The construction of national identities through political discourse is a growing field of interest to social psychologists, particularly as many countries face changing demographics, borders and ...social realities as part of globalization, immigration and continued political integration and conflict. Through an analysis of 17 key speeches by Serbian politicians over the past 25 years, the present paper explores the question of how politicians, as entrepreneurs of identity, discursively manage the relationship between identity continuity and political change over time, in attempts to construct the future of a nation. We particularly explore this issue in the context of Serbia's present political aspirations toward joining the European Union. The findings indicate that (i) political change becomes negotiated within the framework of established and legitimized identity discourses that have developed over time, and (ii) while history is frequently drawn on to support political agendas, it is successful to the extent that this history offers a sense of cultural continuity rather than a coherent narrative of historical events and time periods. We conclude by arguing for the benefits that a diachronic approach to political discourse can offer social psychologists interested in the discursive construction of national identity.
...the publication of an essential diagnostics list (EDL) for priority settings by WHO in 2018 has been a key step in recognising the importance of diagnostics. ...the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly ...raised awareness of the crucial importance of diagnostics. ...a 2019 study suggested that India has only 1151 accredited medical laboratories, whereas the USA, with a quarter of India's population, has 260 000 accredited medical laboratories. Because low political prioritisation is the key cause of poor access to diagnostics, we explore how we can use the framework of Shiffman and Smith to achieve political change. Because technology is an enabler of many of the putative solutions in this Commission, we discuss the crucial role of technological innovation and also propose solutions via changes in policy, governance, and finance, and in infrastructure, workforce, and quality.
Job insecurity reflects a threat to the continuity and stability of employment as it is currently experienced. Job insecurity has been the focus of increasing scholarly and popular attention in light ...of technological, economic, and political changes over the past few decades that have left many insecure about the future of their jobs. Yet, conceptual ambiguities exist; the literature remains fragmented; and there lacks an overarching framework through which to organize and reconcile findings. The goal of this article is to offer an integrative review and conceptual framework that addresses these challenges and provides the groundwork for future research. To that end, it proposes a definition of job insecurity that differentiates it from potential antecedents, moderators, and outcomes. The article addresses antecedents and introduces a typology of mechanisms and threat foci that links antecedents to job insecurity and suggests yet unexplored predictors. Furthermore, the framework developed here considers four overarching mechanisms—stress, social exchange, job preservation motivation, and proactive coping—through which job insecurity leads to various outcomes, and it highlights potential competing tensions inherent in individuals’ responses. Finally, the framework introduces threat features, economic vulnerabilities, and psychological vulnerabilities as three overarching categories of variables that moderate reactions to job insecurity, and it identifies factors that contribute to each. In doing so, it suggests important levers through which to influence reactions to job insecurity; it helps explain variability in past research; and it provides a foundation for future work.
En este artículo nos aproximamos a dos conceptos que en los últimos años han marcado el devenir de las legislaturas de las Cortes Generales, la fragmentación y la polarización parlamentarias. En el ...contexto de quiebra del bipartidismo imperfecto vigente en España desde los albores de la Transición, el objetivo principal del texto pasa por corroborar la irrupción del parlamentarismo fragmentado y polarizado en las Cortes Generales españolas a partir de las elecciones generales de diciembre de 2015. A tal fin, proponemos un concepto de fragmentación parlamentaria basado en la relación de esta y los grupos parlamentarios, revisamos los temores y presunciones que presidieron el diseño constitucional durante la Transición y, en último término, aplicamos los indicadores previamente concretados tratando de identificar las legislaturas en las que están presentes simultáneamente las notas de la fragmentación y de la polarización parlamentaria. Esto último posibilitará concluir si el escenario de fragmentación e inestabilidad supuesto para el sistema parlamentario de los años posteriores a la entrada en vigor de la Constitución de 1978 se ha correspondido o no con la realidad.
We analyse the Chilean Spring of 2019-2020 - the fiercest social outburst in Chile during the last three decades. After discussing the combined role of long-standing grievances, political attitudes, ...and cultural change in triggering the outburst, we study the interplay among peaceful and violent protests and criminal activity. We argue that brutal police repression and governmental mismanagement contributed to deepening the crisis once it exploded. We conclude by describing the attempts of the political class to cope with the crisis and speculate about its potential political consequences, especially for the Chilean party system.
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