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O artigo discute as relações entre Estado e cinema no contexto das comemorações dos cem anos da independência do Brasil a partir da Exposição Internacional do Centenário, ocorrida entre 1922 e 1923 na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, e examina o lugar ocupado pelo novo meio de comunicação dentro das ações idealizadas pelo governo para construir uma imagem do país diante da comunidade internacional.

On 27 February 2011, it was reported in the media that the United Kingdom had revoked the diplomatic immunity of Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qaddafi and his family.1 Earlier that day, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show:[…] the people of Libya have risen up against Colonel Gaddafi. We have here a country descending in to [sic] civil war with atrocious scenes of killing of protestors and a Government actually making war on its own people so, of course, it is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go. That is the best hope for Libya and last night I signed a directive revoking his diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom but also the diplomatic immunity of his sons, his family, his household so it's very clear where we stand on, on his status as a Head of State.2Although Colonel Qaddafi claimed not to have any 'official position' in the Libyan State apparatus,3 he has been widely regarded as the Head of State of Libya. The French Court of Cassation held in March 2001 that, as the serving Head of State of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, he was completely immune in respect of alleged complicity in acts of terrorism.4 William Hague's statement seemed to give the impression that the United Kingdom no longer recognized Colonel Qaddafi as 'Head of State' and thus denied him diplomatic immunity, despite the fact that he was still being listed as such on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website 'Country Profile: Libya'.5 This impression was reinforced by his statement that a British special forces operation the night before which rescued some 150 oil workers from remote desert camps in Libya had been carried out without the 'official permission' of the Qaddafi Government.6

Over the past two decades there has been a burgeoning interest and research into experiments and innovations in participatory governance. While advocates highlight the merits of such new governance arrangements in moving beyond traditional interest group representations and deepening democracy through deliberation with a broad range of civic associations, critics express concern about the political legitimacy and democratic accountability of participating associations, highlighting in particular the dangers of co-option and faction. Addressing these concerns, a number of theorists identify an important role for civic associations in linking deliberations at micro policy levels to those within the public sphere more broadly. These normative contributions raise an important empirical question - does civic associational engagement at micro levels leave scope to engage both laterally across associations and vertically with members and citizens more broadly? More simply put, is civic associational engagement within micro-policy fora 'good' for democracy more broadly? Drawing from a study of civic associational engagement in Ireland's national Social Partnership process over a ten year period this paper argues that, where deliberations become overshadowed by more traditional communicative norms of bargaining and negotiation, it is not. Evidence is presented from the Irish case to show how civic actors, having internalised the dominant communicative norms of the process, have contributed towards a narrowing of the deliberative space both within, but most particularly, outside this process. This, it is argued, has resulted in a considerably weakened public sphere with neither the institutional apparatus nor the discursive capacity to seek accountability from political and civic leaders at a time of profound crisis within the Irish state.

Twenty years after all the excitement, Germans seem to be genuinely of two conflicting minds about unification. One is characterized by awe over the accomplishments of 1989-1990, the other by disappointment and even bitterness over unfulfilled ambitions and promises. These contrasting interpretations and assessments of unification are fluid, but surface repeatedly in the quality print media. This chapter examines the recurring themes, interpretations, and narratives about unification twenty years on, and seeks to trace the interconnections between the social, economic, and political dimensions of unification. As such, these contemporary printed narratives can tell us a great deal about how a people views its recent past, what its priorities are, and how it is facing the future. The analysis reveals that public discourse on unification twenty years after the fact resembles a blind spot—look straight at it, and it disappears, replaced by blank spot—a seemingly irreducible gap between East and West. Avert one's gaze, and the spot fills in, almost seamlessly.

The films Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Human Terrain are presented as critical intertexts for understanding how the cinematic aestheticisation of violence can glorify as well as vilify war, depending on how the spectator identifies with the protagonist and the investigator with the informant. Estrangement from and entanglement with the other become key variables for assessing the anti-war impact of a film.