This article analyses the state of democracy in 2020. The world is still more democratic than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, but a trend of autocratization is ongoing and affecting 25 countries in ...2020, home to 34% of the world’s population. At the same time, the number of democratizing countries has dwindled by nearly half, reducing to 16 countries, home to a mere 4% of the global population. Freedom of expression, deliberation, rule of law and elections show the most substantial net declines in the last decade. A major change is that India, formerly the world’s largest democracy, turned into an electoral autocracy. The V-Dem data suggests that direct effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on levels of liberal democracy were limited in 2020. Still, the longer-term consequences may be worse and must be monitored closely. Due to the pandemic and state restrictions on the freedom of assembly, mass mobilization declined to its lowest level in over a decade, yet the decline in pro-democracy protests in 2020 may well prove to be short-lived once the pandemic subdues.
How do we judge whether we should be willing to follow the views of experts or whether we ought to try to come to our own, independent views? This book seeks the answer in medieval philosophical ...thought.In this engaging study into the history of philosophy and epistemology, Peter Adamson provides an answer to a question as relevant today as it was in the medieval period: how and when should we turn to the authoritative expertise of other people in forming our own beliefs? He challenges us to reconsider our approach to this question through a constructive recovery of the intellectual and cultural traditions of the Islamic world, the Byzantine Empire, and Latin Christendom.Adamson begins by foregrounding the distinction in Islamic philosophy between taqlid, or the uncritical acceptance of authority, and ijtihad, or judgment based on independent effort, the latter of which was particularly prized in Islamic law, theology, and philosophy during the medieval period. He then demonstrates how the Islamic tradition paves the way for the development of what he calls a "justified taqlid," according to which one develops the skills necessary to critically and selectively follow an authority based on their reliability. The book proceeds to reconfigure our understanding of the relation between authority and independent thought in the medieval world by illuminating how women found spaces to assert their own intellectual authority, how medieval writers evaluated the authoritative status of Plato and Aristotle, and how independent reasoning was deployed to defend one Abrahamic faith against the other. This clear and eloquently written book will interest scholars in and enthusiasts of medieval philosophy, Islamic studies, Byzantine studies, and the history of thought.
A pH‐responsive interlocked figure‐of‐eight molecular shuttle is reported by Frédéric Coutrot et al. in their Communication ( e202310643). The rotaxane molecular shuttle operates through the ...invertible pH‐responsive translation of the macrocycle between two sites of interactions of the encircled axle. As illustrated by the picture, the two loops of the eight‐shaped rotaxane may be interdependently loosened and tightened. Increasing conformational degree of freedom of a loop results in the decreasing conformational degree of freedom of the other one.
Using a 2 (mortality: salient, control) × 2 (freedom‐limiting language: freedom‐limiting, autonomy‐supportive) independent‐group design, this study examined the relationship between mortality ...salience and psychological reactance in the context of texting‐and‐driving prevention messages. The terror management health model and the theory of psychological reactance guided study predictions. Results showed mortality salience produced adaptive effects on attitudes toward texting‐and‐driving prevention and behavioral intentions to reduce unsafe driving practices. Additionally, some evidence for the effectiveness of directive, albeit freedom‐limiting communication, emerged. These and other results are discussed along with the implications, limitations, and future research directions.
Reimagining transparency and secrecy in the era of
digital data When total data surveillance delimits agency
and revelations of political wrongdoing fail to have consequences,
is transparency the ...social panacea liberal democracies purport it
to be? This book sets forth the provocative argument that
progressive social goals would be better served by a radical form
of secrecy, at least while state and corporate forces hold an
asymmetrical advantage over the less powerful in data control.
Clare Birchall asks: How might transparency actually serve agendas
that are far from transparent? Can we imagine a secrecy that could
act in the service of, rather than against, a progressive
politics?
