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Are Memories Of Old Wars Used As The Fodder For New Ones?

Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes 36 Seconds Collective memory , before, during, and after wartime plays a large part in forming a narrative that plays an important role in society.  The collective memory of an event is often expressed through the media, especially within the past 100 years. Habitually, this happens through the voices of bureaucratic institutions or figures. Fishman argues that these bureaucratic institutions are a “fountain of information” (1999 [1980]: 108) and journalists know that there will be vast information within these institutions. An example of bureaucratic institutions forming a narrative of war and collective memory was when journalists truthfully reported on the statements of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld regarding weapons that Iraq ‘had in their possession'. These statements made by the dominant social ideology (The United States Government) formed a pre-war (and post 1991 Gulf War) narrative that society could understand; Iraq has weapons and...

Why Has YouTube Become So Popular?

Estimated Read Time: 3 Minutes 44 Seconds YouTube has become a cultural phenomenon with millions of hours of videos watched and uploaded on a weekly basis. Many YouTube creators have made a career out of producing content for this massive website. This article will use sociological theories to explain the popularity of this video-sharing website. Encoding A YouTube Video For Different Audience Types Hall, claims that “using recognized codes and conventions and by drawing on audience expectations, the producer can position the audience and create a certain amount of agreement on what the code (YouTube video in this case) means” (Hall: 1980: 128). This entails that a producer of a YouTube video can “position” the YouTube videos are open to different interpretations depending on cultural background, preferred reading of the medium and the reader’s individual circumstances. An example of interpreting videos on YouTube would be if a YouTube user were to post a video of hims...

Jihad vs McWorld

Barber, B. R. (1995). ‘Jihad vs. McWorld’ Estimated Read Time: 6 Minutes 14 Seconds This piece of work from Barber is perhaps one of the most interesting to study from the pre-9/11 period.  Barber accurately provides reasoning and theoretical logic as to why these two theories of civilization will eventually clash (which they did).   Jihad vs McWorld An Introduction Barber writes about two viable political figures which can exist in the modern world, at odds with each other in most points of view. These two political figures are known as ‘Jihad’ and ‘McWorld’. According to Barber, however, these two political characters have one thing in common; Jihad and McWorld are both hindering practical ways for citizens to govern themselves democratically.   Jihad and McWorld can exist in the same countries at the same time and can cause many complications, as they can operate in equal strength but contrary objectives.  Jihad is motivated by b...