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"Public debates"
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Seeking good debate : religion, science, and conflict in American public life
\"Religion and science often appear to cause conflict in American public life. But why? This book reports the results from the first study to combine large-scale empirical analysis of multiple \"religion and science\" debates with in-depth research into what Americans actually want from public life. The surprising finding is that apparent conflicts involving religion and science reflect a more fundamental conflict between media elites and ordinary Americans over what good debate should be, raising profound questions about the future of the public sphere and American democracy\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Responsible governance of human germline genome editing in China
Considerable improvements have been made to gene editing technology, which has been increasingly applied to research involving humans. Nevertheless, human heritable germline genome editing is associated with a series of potential ethical, legal, and social risks, which have generated major controversies and discussions worldwide, especially after the “gene-edited babies” incident. Influenced by this incident, China has realized the importance of ethical governance in the field of life science and technology, has accelerated legislative and policy efforts in this field, and has gradually moved toward the direction of “precautionary” ethical governance. Black letter analysis, big data public opinion analysis, and other research methods are used in this paper. This paper explores the scientific background, ethical debates, and latest developments regarding China's regulatory framework for human germline gene editing after the “gene-edited babies” controversy and provides several recommendations on the future governance system of human germline gene editing in China. This paper argues that in recent years, the ethics governance of germline genome editing in China has been accelerated and great changes have been made. However, the regulatory system for germline genome editing requires further improvement in three aspects: coordination of legislation and agencies, establishment of an ethics review system at high levels, and public participation and education. Summary Sentence Continual progress has been made in establishing a governance system of ethical issues regarding human genome editing, particularly human germline genome editing; however, further improvements are required. Graphical Abstract
Journal Article
The best way to get your way
\"For every kid who's tired of eating vegetables and going to bed on time, here's a book that helps them figure out how to get their own way. Examining both sides of five issues with big kid appeal (eating vegetables, bedtimes, screentime, homework, and doing chores), award-winning author Tanya Lloyd Kyi walks readers through the basics of debate skills, critical thinking and media literacy. How to pick a side, do your research, construct your argument, and rebut your opponent's case are all explained step by step as kids follow a cast of diverse characters debating one another. And along the way, readers will learn key tips about debating and public speaking (stand up straight! make eye contact!) as they consider the pros and cons of broccoli, curfews, and more. Not even question has an easy yes or no answer, and readers might be surprised to find themselves on the side of strict bedtimes and screentime limits. Critical thinking becomes fun -- and a strategy for out-witting your parents -- in this lively, thoroughly researched look at debating.\"-- Provided by publisher.
CHILDBOOK
Public Disputation, Power, and Social Order in Late Antiquity
Richard Lim explores the importance of verbal disputation in Late Antiquity, offering a rich socio-historical and cultural examination of the philosophical and theological controversies. He shows how public disputation changed with the advent of Christianity from a means of discovering truth and self-identification to a form of social competition and \"winning over\" an opponent. He demonstrates how the reception and practice of public debate, like other forms of competition in Late Antiquity, were closely tied to underlying notions of authority, community and social order. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1995. Many titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work.
eBook
Ideology and polarization set the agenda on social media
The abundance of information on social media has reshaped public discussions, shifting attention to the mechanisms that drive online discourse. This study analyzes large-scale Twitter (now X) data from three global debates—Climate Change, COVID-19, and the Russo-Ukrainian War—to investigate the structural dynamics of engagement. Our findings reveal that discussions are not primarily shaped by specific categories of actors, such as media or activists, but by shared ideological alignment. Users consistently form polarized communities, where their ideological stance in one debate predicts their positions in others. This polarization transcends individual topics, reflecting a broader pattern of ideological divides. Furthermore, the influence of individual actors within these communities appears secondary to the reinforcing effects of selective exposure and shared narratives. Overall, our results underscore that ideological alignment, rather than actor prominence, plays a central role in structuring online discourse and shaping the spread of information in polarized environments.
