Critical Literacies and Language

4 publications

Critical Studies in Democracy and Political Literacy

ISSN: 2166-5036

Why do so few people vote? What is political engagement? How does education intersect with democracy and political literacy? What can be learned from interdisciplinary studies on democracy? How do we cultivate political literacy? What is the relevance of elections in light of war, poverty, discrimination, social inequalities, etc.? What are the alternatives to the traditional electoral, representative, party-politics models that have characterized our societies? Is the mainstream media holding government to account, disseminating propaganda or fuelling the need to pacify the population? How do international systems, approaches and realities related to democracy compare, and what can we learn from others? These are some of the questions that are addressed through this book series. Seeking to fill an important gap in the literature, this book series takes on the theme of democracy in a multi-/inter-disciplinary, comprehensive, and critical way. Some books have democracy in the title but do not make it the focus, and often books that address more directly, for example, multiculturalism, media studies, or school reform may delve into the area of democracy without fully deconstructing what it is, how it functions, how people can shape and intersect with it, and how it is used (or misused) to distort power relations, which is at the base of teaching, learning and action. Thus, a broader range of materials specifically tailored to teacher-education and scholars within the education field is desirable. Similarly, the overlapping and interdisciplinary nature of the study of democracy bleeds naturally into the areas of media studies, sociology, political science, peace studies, multiculturalism, feminist studies, and cultural studies, etc., all of which have a natural and inextricable relationship to and within education.

6 publications

LaCuLi. Language Culture Literacy

In the LaCuLi. Language Culture Literacy series, studies in foreign language research and intercultural communication will be published, as well as studies in foreign-language didactics. Research on the processes of language acquisition and language teaching, with a special focus on language awareness, cultural awareness and learner perspectives, is central to the series. It focuses on empirical research in intercultural foreign didactics as well as on cultural aspects of the workplace. Multi-perspective, multi-language and multi-cultural comparative approaches are highlighted. Fields of application are comparative analyses of political speeches, news, ads and business communication in an international context, as well as in learner texts in multi-language and multi-cultural learning environments. In der Reihe LaCuLi. Language Culture Literacy erscheinen Studien zur Fremdsprachenlehr- und -lernforschung und Interkulturellen Kommunikation sowie zur Fremdsprachendidaktik. Im Zentrum stehen Forschungsergebnisse im Bereich von Spracherwerbs- und -vermittlungsprozessen mit den Schwerpunkten Language und Cultural Awareness und Lernerperspektivität, ebenso empirische Untersuchungen zur interkulturellen Fremdsprachendidaktik sowie zu kulturellen Aspekten des Arbeitsplatzes. Im Fokus stehen mehrperspektivisch, mehrsprachig und mehrkulturell vergleichende Herangehensweisen. Anwendungsfelder sind vergleichende Analysen von politischen Reden, Nachrichten, Werbetexten und Businesskommunikation im internationalen Kontext sowie von Lernertexten in mehrsprachigen und multikulturellen Lernumgebungen.

20 publications

Critical Qualitative Research

Critical research serves to address societal structures and institutions that oppress and exclude so that transformative actions can be generated that reduce inequitable power conditions. We invite proposals for authored and edited volumes that describe critical social science research (re)conceptualizations, practices, and methodologies that can be used by other scholars who wish to design and implement critical qualitative inquiry. Critical Qualitative Research challenges modernist orientations toward research by using social theory, designs, and research practices that emerge from critical questions like: Who/what is heard? Who/what is silenced? Who is privileged? Who is disqualified? How are forms of inclusion/exclusion being created? How are relations of power constructed and managed? How do various forms of privilege and oppression intersect to impact life possibilities for various individuals and groups? How do the arts inform research? How can multiple knowledges be engaged in research? How can research be socially just?

43 publications

Économie sociale et Économie publique / Social Economy and Public Economy

ISSN: 2030-3408

This «Social Economy & Public Economy» series brings together books and monographs with a common focus: the analysis of the economic activities of formal and informal organisations that aim to serve the «public/general interest» or broad «common welfare» of their societies. Diverse initiatives and a wide variety of organisational forms are concerned: public or private nonprofit organisations and services, social services, public utilities, regulatory rules and actions, public enterprises, local community and regional economic development bodies, cooperatives, mutualist enterprises, etc. The series aims to promote a more scientific, and in-depth international and comparative understanding of this type of research that has been rapidly expanding in recent years. The series will reflect about these developments and through its dissemination, it will also support the increasing inter-disciplinarity and multi-disciplinarity of much of this recent research (e.g. economics, sociology, political science, law, policy evaluation and policy analysis, etc.) Editorial responsibility for the series resides with CIRIEC, an international scientific organisation that promotes, supports and disseminates research on the public economy, the social economy, and cooperatives. One of CIRIEC’s key goals and activities is the promotion, support, and expansion of a large international network of researchers who specialise in these issues. This series will allow the publication of work by members of this network as well as providing an outlet for any related research work by other people outside the existing CIRIEC network. La collection « Économie sociale & Économie publique » rassemble des ouvrages proposant, dans une perspective de comparaison internationale, des analyses des organisations et des activités économiques orientées vers l’intérêt général et l’intérêt collectif : services sociaux, services publics, régulation, entreprises publiques, action économique des entités territoriales (régions, autorités locales), coopératives, mutuelles, associations, ... Dans un contexte de « grande transformation », l’activité scientifique dans ce domaine s’y est fortement développée et la collection se veut un nouveau vecteur de diffusion et de valorisation de cette activité dans une approche pluridisciplinaire (économie, sciences sociales, droit, sciences politiques, ...). La collection est placée sous la responsabilité éditoriale du CIRIEC. Organisation internationale à but scientifique, le CIRIEC a pour objet la réalisation et la diffusion de la recherche sur l’économie publique et l’économie sociale et coopérative. Une de ses principales activités est l’animation d’un vaste réseau international de chercheurs dans ces domaines. La collection permet de publier des ouvrages réalisés par les membres de ce réseau, mais est aussi ouverte à des personnes extérieures à ce réseau.