To move beyond atomizing calls for privacy and to interrupt the
perennial tension between state security and the public's right to
know, Birchall adapts Édouard Glissant's thinking to propose a
digital "right to opacity." As a crucial element of radical
secrecy, she argues, this would eventually give rise to a
"postsecret" society, offering an understanding and experience of
the political that is free from the false choice between secrecy
and transparency. She grounds her arresting story in case studies
including the varied presidential styles of George W. Bush, Barack
Obama, and Donald Trump; the Snowden revelations; conspiracy
theories espoused or endorsed by Trump; WikiLeaks and guerrilla
transparency; and the opening of the state through data
portals.
Postsecrecy is the necessary condition for imagining, finally,
an alternative vision of "the good," of equality, as neither shaped
by neoliberal incarnations of transparency nor undermined by secret
state surveillance. Not least, postsecrecy reimagines collective
resistance in the era of digital data.
In Hobbes, freedom of choice requires nonfrustration: the option you prefer must be accessible. In Berlin, it requires noninterference: every option, preferred or unpreferred, must be ...accessible—every door must be open. But Berlin’s argument against Hobbes suggests a parallel argument that freedom requires something stronger still: that each option be accessible and that no one have the power to block access; the doors should be open, and there should be no powerful doorkeepers. This is freedom as nondomination. The claim is that freedom as noninterference is an unstable alternative between freedom as nonfrustration and freedom as nondomination.
Discover how modern technological realities shape freedoms of expression and opinion with this comprehensive resource. The Handbook of Communication Rights, Law, and Ethics delivers an extensive ...review of the challenges facing modern communication rights. It offers readers an examination of the interplay between communication law and ethics and the role played by communication professionals in protecting individuals' rights to communication. Distinguished authors Loreto Corredoira, Ignacio Bel Mallén and Rodrigo Cetina Presuel walk readers through the fundamental ideas and concepts that represent universal common ground regarding communication rights. They compare communication rights theories developed in Europe, the United States, Latin America, Australia, and East Asia to describe how communication-related freedoms and rights are formulated and applied around the world. Finally, the meaning of the phrases "freedom of expression" and "freedom of the press" are examined in the context of national constitutions and international human rights instruments.The Handbook of Communication Rights, Law, and Ethics provides readers with: A diverse, global perspective on how communication rights are protected and challenged around the world A universal vision of communication rights that encourages dialogue rather than confrontation A comparison of the American First Amendment of the Constitution with European communication rights theories and other legal traditions around the world An exploration of the frontiers of communication rights concepts, terminology, jurisdiction, and territoriality Perfect for professors, graduate students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers studying communication rights and freedom of expression around the world, The Handbook of Communication Rights, Law, and Ethics also belongs on the bookshelves of researchers studying issues surrounding freedom of the press in North America, Europe, and Latin America.
Traces Ireland's introduction of FOI legislation and considers its use and operation from a series of perspectives, looking at the Irish experience in a truly international context
License to harass Nielsen, Laura Beth; Nielsen, Laura Beth
2004., 20090110, 2009, 2004, 2004-01-01
eBook
Offensive street speech--racist and sexist remarks that can make its targets feel both psychologically and physically threatened--is surprisingly common in our society. Many argue that this speech is ...so detestable that it should be banned under law. But is this an area covered by the First Amendment right to free speech? Or should it be banned? In this elegantly written book, Laura Beth Nielsen pursues the answers by probing the legal consciousness of ordinary citizens. Using a combination of field observations and in-depth, semistructured interviews, she surveys one hundred men and women, some of whom are routine targets of offensive speech, about how such speech affects their lives. Drawing on these interviews as well as an interdisciplinary body of scholarship, Nielsen argues that racist and sexist speech creates, reproduces, and reinforces existing systems of hierarchy in public places. The law works to normalize and justify offensive public interactions, she concludes, offering, in essence, a "license to harass." Nielsen relates the results of her interviews to statistical surveys that measure the impact of offensive speech on the public. Rather than arguing whether law is the appropriate remedy for offensive speech, she allows that the benefits to democracy, to community, and to society of allowing such speech may very well outweigh the burdens imposed. Nonetheless, these burdens, and the stories of the people who bear them, should not remain invisible and outside the debate.
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