Political (Dis)Engagement: The Changing Nature of the 'Political'

by Nathan Manning (Editor)

Overview

In what ways is the meaning and practice of politics changing? Why might so many people feel dissatisfied and disaffected with electoral politics? What approaches do political activists use to raise issues and mobilise people for action? What role does the internet and social media play in contemporary citizenship and activism? This book brings together academics from a range of disciplines with political activists and campaigners to explore the meaning of politics and citizenship in contemporary society and the current forms of political (dis)engagement. It provides a rare dialogue between analysts and activists which will be especially valuable to academics and students across the social sciences, in particular sociology and political science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447317029
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2017
Series:	Contemporary Issues in Social Policy
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Nathan Manning is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of York, UK. He is particularly interested in examining how citizens understand their relationship to politics and the role that emotions and feelings may play in people’s experience of ‘the political’.

Table of Contents

Introduction ~ Nathan Manning;

Protesting austerity ~ UK Uncut;

Mobilising black and ethnic minority citizens for democratic action ~ Simon Wooley;

Political consumerism and creative participation ~ Michele Micheletti;

Muslim governance and participation in the UK ~ Therese O’Toole;

Ethnicity, media, identity, and citizenship ~ Marie Gillespie;

The politics of belonging ~ Nira Yuval-Davis;

Political rhetoric, mass mobilisation and national identity ~ Stephen Reicher;

Democracy and political participation in central and eastern Europe ~ Jacek Kucharczyk;

Strong feelings: politics and emotions ~ Ian Burkitt;

Feelings of affinity in citizens’ (dis)engagement with electoral politics? ~ Nathan Manning;

Conclusion ~ Nathan Manning.

Editorial Reviews

This is a very important book which both reminds us of ways of thinking about politics that have been submerged in recent decades and urges us to think more imaginatively about new ways of being political. Anyone interested in the revitalization of democratic politics should read this book.

Stephen Coleman

An excellent contribution to the growing literature on alternative forms of political participation, at a time when too many see young people especially as apathetic and uninvolved.

David Marsh

In contrasting traditional with new, everyday forms of digital participation, this book engagingly raises challenging questions about whose experiences and identities are included, and also who is increasingly excluded or disengaging from both new and old politics.

Ariadne Vromen