7 publications

Critic of Institutions

ISSN: 1068-4689

12 publications

Critical Education and Ethics

ISSN: 2166-1359

The Critical Education and Ethics series intends to systematically analyze the pitfalls of social structures such as race, class, and gender as they relate to edu-cational issues. Books in the series contain theoretical work grounded in prag-matic, society-changing practices. The series places value on ethical responses, as prophetic commitments to change the conditions under which education takes place. The series aims to (1) Further the ethical understanding linking broader social issues to education by exploring the environmental, health-related, and faith/spiritual responses to our educational times and policy, and (2) Ground these works in the everyday world of the classroom, viewing how schools are impacted by what critical researchers do. Both theoretically and practically, the series aims to identify itself as an agent for community change. The Critical Education and Ethics series welcomes work from emerging scholars as well as those already established in the field.

18 publications

Critical Intercultural Communication Studies

ISSN: 1528-6118

Within Communication, culture is broadly understood as a meaning-making process that evidences itself within discourse, mediated forms, and interactional instances to constitute group autonomy. Within that meaning-making process, intercultural communication considers relationships between institutions and their societies, media and their audiences, and peoples and their communities. The formalized study of intercultural communication has always been problematic; like most disciplines and subdisciplines, its usefulness and limitations emerge from the historical context in which it is studied. Developed after World War II, intercultural communication initially served as an applied area of study to train U.S. governmental and business entities for relationships beyond U.S. borders. Then, out of the struggles of the U.S. Civil Rights era, intercultural communication expanded to concern itself with relationships between differing racial and ethnic groups. By the turn of the twentieth century, some intercultural communication scholars had fully embraced studying the differential power relations between nations, communities, and individuals thus catalyzing a body of research known as critical intercultural communication. Now, heading into the middle of the twenty-first century, critical intercultural communication has come into focus as an area of study that emphasizes, explains, and seeks to resolve power relations within specific contexts, applying theories and modes of inquiry suited to contemporary issues understood within their ongoing historical dynamics. As our institutions and their societies, mediated forms and their corresponding audiences, and communities and their members continue to alter and morph, critical intercultural communication adapts to interpret and envision progressive, socially just ways forward. This series, therefore, invites scholarship that challenges status quo cultural constitutions by recognizing and problematizing hegemonic modes of belonging and being. Spanning a range of contexts, critical intercultural communication considers symbolic and performative orders across local, national, hemispheric and transnational circuits. Moreover, this series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that innovate ontological and epistemological forms, advancing a range of systematic intellectual approaches to cultural transformation and validation. The series is particularly interested in works grounded in BIPOC, decolonial, feminist, queer, crip, and/or kink perspectives that construct claims, knowledges, and theories capable of guiding society toward new social justice knowings.

45 publications

Social Strategies

ISSN: 2235-7491

Die Zielsetzung der Reihe Social Strategies ist es, Theorie und Praxis in soziologischen und gesellschaftspolitischen Problemstellungen zu verbinden. Dabei interessieren fundierte Analysen sowie konkrete Lösungsansätze und Handlungsvorschläge. Inhaltliche Schwerpunkte bilden die Bereiche soziale Ungleichheit sowie Konflikt und Kooperation im Kontext globaler Prozesse. Eine enge Zusammenarbeit besteht mit der Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz), dem Basler Institut für Soziologie (Universität Basel) und dem dort angesiedelten Zentrum für Konfliktforschung. Daneben nimmt die Reihe aber auch Manuskripte von anderen Forscherinnen und Forschern auf. Die sozialwissenschaftlich orientierten Arbeiten sollen neben dem wissenschaftlichen auch ein breiteres, an soziologischen und gesellschaftspolitischen Fragen interessiertes Publikum ansprechen. Publiziert werden Kongressberichte, Festschriften, Dissertationen und weitere Arbeiten, die sich interdisziplinär mit sozialen Fragen und Strategien auseinander setzen. Die Publikationssprachen sind deutsch, englisch und französisch.

27 publications