Arab nationalism and Islamism have been the two most potent ideological forces in the Arab region across the twentieth century. Over the last two decades, however, an accommodation of sorts has been ...developing between liberals, socialists and Islamists, to protest unpopular foreign and domestic policies, such as those aimed at cooperation with Israel or the war in Iraq. By examining the writings of Arab nationalist, socialist and Islamist intellectuals, and through numerous interviews with political participants from different persuasions, Michaelle Browers traces these developments from the 'Arab age of ideology', as it has been called, through an 'age of ideological transformation', demonstrating clearly how the recent flow of ideas from one group to another have their roots in the past. Political Ideology in the Arab World assesses the impact of ideological changes on Egypt's Kifaya! Enough! movement and Yemen's joint meeting parties.
In the United States, while the number of COVID-19 cases continue to increase, the practice of social distancing and mask-wearing have been controversial and even politicized. The present study ...examined the role of psychological traits in social distancing compliance and mask-wearing behavior and attitude. A sample of 233 U.S. adult residents were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants completed scales of social distancing compliance, mask-wearing behavior and attitude, need for cognition, self-control, risk attitude, and political ideology. Epidemiological information (seven-day positive rate and the number of cases per 100,000) was obtained based on the state participants resided in. As a result, epidemiological information did not correlate with social distancing compliance mask-wearing. Political ideology, on the other hand, was a significant factor, with a more liberal tendency being associated with greater engagement in social distancing compliance and mask-wearing behavior an attitude. Importantly, those who were more risk averse, or had a higher level of self-control or need for cognition practiced more social distancing and mask-wearing, after controlling for demographics, epidemiological information, and political ideology. Furthermore, for mask-wearing behavior, political ideology interacted with both need for cognition and self-control. Collectively, the study revealed the psychological roots of individual differences in social distancing and mask-wearing compliance.
This article analyses the relationship between British fascism and Empire during the interwar period. Based on the premise that historians have neglected the imperial dimension of fascist ideology in ...interwar Britain, a brief review of existing scholarship will be undertaken before an analysis of fascist ideological conceptions of the British Empire. Looking at the three major fascist parties during the interwar era, the British Fascisti (BF), Imperial Fascist League (IFL) and British Union of Fascists (BUF), it will be demonstrated that whilst unequivocal support for the Empire was a consistent theme throughout fascist rhetoric, individual parties adapted their imperial visions according to their respective ideology. For the BF, the Empire was under constant threat from communist subversion at home and abroad. The IFL looked to demonstrate how international Jewry was attempting to destroy the British Empire. The BUF, developing the most sophisticated ideology and policies relating to Empire, believed a unified ‘organic’ Empire must be consolidated through trade and one ruler if Britain was to remain a global power fit to fight off the pincers of Jewish and communist subversion. This article will conclude by highlighting the need for further enquiry into the relationship between the extreme right and Empire.
We theorize how an ideological imprint—ideology formed through past events—serves as an information filter that persistently affects individuals’ decision making and how subsequent behaviors of the ...imprinter—the entity that established the imprint—may alter it. We test our model with a longitudinal dataset of Chinese private entrepreneurs from 1993 to 2012, investigating the influence of a founder’s communist ideological imprint, which characterizes foreign capitalism as evil, and subsequent dynamics introduced by the imprinter—the Communist Party–led government of China—on two internationalization strategies that deal with foreign investors and markets: firms’ efforts to attract foreign capital and to expand globally. Our findings show that Chinese entrepreneurs’ communist ideological imprint negatively affects the internationalization of their ventures, while available and credible information contradicting communism—coming from the government directly, government-created industry social networks for entrepreneurs, or observing governmental support of internationalization—weakens the influence of the imprint. Our study contributes to a better understanding of imprinting and its decay, the effects of corporate decision makers’ political ideology, and the internationalization of firms.
Rooted in cultural and star studies, this thesis explores male stardom in Egyptian cinema produced during the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser, focusing specifically on the period from 1950 to 1963. The ...1950s was a pivotal decade for Egypt, politically, socially, and economically and, consequently, for Egyptian cinema. Following the July 1952 coup that overthrew the monarchy, Nasser's new regime aimed to construct a new civic identity that would help the country's renaissance by adopting a new nationalist, anti-imperialist, and socialist ideology. In an attempt to find a balance between the traditional and the modern, an emphasis was placed on education, work, and gender equality. Yet, faithfulness to Egyptian traditions and values remained a key part of the state's vision of collective identity. The 1950s was also a transitional period for Egyptian cinema which saw the emergence of a new generation of popular film stars. This thesis deals with three case studies of key stars who are significant during my chosen period for the Egyptian national cinema: Omar Sharif, Ismail Yassin, and Farid Shawqi. I will examine how these stars promoted a new civic identity that aligned with the regime and negotiated a new image of masculinity. I argue that popular Egyptian cinema and popular film stars, who have been disregarded, especially in scholarship in the Egyptian context, are not as politically "naïve" as has been sometimes asserted, but rather that they too played a role in promoting a social, cultural, and political ideology. Drawing on established methodologies for researching stars, as proposed by Dyer, Vincendeau, Perriam, and others, as well as scholarship on Egyptian cinema, I will combine an examination of the stars' image on-screen through textual analysis of looks, characterisation, and performance as well as narrative roles, with an analysis of the stars' off-screen images through archive research. My research, therefore, will offer a fresh insight into the Egyptian star system and in particular male stars and their impact on society, as well as exploring the complex relationship between star images and the imposition of political ideology. Bringing this political and cinematic history into conversation proves crucial to understanding the formative role culture played in this national transitional period.
