiation researchers and practitioners yet remains empirically understudied- the effect of uncertainty. In the present article, we develop a framework of uncertainty in negotiation using the COVID-19 vaccine supply negotiations between the European Union and pharmaceutical companies as an example. More specifically, we categorize different kinds of uncertainty based both on mathematical considerations (i.e., differentiation between risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty) as well as on more circumstantial factors. To do so, we adapted the nine kinds of uncertainty in environmental governance proposed by Dewulf and Biesbroek to the more general context of negotiations. We first differentiate between three natures of uncertainty (i.e., lack of knowledge, unpredictability, and interpretations) and three objects of uncertainty (i.e., issue- based, strategy- based, and context- based). Second, we illustrate the psychological barriers that negotiators face when handling uncertainty, before concluding with proposals for practitioners on how to manage different kinds of uncertainty. Overall, we aim at stimulating investigations of the effects of uncertainty in mixed- motive decision- making while simultaneously helping negotiation teachers and practitioners better cope with the additional demands created by specific kinds of uncertainty.

Understanding Post-COVID-19 Social and Cultural Realities: Global Context

This book concentrates on the changing patterns of work and global social order as a result of COVID-19. It scrutinizes these changes in order to point out the possible reasons for these changes following COVID-19. It sheds light on the differences between the condition of underdeveloped and developed countries, focusing on how they struggle to find ways of coping. The pandemic has changed the global social order. It has an impact on every aspect of life around the globe, from individual relationships to institutional operations and international collaborations. Societies are endeavoring to protect themselves despite severe restrictions, while the pandemic continues to upset family relations and overturn governance. COVID-19 has made it clearer than ever before that where many strains on the social sector occur, the current global system, with its interconnectedness and vulnerabilities, is under threat. Due to the changing patterns of economic and societal elements caused by COVID-19, further research is urgently needed to analyze these changing trends. The book portrays what work and the global social order will look like in the future. It is essential reading for anyone interested in these changes and the pst-COVID-19 reality. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022, corrected publication 2022.

Converging Crises and the Cost of Exclusion: Unveiling the Invisible Women of Sri Lanka's Economy

In Sri Lanka, womens labor force participation has never exceeded 35% in over three decades. As of 2022, the country was ranked 110 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forums Gender Gap Index. The gaps in womens participation in the formal economy alongside womens limited political empowerment are two leading causes for the country to be lagging in such global gender equality indicators. At a large cost to the economy, the existence of archaic gender norms that promulgate womens unpaid care work often exclude women from the formal labor force. This paper dissects the socio-economic and socio-political factors that lead to the invisibility of women in Sri Lankas economy, while seeking to understand how such underlying causes have been aggravated within the precarity of the post-pandemic context. It is important, now more than ever, to recognize the invisibility of women in Sri Lankas formal economy, while bringing about a transformative vision with a multi-pronged approach to address existing gaps and challenges. With reference to key principles of feminist economics, including the theoretical foundations of Claudia Goldin, Nancy Folbre, and Diane Elson, among others, the paper will make a case for inclusivity and intersectionality in policy recommendations aimed at encouraging womens entry, active engagement, contribution, and retention in Sri Lankas economy. The paper reaches a conclusion that when women lead, participate, and benefit equally in all aspects of life, societies and economies will thrive, thereby contributing to sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.

Human rights protection under the ICCPR: when can and should States derogate? A critical analysis in the context of New Zealand's COVID-19 response

Public emergencies like global pandemics subject human rights to extraordinary vulnerability. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) permits States to restrict rights by enacting permissible limitations on them at any time and by derogating from their protection in emergencies. This article argues that States should rely on the ICCPR's permissible limitations provisions rather than lodge formal derogations in times of crisis, unlike what many States have done during the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws upon New Zealand's highly successful public health response to support this proposition. The article argues that the accountability machinery for compliance with States' rights obligations is stronger when permissible limitations are enacted. Where States do rely on the right to derogate, the article suggests some improvements to existing international accountability mechanisms. These include enhancing the analysis to be contained in notices of derogation and advance capacity-building to enable States to better decide if derogation is necessary in the first place. Ultimately, the article argues that keeping States within the international human rights system is ideal. This can be achieved through reliance on the flexibility built into the ICCPR via its permissible limitations provisions rather than its right of derogation. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human Rights is the property of Routledge 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.)

Restricting Human Movement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: New Research Avenues in the Study of Mobility, Migration, and Citizenship: IMR

Every government in the world introduced restrictions to human mobility – that is, the movement of persons across and within state borders – in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such restrictions thus constituted a global phenomenon, but they were by no means globally uniform;rather, they varied significantly between and within states, as well as over time. This research note presents different data sources for studying the drivers and outcomes of mobility restrictions, highlighting specific ways in which the data can be used. We begin by surveying seven new databases capturing various aspects of the regulation of human movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing inspiration from research on previous pandemics, we then outline five possible research avenues prompted by these data. We suggest that explaining the causes and consequences of such restrictions, as well as the differences between them, can significantly advance research on the governance of mobility, migration, and citizenship.

Developments in American politics 9

This textbook provides students of US Politics with an informed scholarly analysis of recent developments in the American political environment, using historical background to contextualize contemporary issues. As the ninth edition, this book reviews a time of political controversy in the United States, touching on topics such as gender, economic policy, gun control, immigration, the media, healthcare, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the widespread social protests against police brutality. The book looks both backwards to Trump's presidency and forward to Biden's. Ultimately, the editors and contributors evaluate the significance of these events on the future of American politics, providing a perspective that is at once broad and meticulous. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.

‘Did COVID-19 exist before the scientists?' Towards curriculum theory now

We live in an era that normalized absurdism and abnormality. From successive devastating economic and environmental havoc, the world is now before a pandemic with a lethal footprint throughout the planet. The pandemonium became global. This paper situates the current COVID-19 pandemic within the context of an endless multi-plethora of devastating sagas pushing humanity into an unimaginable great regression. In doing so, the paper examines, how such pandemic reflects the very colors of an intentional epistemological blindness that frames Eurocentric reasoning, which crippled the political economy of global capitalism deepening and accelerating a never-ending and non-stop crisis that started in 2008. The paper explores also the social construction of the current pandemic and argues for alternatives ways to think and to do education and curriculum theory alternatively to challenge Modern Western Eurocentric reasoning. In doing so, advances itinerant curriculum theory as a just approach, a just alter-curriculum ‘theory now', one that respects the world's pluri-epistemological diversity, and aims to walk way from utopias framed within the borders determined by coloniality towards an anti-decolonial climax, and ‘heretopia'.