Journal Article
What Is Nigeria? Unsettling the Myth of Exceptionalism
This article explores perceptions and representations of Nigeria and Nigerians in the popular global imaginary. It analyses selected popular media narratives in order to foreground contradictions and paradoxes in the ways in which the country and people of Nigeria are discursively constructed. By doing so, it interrogates stereotypes of corruption and criminality as well as myths of exceptionalism about Nigeria and Nigerians originating from both within and outside the country. The analysis reveals that the generalised portrayal of Nigeria and Nigerians as exceptional social subjects is characterised by contradictions and inaccuracies in dominant representational practices and cannot be justified by the verifiable empirical information available on the country and its people. Dieser Beitrag untersucht Wahrnehmung und Darstellung Nigerias und der Nigerianer in der populären globalen Vorstellungswelt. Der Autor analysiert ausgewählte Darstellungen in populären Medien. Er hinterfragt die Stereotype Korruption und Kriminalität, aber auch den Mythos der Besonderheit Nigerias und der Nigerianer, der sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb des Landes verwurzelt ist. Seine Analyse bringt zutage, dass die vorherrschende Sicht, nach der Nigeria und den Nigerianern ein Ausnahmestatus zukommt, auf widersprüchlichen Annahmen und Ungenauigkeiten beruht und der Analyse zugänglicher, verifizierbarer empirischer Daten zum nigerianischen Staat und seiner Bevölkerung nicht standhält.
Journal Article
The Legal Institutionalisation of Public Deliberation and the Embeddedness in the Democratic System: The Italian Case
Over the last few decades, the setting up of deliberative processes has gained prominence in many democratic countries. These processes, which can be considered as small parentheses in longer and complex policy-making processes, are designed and managed so that citizens can discuss and confront a plurality of viewpoints and arguments together with politicians, public officials, experts, and stakeholders, and can then convey reasoned recommendations to improve the design and implementation of public policies. Research on deliberative democracy has dealt with several issues pertaining to the quality, legitimacy, effectiveness, and sustainability of these democratic innovations. One of the issues that has attracted the attention of scholars concerns the legal institutionalisation of these practices, a recent and controversial phenomenon, which could strengthen or weaken the embeddedness of public deliberation in democratic systems. This article is aimed at addressing the issue of whether legal institutionalisation helps to embed public deliberation in democratic systems. It presents the findings of an empirical analysis of Italian deliberative processes, where a legislative framework made so-called “public debates” compulsory throughout the national territory between 2021 and 2023. Thereafter, in 2023, a new reform was introduced that substantially dismantled the policy. The short parabola of Italian public debates on major public works offers an opportunity to analyse the short-term effects of legal institutionalisation. The empirical findings of this case study suggest that the legal institutionalisation of public deliberation involves several trade-offs in the short term, so that embeddedness may be strengthened and weakened at the same time.
Journal Article
Social Media and Trust in Scientific Expertise: Debating the Covid-19 Pandemic in The Netherlands
This article examines the role of social media dynamics in the public exchange of information between scientists (experts), government (policy-makers), mass media (journalists), and citizens (nonexperts) during the first 4 months after the Covid-19 outbreak in the Netherlands. Over the past decade, the institutional model of science communication, based on linear vectors of information flows between institutions, has gradually converted into a networked model where social media propel information flows circulating between all actors involved. The question driving our research is, “How are social media deployed to both undermine and enhance public trust in scientific expertise during a health crisis?” Analyzing the public debate during the period of the corona outbreak in the Netherlands, we investigate two stages: the emergency response phase and the “smart exit strategy” phase, discussing how scientific experts, policy-makers, journalists, and citizens appropriate social media logic to steer information and to control the debate. We conclude by outlining the potential risks and benefits of adopting social media dynamics in institutional contexts of science communication.
Journal Article
Managing Norwegian public libraries as civil public spheres: recent controversies
PurposeThis paper contains a theoretically inspired discussion of recent Norwegian controversies related to the management of public library space as a civil public sphere.Design/methodology/approachThis study engages with theories of civil public spheres and their application within a Nordic context. The theories are applied in discussions of recent controversies related to the management of Norwegian public libraries as civil public spheres, as represented in professional journals and press articles.FindingsThrough the discussion, it becomes apparent that the value of neutrality and librarians' inclusive practices on the part of societal minorities might be conflicting when managing public libraries as civil public spheres.Originality/valueThis paper engages with recent library controversies in Norway and discusses them in light of recent scholarly work on library activism in a Nordic context, as well as recent theorizations of civil public spheres in the Nordic countries. It thus connects ongoing discussions among Norwegian librarians with recent library research and ongoing theorization of civil public spheres within the Nordic model.
Journal Article
From Moors to Muslims: evolution of the Spanish public debate
How and when did the religious category “Muslim” replace ethnic and migration related terms in the Spanish public debate? What main public issues have accumulated to signify the new category? In this article we review journalistic and academic production around a selection of events that have ignited each of the main controversies about immigrants from Muslim majority countries and their descendants in the last three decades. By focusing on what cultural tropes are mobilized to frame and interpret such events we aim to account for the sociogenesis of a category that deeply influences these migrants’ incorporation into the Spanish society.
Journal Article