The relief of Palestinian refugees has been handled by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) since the 1950s to our days. Over seven decades of existence, the...Show moreThe relief of Palestinian refugees has been handled by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) since the 1950s to our days. Over seven decades of existence, the agency has been under various criticisms for its unconditional commitment to Palestinian refugees on the one hand, and for its failures to address the refugees’ issue on the other. As a result, the agency is often represented as an obstacle to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by some and as an essential part of the solution by others. The aim of the present study is therefore to investigate the discourses employed by influential stakeholders to participate in the construction of a public discourse on UNRWA’s activities. Moreover, building on the public sphere conceptualized by Habermas, many have argued that the emergence of new technologies and globalized communications revolutionized the public debate, making it transnational. In this sense, social networking platforms like Twitter constitute actual parts of the digital public sphere where “social-influencers” compete to impose their interpretation of the public debate and to strengthen existing narratives. Using qualitative discourse analysis, this paper describes the diversity of strategies employed by certified users to participate in reputation narratives as well as the type discourse associated with their position in the public sphere.Show less
Social media have taken over our lives. In this thesis I contend that social media platforms should be seen as new digital public spheres. The potentiality of social media platforms is unparalleled...Show moreSocial media have taken over our lives. In this thesis I contend that social media platforms should be seen as new digital public spheres. The potentiality of social media platforms is unparalleled. Exploring and expanding on Habermas’s ground-breaking book The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, I showcase what we can learn from Habermas’s ideal of the public sphere in our contemporary digital society. As the democratic potentiality of social media platforms is unparalleled, we ought to structure it in a Habermasian manner by respecting inclusiveness, equality and using it for discussions about public affairs. If we fail to do so and not explicitly and actively redesign our online environments, both our online and offline lives are prone to appallingly harmful effects. I conclude with suggestions of how we can restructure and redesign social media platforms to be at the service of, instead of thwarting, both our individual lives and our democracy.Show less
Approaching the turn of the 21st century, many scholars and media experts anticipated that the advent of the Internet could provide a powerful and profound source of democratization; facilitating...Show moreApproaching the turn of the 21st century, many scholars and media experts anticipated that the advent of the Internet could provide a powerful and profound source of democratization; facilitating not only instantaneous and costless information dissemination but also uniquely enabling a two-way ‘many-to-many’ pathway of political communication. Two decades on and notwithstanding this utopian vision, democracy, once again, appears caught in a state of crisis. With populism on the rise and political disengagement reaching record levels, questions regarding the tangents that connect democracy and technology must be critically reengaged. Working in this vain, this thesis sets out to test the relation between search engine technologies and the deliberative model of democracy. Looking specifically at the ideals of equality, autonomy and public justification, we ask whether the algorithms underwriting search engines invite or inhibit the realization of democratic deliberation.Show less
This thesis will try to shed light upon the interactions of the state with the public in the landscape of a changing state-society relationship and the consolidation of a dominant hegemonic power,...Show moreThis thesis will try to shed light upon the interactions of the state with the public in the landscape of a changing state-society relationship and the consolidation of a dominant hegemonic power, in order to find answers to these contemporary questions and establish an understanding of the contemporary political and social landscape – and their interrelatedness – in the Turkish state. Therefore, this thesis will combine concepts from societal and political studies – namely Public Sphere, Identity Politics and Modes of Governance – to point out their interconnectedness and, perhaps, mutually enforcing nature. Through in-depth analyses of the context, the AKP’s campaign and of electoral behaviour during the 2002, 2007 and 2015 parliamentary and – in the case of 2007 – presidential elections, this essay will cover the question what strategies are being used by Erdogan and the AKP to alter the public sphere and utilize the changed societal sentiments for their own cause. Ultimately, this thesis serves to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework and case study analysis on the contemporary political situation in Turkey in times of elections and to add another facet to the research on the interconnectedness of social transformation and state policies.Show less
In 1625 an Anglo-Dutch fleet attacked the Spanish port of Cádiz. It was the main campaign of the 1624-1630 war between England and Spain. The event was widely recorded in different genres of...Show moreIn 1625 an Anglo-Dutch fleet attacked the Spanish port of Cádiz. It was the main campaign of the 1624-1630 war between England and Spain. The event was widely recorded in different genres of Spanish and English news. How did this news contribute to shaping images of the enemy around specific concepts, such as nation and religion? By addressing the construction of the other, the news also contributed to the formation of images of self-identity. While the Spanish news mainly appealed to the Catholic religion, the English news appealed to a sense of Englishness. The battle of Cádiz and the news produced around it opened a public discussion about the responsibility for it. The news reflected the political tensions within both states and these debates contributed to the definition of a public sphere of discussion.Show less
In zijn werk 'The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere' beschrijft Jürgen Habermas hoe er in de 18de en 19de eeuw een bourgeois publieke sfeer ontstond in Duitsland, Frankrijk en Groot...Show moreIn zijn werk 'The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere' beschrijft Jürgen Habermas hoe er in de 18de en 19de eeuw een bourgeois publieke sfeer ontstond in Duitsland, Frankrijk en Groot-Brittannië. In deze scriptie wordt, aan de hand van Benjamin Franklin, gekeken of in Brits koloniaal Amerika deze sfeer ook voet aan de grond kreeg.Show less
