Globally, women now play a key role in economic, political, and social cultural affairs, and Malaysia is no exception. Equitable representation by women in the political arena is viewed as crucial in the improvement o...Globally, women now play a key role in economic, political, and social cultural affairs, and Malaysia is no exception. Equitable representation by women in the political arena is viewed as crucial in the improvement of women＇s participation in the decision-making process. Nevertheless, though women have made and make great contributions in both the private and public spheres, a review of media＇s coverage of women in the public realm shows a strong tendency to relegate women to mainly domestic affairs. This is consistent with findings from studies on women political candidates＇ image during campaign issues that showed that though women candidates attempted to present themselves in decisive and assertive ways, gender stereotyping was dominant in the media agenda and persistent biases typical of traditional gender representations in the media prevailed. There is very little research in Malaysia on how the media frames women candidates during campaign periods, or what issues are aligned with women candidates. The construction of images of women political candidates, in particular, is often omitted in most research on the General Election. This study analyses how women candidates were covered in selected Malaysian newspapers in the 2008 General Election. The types of issues women political candidates are identified with in the newspapers are also analysed.展开更多
This paper looks at the new media, communication, and political environment in both Tunisia and Egypt during and after the revolution. The new environment provided activists, politicians, civil society, and youth amon...This paper looks at the new media, communication, and political environment in both Tunisia and Egypt during and after the revolution. The new environment provided activists, politicians, civil society, and youth among others, who want to express their opinions and share their views, with various channels and means of corranunication to be part of the political action and to participate in the decision-making process. Social media played an important role in mobilizing youth to rally and protest. This is to say that a new model of communication has emerged with this new environment. The receiver has become the sender and the producer of the message. The process of communication, therefore, has been changed from one to many to from many to many, and everybody became sender and receiver at the same time. The main research question this paper aims to answer is： Are social networks enough to change the political and economic scene in the Arab World？ And is there a relationship between the new communication environment and Arab spring？ The year 2011 has been in the Arab world the year of social networks and radical changes in the political scene where a score of dictators were ousted. New political communication networks and mechanisms took place, and for the first time in Arab political communication, public opinion was a major political player. Social networks helped tremendously the formation of new public sphere where the public finds its way in the media and communication processes. At their best, new media can mobilize crowds and masses to rally and protest. They can give a social perspective to movements. However, they can＇t make change and implement democracy. After the collapse of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, things are not getting any better. There is no democratic transition, and both countries are experiencing complex economic, social, and political problems.展开更多
The economic crisis within the European Union also involves a crisis of democracy. On the one side the austerity-politics of the Troika limits the influence of democratic procedures. On the other side new forms of soc...The economic crisis within the European Union also involves a crisis of democracy. On the one side the austerity-politics of the Troika limits the influence of democratic procedures. On the other side new forms of social protests rise in which social actors struggle for an extension of the democratic public： the resistance against evictions the self-organization of medical care, the occupation of public places etc. realized new forms of social cooperation, discussion and decision-making processes. On this background a reference to John Deweys theory of the democratic public seems to be helpful to reconstruct and to orient these conflicts and the claims raised in them. According to Dewey the normative criteria which we use if we evaluate actions or common institutions are a part of the social process and insofar a process themselves. These criteria have to be reflected and reformulated in new situations in which new social problems and conflicts occur. The democratic public is in this conception the realm in which a common elucidation of problematic social consequences of the existing institutions takes place and in which proposals for the overcoming of these consequences are formulated. Therefore it reconstructs the central norms embedded within the social institutions, it shows how collective actions guided by these norms leads to problematic social consequences. This is then the background for a critical reflection on, and a reformulation of the guiding norms of these institutions. To realize such a form of collective self-determination the democratic public can not be reduced to a separate political sphere, rather it has to be extended to all forms of social cooperation especially the economy.展开更多
文摘Globally, women now play a key role in economic, political, and social cultural affairs, and Malaysia is no exception. Equitable representation by women in the political arena is viewed as crucial in the improvement of women＇s participation in the decision-making process. Nevertheless, though women have made and make great contributions in both the private and public spheres, a review of media＇s coverage of women in the public realm shows a strong tendency to relegate women to mainly domestic affairs. This is consistent with findings from studies on women political candidates＇ image during campaign issues that showed that though women candidates attempted to present themselves in decisive and assertive ways, gender stereotyping was dominant in the media agenda and persistent biases typical of traditional gender representations in the media prevailed. There is very little research in Malaysia on how the media frames women candidates during campaign periods, or what issues are aligned with women candidates. The construction of images of women political candidates, in particular, is often omitted in most research on the General Election. This study analyses how women candidates were covered in selected Malaysian newspapers in the 2008 General Election. The types of issues women political candidates are identified with in the newspapers are also analysed.
文摘This paper looks at the new media, communication, and political environment in both Tunisia and Egypt during and after the revolution. The new environment provided activists, politicians, civil society, and youth among others, who want to express their opinions and share their views, with various channels and means of corranunication to be part of the political action and to participate in the decision-making process. Social media played an important role in mobilizing youth to rally and protest. This is to say that a new model of communication has emerged with this new environment. The receiver has become the sender and the producer of the message. The process of communication, therefore, has been changed from one to many to from many to many, and everybody became sender and receiver at the same time. The main research question this paper aims to answer is： Are social networks enough to change the political and economic scene in the Arab World？ And is there a relationship between the new communication environment and Arab spring？ The year 2011 has been in the Arab world the year of social networks and radical changes in the political scene where a score of dictators were ousted. New political communication networks and mechanisms took place, and for the first time in Arab political communication, public opinion was a major political player. Social networks helped tremendously the formation of new public sphere where the public finds its way in the media and communication processes. At their best, new media can mobilize crowds and masses to rally and protest. They can give a social perspective to movements. However, they can＇t make change and implement democracy. After the collapse of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, things are not getting any better. There is no democratic transition, and both countries are experiencing complex economic, social, and political problems.
文摘The economic crisis within the European Union also involves a crisis of democracy. On the one side the austerity-politics of the Troika limits the influence of democratic procedures. On the other side new forms of social protests rise in which social actors struggle for an extension of the democratic public： the resistance against evictions the self-organization of medical care, the occupation of public places etc. realized new forms of social cooperation, discussion and decision-making processes. On this background a reference to John Deweys theory of the democratic public seems to be helpful to reconstruct and to orient these conflicts and the claims raised in them. According to Dewey the normative criteria which we use if we evaluate actions or common institutions are a part of the social process and insofar a process themselves. These criteria have to be reflected and reformulated in new situations in which new social problems and conflicts occur. The democratic public is in this conception the realm in which a common elucidation of problematic social consequences of the existing institutions takes place and in which proposals for the overcoming of these consequences are formulated. Therefore it reconstructs the central norms embedded within the social institutions, it shows how collective actions guided by these norms leads to problematic social consequences. This is then the background for a critical reflection on, and a reformulation of the guiding norms of these institutions. To realize such a form of collective self-determination the democratic public can not be reduced to a separate political sphere, rather it has to be extended to all forms of social cooperation especially the economy.
