"Seit dem 7. Oktober 2023 ist die Anzahl antisemitisch motivierter Straftaten in Deutschland drastisch gestiegen. Aber auch schon zuvor erlebten Jüdinnen und Juden hierzulande wie weltweit Anfeindung, Ausgrenzung und Gewalt. Die theoretische Auseinandersetzung mit Antisemitismus sowie seine politis
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che und gesellschaftliche Bekämpfung sind daher unabdingbar. Gleichzeitig ist in der wissenschaftlichen und der öffentlichen Diskussion hochgradig umstritten, welche Äußerungen, Denk- und Handlungsweisen der Begriff des Antisemitismus genau umfasst. Insbesondere Konzepte wie sekundärer, muslimischer, israelbezogener oder postkolonialer Antisemitismus lösen regelmäßig kontroverse Positionierungen aus. Zudem sind sie mit zahlreichen weiteren gesellschaftlichen Debattenfeldern verknüpft, etwa jenen um den Nahostkonflikt, die Erinnerungskultur oder das Verhältnis von Antisemitismus und Rassismus. Das Handbuch versammelt Beiträge von Antisemitismusforscherinnen und -forschern, die auf zugängliche Weise Grundbegriffe, Problemfelder und Positionen innerhalb der Forschung ausleuchten. Die Autorinnen und Autoren verweisen dabei immer wieder auf die Umstrittenheit der Konzepte und die Notwendigkeit von Pluralität. Ein abschließender Teil widmet sich der erkenntnistheoretischen Reflexion über Probleme der Begriffsbildung und Definition in der Antisemitismusforschung." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This article examines Russia’s practice of the ban introduced by the so-called ‘fake news laws’ during the war against Ukraine. It blends doctrinal legal with discourse analysis to study how and why Russian courts have applied the laws, which epistemology of knowledge they have constructed wh
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ile limiting fake news about the war and what implications this has for freedom of expression and public debate of the war within Russia. The dataset covers 446 Russian court decisions from 2022 to 2023. A historical approach is utilised to discuss the results in connection to the Soviet Communist ideology. The article argues that Russian courts have used the laws to make truth in Russia conditional and loyalty unconditional, actualising the Soviet principles of ‘partyness’, ‘objectivity’ and ‘scientificalness’. It demonstrates how courts construct a mythologised reality about the ‘imaginary’ ‘military operation’ to help the government monopolise the public debate and misrepresent the war against Ukraine within Russia." (Abstract)
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"Affective polarization has been a persistent feature of Afghanistan’s society and politics in the past decades. However, with the instantaneous collapse of the republic’s government and the return of the Taliban, the country has witnessed heightened affective polarization along ethnic and ideol
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ogical lines. Stemming from deep-rooted historical grievances, aggregated conflicts, and over a century of failed struggles for statebuilding and nation-building in Afghanistan, the surge in affective polarization is intricately linked with the elite’s behaviour and social media use. Outbidding strategies by elites result in more extreme positions. Coupled with the dissemination of hate and harmful messages, and divisive online content, this attracts wider attention and social support against a background of dwindling inter-group trust, state failure, and uncertainty over the political prospects. This article attempts to conceptualize the complex causal relations of affective polarization, elite behaviour, and social media platforms in Afghanistan’s fragmented social and political landscape." (Abstract)
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"In modern warfare, digitalization has blurred the line where civilian ends and military begins. Embedded in the participative warfare theoretical paradigm, this article looks into how the information and communication technologies (ICT) enable civic resilience under the conditions of the foreign ar
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med aggression. Specifically, the authors explore how smartphones and smartphone applications empowered the Ukrainian civil society in the aftermath of the Russian full-scale invasion of 2022. Based on an online survey and semi-structured interviews, the article highlights how the device and its features not only allowed civilians to adapt to living in conditions of
a constant threat, but also to respond and support the defence from the rear. The authors conclude that, while the smartphone becomes an ‘online resilience hub’, acquiring many new functions like a mobile office, an online volunteer (frontline logistics and procurement) hub, an air-threat warner, a first-hand news source and so on, its security provision functions are not unconditional and may turn to the opposite, depending on the physical circumstances on the ground as well as the virtual information battlefield." (Abstract)
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"Paz y reconciliación son temas cruciales de nuestra historia. En la coyuntura de análisis y debates, La fiesta de las paces reflexiona sobre la construcción de la paz desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria y, lo que es más importante, desde voces no institucionales. Los autores demuestran que
