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From the political point of view, this article analyzes the role of political communications in the formation of civil society. And also, the importance of establishing political communication between political systems and its elements is scientifically substantiated.

While political protest and labor unions are seen as important elements in democratic societies, systematic research on the relationship between the two is scarce. Past research finds that union members are more likely to engage in protest, but it is unclear whether unions increase protest among non-members. This study draws on two waves of data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study and examines two mechanisms through which labor unions facilitate political protest among non-members: social ties and aggregate strength. We provide evidence that labor unions mobilize non-members to engage in political protest. When non-members have a social tie to a union or live in a state where unions are more robust and widespread, they are more likely to engage in political protest, but no more likely to engage in non-collective forms of political participation such as donating to political causes or contacting officials. The findings extend our understanding of an important, but understudied, act of political behavior as well as the ways that societal institutions stimulate collective political mobilization.

AbstractIn the United States, religious elites routinely use prayer to set and communicate political agendas, shape the opinions of Christian publics, and mobilize political activism. Among political prayers distributed to believers, imprecation is rare. In this paper, I examine a set of cases of imprecatory political prayers publicized since the turn of millennium that have undeniable U.S. political subtexts and objects. Using the work of James Scott and Jan-Werner Müller, I argue that most political prayers of imprecation can fruitfully be read as manifestations of right-wing populism. These prayers reveal a hidden transcript of rage aimed not only at mainstream political arrangements and political elites but also at the comparatively polite discourse characteristic of mainstream U.S. Christian traditions, including much Christian conservatism.

Author presents reflection on the evolution of political terms and notions throughout Russian history. In this study, as its main focus is the reconstruction of the development process of concepts and notions pertaining to the political whole. Nevertheless, these issues do surface in the context of conceptualizing the political community, as an important aspect of both political organization and political action. In Russia, certain concepts pertaining to some aspects of freedom did develop, but what never emerged was the general idea of freedom as the central political issue. On the other hand, the issue of authority emerged as an independent field of thought, as a result of the despotic and anti-despotic interpretations of terms used to describe the political system (following terms: freedom and power, authority and political community).

Political consumerism is the intentional buying or abstention from buying specific products for political, social, or ethical purposes. We develop and test hypotheses regarding the individual sources of political consumerism in the United States. Analysis of survey data shows that similar to voting, education, political interest, and citizen duty promote political consumerism. Akin to protest behavior, political consumerism is enhanced by political distrust and general discontent. In contrast to turnout, political consumerism significantly decreases with age. Given the extraelectoral and self-initiated nature of political consumerism, citizen initiative and a proclivity for individualized forms of activism are significant sources of political consumerism. Adapted from the source document.

This paper makes a call for an urban political ecology (UPE) which engages more extensively with Earth's geological formations. As a material at the centre of global urbanisation process, sand is offered as a geological entry point. The paper presents an analysis of the urbanisation of sand, or the ways in which sand is brought into the urban realm, grounding this reading in Accra—a growing city on Ghana's Atlantic coast. Drawing from 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork, the paper charts the socio-natural politics through which sand is first unearthed from the edges of the city—an extractive processes otherwise known as "sand winning" in Ghana. By examining the forms of power which govern uneven revenue flows to communities, the displacement of farming groups, the widespread loss of farmland and a contested regime of governance, the analysis exposes the socio-natural politics through which the city's geological baseline is first unearthed.

Rens Bod's optimism with regard to digital research tools also seems to be justified for the field of political history. In particular, these tools will enable us to ask questions that were hitherto unthinkable, and try to answer them on an unenvisaged scale. Unlike that which Bod suggests, however, this development will not bring us closer to revealing some alleged universal patterns in history and therefore herald a new era of Positivism. On the contrary, the digital research tools will show us manifold differences, both diachronic and synchronic, in the way (groups of) political actors identified themselves and gave meaning to the world surrounding them. Moreover, they will enable us to relate these differences to a broad range of social variables. If we really want to test the validity of these relationships however, we will have to actually interpret the texts and read them hermeneutically in their precise historical contexts. This article is part of the forum 'The End of the Humanities 1.0'.

Critical comments on Ben Fine's food system (see abstract in this section of SA 43:5) are offered as well as ways in which the systems of provision approach can be built on. Fine suggests that either the organic content of food has no active role in food systems, or it is a determinant of the food system's activities. Biological constraints & capital accumulation are looked at as independent influences on the system, but this approach fails to adequately explain the system. It is suggested that a more dialectical approach is needed, & D. Goodman's discussion of biotechnology (1992) is considered in illustration. This approach looks at how chains of activity are tied together in order to take into account the interdependence of social, natural, & technological resources without preliminary prioritizing. These resources are intertwined & thus cannot, & should not, be separated in order to explain the system. 14 References. A. Cole