"The post-antibiotic apocalypse" and the "war on superbugs": catastrophe discourse in microbiology, its rhetorical form and political function

Discourses evoking an antibiotic apocalypse and a war on superbugs are emerging just at a time when so-called "catastrophe discourses" are undergoing critical and reflexive scrutiny in the context of global warming and climate change. This article combines insights from social science research into climate change discourses with applied metaphor research based on recent advances in cognitive linguistics, especially with relation to "discourse metaphors." It traces the emergence of a new apocalyptic discourse in microbiology and health care, examines its rhetorical and political function and discusses its advantages and disadvantages. It contains a reply by the author of the central discourse metaphor, "the post-antibiotic apocalypse," examined in the article.

Tocqueville in Miami : political culture and political organizing in Miami's Cuban community

This study examines the effectiveness of civic organizations focusing on leadership and the role of culture in politics. The study is based on a quasi-experimental research design and relies primarily on qualitative data. The study focuses on Miami's Cuban community in order to examine the role of public initiative in grassroots civic and community organizations. The Miami Cuban community is a large, institutionally complex and cohesive ethnic community with dense networks of community organizations. The political and economic success of the community makes it an opportune setting for a study of civic organizing. The sheer number of civic organizations to be found in Miami's Cuban community suggests that the community's civic organizations have something to do with the considerable vibrancy and civic capacity of the community. How have the organizations managed to be so successful over so many years and what can be learned about successful civic organizing from their experience? Civic organizations in Miami's Cuban community are overwhelmingly ethnic-based organizations. The organizations recreate collective symbols that come from community members' memories of and attachments to the place of origin they hold dear as ethnic Cubans. They recreate a collective Cuban past that community members remember and that is the very basis of the community to which they belong. Cuban Miami's ethnically based civic organizations have generally performed better than the literature on civic organizations says they should. They gained greater access to community ties and social capital, and they exhibited greater organizational longevity. The fit between the political culture of civic organizations and that of the broader political community helps to explain this success. Yet they do not perform in the same way or in support of the same social purposes. Some stress individual agency rather than community agency, and some pursue an externally-oriented social purpose, whereas others focus on building an internal community.

Ecclesiastics and political state building in the Iberian monarchies, 13th-15th centuries

Estudo comparativo dos processos de construção da realeza e do papel dos eclesiásticos em diferentes reinos ibéricos

‘Live your liberation, don’t lobby for it’ : Australian queer student activists’ perspectives of same-sex marriage

One topic covered in Australian queer university student print media is the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The legalisation of same-sex marriage is currently generating much debate in Western queer communities. Same-sex marriage is legalised in some countries such as, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. It has been outlawed in Australia and most states in the US. Campaigns continue to reverse these restrictions. Other countries, such as the UK and New Zealand allow same-sex civil unions, providing couples with the rights afforded to married couples. There is a range of research documenting queer communities’ attitudes towards this issue (for example Lannutti 2005; Clarke, Burgoyne and Burns 2006; Yep, Lovaas and Elia 2003; Wolfson 1993; Egan and Sherrill 2005). These studies document broad community views as well as those of community sub-sections. For example, Yip (2004) looks at the views of gay and lesbian Christians on same-sex marriage and Lahey and Alderson (2004) document the experiences of same-sex couples who have gotten married or who are waiting to get married. Philosophical analyses consider the legalisation of same-sex marriage in relation to, for example, liberalism, equal rights, liberation, queer theory, citizenship, history, activism, religious discourse and feminism (Ferguson 2007; Jordan 2005; Josephson 2005; Lipton 2006; Sullivan and Chauncey 2005; Riggs 2007). This paper explores Australian queer university student activist media’s representation of same-sex marriage, and the debates surrounding its legalisation. It examines a selection of queer student media from four metropolitan Australian universities, and the 2003 and 2004 editions of national queer student publication, Querelle. This paper uses discourse analysis of queer student activists’ media representations of marriage to investigate this issue in one specific context – metropolitan Australian universities. This paper thus contributes to the history of queer activism, documenting what one group of young people say about the legalisation of same-sex marriage, and furthers research on queer perspectives of marriage and same-sex relationships.

Critical communications research in Australia : from radical populism to creative industries

This paper tracks the development of critical communicatiosn research in Australia over a 30 year period. It assesses the relative significance of critical theory, Marxist political economy and cultural studies to the development of such a tradition. it also evaluates the rise of 'creative industries' dicourse as an emergent development in the field, and a distinctive contribution of Australian media and communications research.

American public journalism versus other international media models

Chapter 2 of 'International Journalism and Democracy' provides examples of what the author dubs "deliberative journalism". Following a definition of deliberative journalism in Chapter 1, the book's second chapter examines major models of deliberative journalism that are in operation around the world. These models include public journalism, citizen journalism, community and alternative media, development journalism and peace journalism. The author argues that when these new forms of journalism are practiced well, they extend people's ability to identify, express, understand and respond to politics and issues affecting their communities. However, the main models of deliberative journalism all have contentious elements. Many deliberative journalism practioners have been subjected to criticism for lack of objectivity and poor professional standards. Many of their activities have clearly been ill-conceived. The author also finds that neither professional nor citizen journalists have a strong understanding of what constitutes "good practice" in deliberative journalism. Furthermore, there is much debate as to whether the type of "citizen journalism" that is posted intermittently on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social media can even be defined as "journalism". The practice of deliberative journalism can potentially contribute to public deliberation, but it does not always do so in any immediate or obvious way. The author finds that even so, deliberative journalism indirectly strengthens the environments that support fertile deliberation and decision making. (See the Extended Abstract for further details.)