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la paz desborda lo oficial y académico; rescatan esfuerzos cívicos, populares y sus distintas formas de expresión en el territorio. Los enfoques que aquí se compilan presentan a la paz desde miradas indígenas, negras, femeninas, artísticas, medioambientales y territoriales. No solo es la ausencia de guerra, sino la oposición a cualquier forma de violencia. La fiesta de las paces nos recuerda que la paz se celebra colectivamente y se vive en lo común. Es un llamado a liberar la fiesta, el humor, el relato y la alegría como elementos fundamentales en el camino hacia una paz auténtica y diversa." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"By preserving independence, Syrian media is trusted to promote dialogue, providing a platform for diverse voices and fosters a culture of critical thinking and public debate, the media acts as a catalyst for inclusive recovery and sustainable development. It lays the groundwork for a resilient, dem
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ocratic, and prosperous future. Donors, partners and Syrian media must prioritise developing and protecting independent media to ensure its role as a pillar of Syria’s recovery and transformation. This policy paper aims to guide stakeholders in leveraging the independent media's potential to significantly impact Syria's early recovery phase, advocating for a strategic, long-term investment in media infrastructure and capabilities." (Executive summary)
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"During the country's most recent civic-military dictatorship (1976–1983), 30,000 people were disappeared or killed by the state. Over the decades, vernacular and professional photographs have been central to the Argentine struggle for justice. They were used not only to protest the disappearances
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under the dictatorship and to denounce the authorities, but also as tools of political and social activism, and for remembering the disappeared. With contributions from leading Argentina-based anthropologists, ethnographers, curators, art scholars, media researchers, and photographers, Familiar Faces moves beyond the traditional considerations of representation, focusing instead on the ways in which photography is continuously reimagined as a tool of memory, mourning, and political and judicial activism. In so doing, it considers the diverse uses of press photography; artistic practice; photographs of the disappeared in domestic rituals; photographs of the inmates of torture centers; the reclamation of images taken by the dictatorial state for memorial and activist purposes." (Publisher description)
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"This book explores how popular cultural artifacts, literary texts, commemorative practices and other forms of remembrances are used to convey, transmit and contest memories of mass atrocities in the Global South. Some of these historical atrocities took place during the Cold war. As such, this book
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unpacks the influence or role of the global powers in conflict in the Global South. Contributors are grappling with a number of issues such as the politics of memorialization, memory conflicts, exhumations, reburials, historical dialogue, peacebuilding and social healing, memory activism, visual representation, transgenerational transmission of memories, and identity politics." (Publisher description)
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"A Saudi-led coalition of states initiated an on-going-armed conflict in Yemen on 26 March 2015. Meanwhile, Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Though no two armed conflicts are exactly alike, there is reason to compare US media coverage of the two because: (1) civilians have been victims of
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both conflicts; (2) both conflicts have undermined food security; (3) the US has provided military support to a party to each of the conflicts; and (4) the conflict in Yemen is in the Global South whereas the conflict in Ukraine is in the Global North. This article comparatively analyses US media coverage of the conflicts in Yemen and Ukraine, via New York Times headlines, by documenting the number of stories and their placement; assessing the types of media frames used; reviewing headlines for attribution of responsibility; and conducting a content analysis to identify the descriptive and normative terminology used. We find extensive biases in coverage and framing, rooted in peripheralism, culturalism and differential geopolitical US positioning. This results in reduced coverage of the war in Yemen, shielded in neutral language and lacking responsibility attribution—serving to devalue the suffering of victims and condemning the crisis to be functionally forgotten." (Abstract)
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"This article scrutinizes Russian state-run TV narratives over critical junctures – before the 2013 Euromaidan protests, the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the periods leading up to and following the 2022 invasion – to illuminate how political agendas, historical narratives, and public percep