How do ideologies shape international relations in general and Middle Eastern countries’ relations with the United States in particular? This book explores this critical question. The central claim ...is that leaders’ ideological beliefs are likely to have profound effects on their perceptions of international threats. These threat perceptions, in turn, will shape their core security policies, including choices of allies and enemies and efforts to spread their ideological principles abroad as a key means of advancing their interests. Two variables are particularly important in this process: the degree of ideological differences dividing different groups of decision makers (“ideological distance”) and the number of prominent ideologies that are present in a particular system (“ideological polarity”). The book’s argument is tested in four case studies of states’ foreign policies, primarily since the end of the Cold War: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. As the argument predicts, ideological differences in these cases were a key cause of international conflict and ideological similarities a source of cooperation. Moreover, different ideological groups in the same country at the same time often possessed very different understandings of their threat environments, and thus very different foreign policy preferences. These are findings that other prominent international relations theories, particularly realism, cannot explain. The book also provides policy guidance on key international security issues. These prescriptions are designed to advance America’s interests in the Middle East in particular, namely how U.S. leaders should best respond to the ideological dynamics that exist in the region.
The COVID-19 pandemic poses extraordinary challenges to public health.
Because the novel coronavirus is highly contagious, the widespread use of preventive measures such as masking, physical ...distancing, and eventually vaccination is needed to bring it under control. We hypothesized that accepting conspiracy theories that were circulating in mainstream and social media early in the COVID-19 pandemic in the US would be negatively related to the uptake of preventive behaviors and also of vaccination when a vaccine becomes available.
A national probability survey of US adults (N = 1050) was conducted in the latter half of March 2020 and a follow-up with 840 of the same individuals in July 2020. The surveys assessed adoption of preventive measures recommended by public health authorities, vaccination intentions, conspiracy beliefs, perceptions of threat, belief about the safety of vaccines, political ideology, and media exposure patterns.
Belief in three COVID-19-related conspiracy theories was highly stable across the two periods and inversely related to the (a) perceived threat of the pandemic, (b) taking of preventive actions, including wearing a face mask, (c) perceived safety of vaccination, and (d) intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Conspiracy beliefs in March predicted subsequent mask-wearing and vaccination intentions in July even after controlling for action taken and intentions in March. Although adopting preventive behaviors was predicted by political ideology and conservative media reliance, vaccination intentions were less related to political ideology. Mainstream television news use predicted adopting both preventive actions and vaccination.
Because belief in COVID-related conspiracy theories predicts resistance to both preventive behaviors and future vaccination for the virus, it will be critical to confront both conspiracy theories and vaccination misinformation to prevent further spread of the virus in the US. Reducing those barriers will require continued messaging by public health authorities on mainstream media and in particular on politically conservative outlets that have supported COVID-related conspiracy theories.
•Belief in conspiracies related to COVID-19 in the US is prevalent and stable across time.•Conspiracy beliefs prospectively predict resistance to preventive action and vaccination.•Perceptions of the harms of the MMR vaccine partially account for vaccine hesitancy.•Conservative ideology and media use are positively related to conspiracy beliefs.•Conspiracy beliefs pose challenges in obtaining public support to prevent coronavirus infection.
Aim.
To study the key forms of the existence and functioning of ideology in modern Russian society.
Methodology
. The main methods of research are systematic, comparative, and phenomenological.
...Results.
There are de facto two main forms of ideology in modern Russia. This is the official ideology, the ideology of dominant social groups, which is liberalism (but at the same time there is no de jure official ideology in Russia and there cannot be), and the catacomb ideology inherent in social groups that do not occupy key positions in the economic and political life of the country, which is conservatism. The full-fledged existence and manifestation of conservative ideology in all forms inherent in the official ideology depends to the greatest extent on these groups gaining real dominance or, more likely, real co-dominance in the economic and political systems of society.
Research implications
. The results of the study make a certain contribution to political theory, and are important for forecasting modern Russia’s political development.
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