Blogging the 2009 Queensland State Election

The internet has become important in political communication in Australia. Using Habermas' ideal types, it is argued that political blogs can be viewed as public spheres that might provide scope for the expansion of deliberative democratic discussion. This hypothesis is explored through analysis of the group political blog Pineapple Party Time. It is evident that the bloggers and those who commented on their posts were highly knowledgeable about and interested in politics. Form an examination of these posts and the comments on them, Pineapple Party Time did act as a public sphere to some degree, and did provide for the deliberative discussion essential for a democracy, but it was largely restricted to Crikey readers. For a deliberative public sphere and democratic discussion to function to any extent, the public sphere must be open to all citizens, who need to have the access and knowledge to engage in deliberative discussion.

The vanishing endpoint of settler colonialism

In this paper, we interrogate the way that narratives about the unfolding of settler colonialism through time are encoded in recent Australian Indigenous policy frameworks. We argue that the postcolonial image of a single transformative moment of radical political break is embedded in Australian policy frameworks, but is deployed in ways that fuse this idea with the moment of colonial completion and in so doing assist the colonial project. By merging the moment of decolonisation and the moment of colonial completion, temporal narratives mobilise conservative and progressive settler voices towards colonial goals. We identify three recent policy approaches: reconciliation, neoliberal contractualism and intervention, and interrogate the narratives of the present and future that they reflect and deploy. We argue these unacknowledged stories of the colonial future must be contested, so that debates about how settler and Indigenous people might live together differently across time are not foreclosed.

Teaching about deliberative politics: Case studies of classroom–community learning projects in four nations

Theories of deliberative politics position grass-roots community members as more than spectators of politics, and instead recognize their capacity for political engagement by discussing and evaluating options in order to make decisions about issues affecting community life. The processes and products of journalism can assist deliberative politics by providing community members with information resources that are vital for understanding the root causes of problems, weighing up competing claims, forming networks around shared concerns, reaching decisions and undertaking action. This article presents the findings of case studies of four community–classroom projects--one each from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and South Africa--that develop the capacity of journalism students to be effective contributors to deliberative politics. The research points to the importance of learning activities that prepare students to work in diverse communities, map significant community places and structures, identify leaders and stakeholders, engage in respectful dialogue about problems and perspectives, and appreciate community frames and values.

O controle social na construção e democratização da política de Assistência Social: o papel dos conselhos e a realidade de um município da Baixada Fluminense

A presente dissertação tem como propósito, a partir do processo de construção e democratização da Política de Assistência Social no Brasil, pós SUAS, analisar o controle social tendo como objeto o Conselho Municipal de Assistência Social do município de Mesquita, na região da Baixada Fluminense / RJ e as condições de trabalho dos Assistentes Sociais nesses espaços. Inicialmente, abordamos a Política de Assistência Social no Brasil, desde a criação da extinta Legião Brasileira de Assistência Social (LBA), até os dias atuais, ressaltando os avanços na parte jurídico-legal-normativa desta política, o que tem se tornado um campo propício e amplo para o mercado de trabalho dos assistentes sociais na contemporaneidade. No debate do controle social na Política de Assistência, destacamos três importantes temáticas: a relação das entidades da sociedade civil com os conselheiros governamentais, nos espaços de representação política, democrática, deliberativa e paritária nos conselhos de assistência social; a participação dos segmentos de usuários dos serviços sócio assistenciais do município de Mesquita e, ainda, as condições em que vem ocorrendo à participação dos assistentes sociais nos espaços de controle social no município, através de relações de trabalho precárias, no que se refere à desregulamentação de direitos sociais trabalhistas dos profissionais. Para o estudo, analisamos as Atas do período de 2011-2012, e realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os conselheiros governamentais e não governamentais do Conselho Municipal de Assistência Social de Mesquita (CMAS), que atuaram no mesmo período, gestão empossada em Dezembro de 2011, após resultado do processo eleitoral das entidades da sociedade civil do CMAS. Dentre os achados da investigação, a partir do material empírico, mediado pelo pensamento de autores que discutem esta temática e pela legislação destacam-se: a superioridade da Representação Governamental sobre a Representação da Sociedade Civil no CMAS; não monitoramento e fiscalização do saldo orçamentário pelo CMAS / Mesquita; precarização das relações de trabalho na SEMAS / Mesquita; descontinuidade do Programa de Capacitação dos Conselheiros do CMAS / Mesquita; despreparo técnico dos conselheiros para apreciação de prestação de contas no CMAS, com ausência de tempo hábil para análise; manipulação política por parte da representação governamental no CMAS; o poder de influência do governo é maior do que da sociedade civil; necessidade de capacitação técnica, e principalmente capacitação ética e política dos conselheiros governamentais e da sociedade civil; precariedade dos equipamentos públicos dos SEMAS / Mesquita; parca participação dos Usuários dos Serviços Socioassistenciais na esfera do conselho, dentre outros aspectos que serão tratados nesta dissertação. Em suma, estes são as principais conclusões de forma resumida e sintética que abordaremos mais detalhadamente nas considerações finais deste trabalho.