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tion intersect. The authors reveal the Russian political elite’s strategic shaping of narratives, influencing collective memory and swaying public opinion on the Ukraine crisis. The significance of the conflict narrative and Russia’s position is underscored, as reflected in the evolving structure of news broadcasts. The image of Russian leaders as capable and reliable is amplified during conflicts, while Ukrainian counterparts are persistently portrayed negatively. The media constructs an identity narrative that elevates Russian leaders and disparages Western counterparts post-crisis, mirroring geopolitical tensions. The framing of Ukraine’s narrative with WWII terminology is analyzed, highlighting attempts to deflect blame onto the West. This comprehensive study elucidates the subtle complexities of media narratives and their pivotal role in geopolitics and international relations." (Abstract)
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"Am 18. Februar 1943 hielt Reichspropagandaminister Joseph Goebbels eine Rede im Berliner Sportpalast, die heute als eine der bekanntesten politischen Reden der deutschen Geschichte und zugleich als warnendes Beispiel für den manipulativen Erfolg nationalsozialistischer Propaganda gilt. Die Rede ku
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lminierte in zehn rhetorischen Fragen, die der Redner an sein Publikum richtete. Auf die Frage "Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg?" reagierten die Anwesenden mit markantem Getöse und Applaus, was sich ins kollektive Gedächtnis Deutschlands eingebrannt hat. Der Historiker Peter Longerich beleuchtet die weniger bekannte Vor- sowie Nachgeschichte der Rede. Er zeigt auf, dass ihr bereits ein länger währendes Bemühen des Propagandaministers vorausging, seinen Einfluss auf die deutsche Kriegsführung zu erweitern und seine Strategie eines "totalen Krieges" gegen abweichende Vorstellungen in der nationalsozialistischen Führung durchzusetzen. Auf offene Ohren bei Hitler traf er damit jedoch erst nach der verlorenen Schlacht von Stalingrad und weiteren verheerenden Kriegsniederlagen. Zwar deutete Goebbels seine Rede als propagandistischen Erfolg, aber die zeitgenössischen Kommentatoren im In- und Ausland teilten, wie Longerich darlegt, diese Auffassung keineswegs einhellig." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This study assessed the extent to which community radio has contributed to the peacebuilding efforts after the Ife–Modakeke conflict in Nigeria, by investigating to ascertain listeners’ perceptions and adoption of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism in managing the conflict to av
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oid a violent escalation. The study applied in-depth interviews and collected data with questionnaires. The findings of the study suggested that the inhabitants of Ife and Modakeke listened intensely to and were aware of the conflict resolution programme on one of the popular radio stations, Orisun 89.5 FM. People also used and knew others, who used the radio programme ‘ADR mechanism’ on the radio to resolve the conflict and avoid violent escalation. Since it was the only peacebuilding programme, the study found that this radio programme was an effective peacebuilding tool in the Ife–Modakeke society. The study recommended that such a good effort should be broadcast more often for further heightened awareness of its diverse listeners." (Abstract)
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"The Rwandan genocide is the second most audio-visually recreated genocide after the Holocaust, with approximately 200 films and documentaries produced in 39 countries between 1994 and 2021. Historical Media Memories of the Rwandan Genocide studies the construction, the development, and the recreati
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on of the transnational historical media memory of the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. This is the first comprehensive work that traces the international media image and the creation of historical memories of the Rwandan genocide, starting with the day to day television news reporting in 1994, and continuing with analyzes of how the genocide has been used and recreated in film and documentaries on a global level as well on a national level, where Rwanda, as a nation, creates its own images of the genocide in film and television production in order to support a new national identity." (Publisher description)
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"Commitment problems and information asymmetries represent key impediments to peacekeeping. We posit that mass media—more specifically, United Nations (UN) peacekeeping radio broadcasts—is a cost-effective, easily implemented method of addressing common roadblocks to conflict resolution. We anal
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yze monthly battle-related deaths across 51 UN peacekeeping missions during the years 1992–2014. Using negative binomial models with two-way fixed effects, we find that peaceful UN radio broadcasts are associated with decreased conflict intensity. We argue that radio-based, mass communication is particularly effective owing to the socio-economic conditions within conflict zones; these properties include severe under-development and lack of access to modern technology." (Abstract)
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"Arts-based peacebuilding has gained attention, but evidence and research of its impact is fragmented and, in particular, the relationship between photography and peace is underexplored. This article examines photovoice as a tool for supporting everyday and community peace in conflict-affected commu
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nities. It identifies four ways that everyday peace indicator photovoice projects in Colombia bolstered community peace: by engendering healing, building territorial identity, enabling intergenerational dialogue, and catalysing action. These impacts emerged as photovoice built on enabling factors, extending existing community peacebuilding capacities, concerns and interventions. Reflecting on the constraints and tensions around working with photography in security-sensitive environments, we propose that participatory photography makes up a vital component of the peace photography genre. We argue that the careful, strategic harnessing of photovoice, and the visualisation of everyday peace, creates opportunities for raising the voices of conflict-affected communities, building shared imaginaries and nurturing dialogue, healing and action." (Abstract)
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"In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), scholars and practitioners often cite the lack of shared narrative as a primary challenge to long-term peace. A study of the multi-ethnic, collaborative story-telling work of the Post Conflict Research Centre (PCRC), a Bosnian peacebuilding organization, however, te
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lls a different story. Instead of aiming to forge a singular narrative, PCRC weaves together multiple stories that express complex positions while driving narrative frames that show peace is possible. In a context where actors might not be ready for a joint narrative, the organization demonstrates how plural stories can co-exist, and be strategically mobilized and disseminated through diverse formats to actively engage others in peace-building processes. Identifying key narrative principles, tactics and frames employed by PCRC, this article proposes more attention is paid to how narrative can be strategically harnessed to de-stabilize the stories that drive entrenched division and to foster and cultivate a culture of peace." (Abstract)
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"Western, especially British interventions in Afghanistan, parallel the long history of photography. This article examines the resulting archive and considers its ongoing influence on the traditions of conflict photography through the concept of the ‘Feedback Loop’ coined by photographer Tim Het
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herington. Hetherington’s work is used as a departure point for an examination of the archival legacy of the male-gendered western gaze in ongoing western incursions. It focusses on Hetherington and contemporary practitioners to position and understand a repetitive cycle of photographic witnessing informed by the archive. Its perspective is on western traditions in the context of picturing Afghanistan and explores what underpins such traditions and how contemporary practitioners are rethinking, rememorizing and now restaging Afghanistan as a site of post-imperial ‘conflict’. It argues that what Hetherington identified as a ‘feedback loop’ is part of a much older tradition of picturing conflict and the combatants at its heart." (Abstract)
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"Más allá de ser meramente intermediarios, medios de comunicación, periodistas, comunicadoras y comunicadores sociales construyen narrativas de la memoria y del pasado a través de su labor y prác ticas cotidianas. A través de su trabajo dan contexto a los acontecimientos en perspectiva histór
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ica y a futuro, en diálogo con y entretejiendo las voces de actores involucrados e impactados por la violencia armada y no armada (por ej. física, socio-psicológica, económica o basada en género), dando centralidad a las víctimas y sus narrativas. Desempeñan varios roles como ser acompañantes o cohesionadores de procesos personales y colectivos de memorias y de situaciones de dolor, lo que les expone también a condiciones de vulnerabilidad emocional y profesional. Estando inmersos en y supeditados a las diversas dinámicas de los contextos sobre los que representan, narran, informan y opinan, el reconocimiento de estas y estos profesionales y de su agencia implica la importancia de considerar disposiciones ideológico-políticas, actitudes y comportamientos en el marco de su labor. En contextos como el colombiano emergen iniciativas periodísticas independientes y de amplio alcance que aprovechan nuevas tecnologías y medios de comunicación en expansión, gracias a la agencia de comunidades y grupos poblacionales. Por sus ventajas y desventajas potenciales es fundamental una contextualización crítica de esas herramientas, cuando se proponga usarlas en regiones con desarrollo desigual de conectividad o poco acceso a infraestructura digital." (Resumen ejecutivo)
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