Social Science Forum 99 (XXXVIII)

Introduction / Call for contributions

Natalija Majsova in Tanja Oblak Črnič / Klemen Ploštajner

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What is celebrity populism? The Case of the Croation singer Miroslav Škoro

Berto Šalaj and Marijana Grbeša

ABSTRACT: The goal of this paper is to expound on the concept of celebrity populism, a phenomenon gaining strength across the world but still lacking a credible conceptual underpinning. We rely on two well-established concepts, populism and celebrity politics, to develop a definition of celebrity populism as a powerful formula that combines the attractiveness of populist messages with the awe of celebrity culture. Unlike other conceptualisations of celebrity politics, we differentiate between populist and mainstream (pluralist) politics and suggest that we should evaluate celebrity populism on its own merits, rather than subjugate it to a generic concept of “celebrity politics”. We distinguish three categories of populist celebrity politicians: populist celebrities, celebrity populists, and super celebrity populists. Finally, we test our categorisation on the case of the popular Croatian singer and politician Miroslav Škoro.

KEY WORDS: populism, celebrity politics, celebrity populism, Croatia, Miroslav Škoro

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Canned Smile: Interpassivity in Contemporary Communication

Tadej Praprotnik

ABSTRACT: Interpassivity is an established cultural phenomenon of delegating an individual’s emotional experience to objects. The spread of such interpassive practices in contemporary times is a reflection of social acceleration, the demand for individual empowerment, of fulfilling independent demands for “action”, and the neoliberal rhetoric of choice and responsibility. By analysing and interpreting primary and secondary sources, the text explains the interpassive strategies seen in the use of individual digital technologies. The use of technology indicates social priorities, while the use of technology as an infrastructure of sociability also indicates strategies of interpassivity. Diverse practices of contemporary communication and the situational duality of communication itself are further highlighted: any social activity presupposes a specific socially regulated and conventionalised practice of semiotics, which is used to communicate our activities, although the
same semiotics can be used to achieve the opposite: to avoid any action and delegating it to another element of material culture.

KEY WORDS: interpassivity, communication, digital technologies, social acceleration, material culture, practice, individualism

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The Banality of Social Harm: The Case of Fast Fashion

Katja Simončič

ABSTRACT: While the majority of Generation Z consumers claim that ethical and sustainable issues are important to them, the rapid growth of the fast-fashion market shows that such issues are still largely neglected in practice. The paper focuses on Hannah Arendt’s concepts of the banality of evil and the failure to think. A comparative analysis is conducted of the conditions that contributed to the non-thinking of ordinary Germans and their subsequent participation in the Nazi atrocities, and the conditions for the non-thinking of fast-fashion consumers. Aside from gaining a better understanding of the non-thinking of fashion consumers, this paper’s primary purpose is to problematise the phenomenon of fast fashion. The analysis points to the harmful nature of the global capitalist economy, which encourages non-thinking, and to the need for critical thinking and the consequent questioning of the normality of phenomena like fast fashion.

KEY WORDS: social harm, fast fashion, banality of evil, non-thinking, Hannah Arendt

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Structural positions, hierarchies, and perceptions of gender equality: insights from a Slovenian research organisation

Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, Majda Černič Instenič, Tanja Petrović, Andreas Andreou

ABSTRACT:Based on a study of gender equality issues in a research organisation in an Eastern European post-socialist country, the paper argues that the increasing precariousness of academic employment and project-based work lead to workplace dynamics that must be considered in a specific setting. The results of a survey of employees at ZRC SAZU show how one‘s position within the academic hierarchy and structure, as well as the nature of the work regime, shape employees‘ opinions. The largest differences in opinion exist between junior female researchers and senior male ones, but there are also relevant differences in the views of women working as research and as administrative staff. The results indicate that an analysis that takes into account the forces of the neoliberal academic market has the potential to illuminate regimes of inequality that are gendered through the relationship between work and social reproduction rather than through identity categories as such.

KEY WORDS: gender equality; academic structure; intersectionality; precariousness; work-life balance

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Literature review on selected political economy issues of the COVID-19 crisis

Marko Hočevar

ABSTRACT: This article aims to explore the emerging literature concerned with the politico-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and to present various insights and data about the ongoing processes. This literature review article: (i) provides an overview of various job retention schemes; (ii) reviews the literature on the transformation of work within the context of teleworking; and (iii) summarises the findings about the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on income and gender (in)equality. While the presented literature provides well-arranged empirical insights into the COVID-19 crisis, it (mostly) fails to situate these changes in the longue durée of constant changes in the capitalist mode of production.

KEY WORDS: gender equality; academic structure; intersectionality; precariousness; work-life balance

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Literature review on selected political economy issues of the COVID-19 crisis

Marko Hočevar

ABSTRACT: This article aims to explore the emerging literature concerned with the politico-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and to present various insights and data about the ongoing processes. This literature review article: (i) provides an overview of various job retention schemes; (ii) reviews the literature on the transformation of work within the context of teleworking; and (iii) summarises the findings about the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on income and gender (in)equality. While the presented literature provides well-arranged empirical insights into the COVID-19 crisis, it (mostly) fails to situate these changes in the longue durée of constant changes in the capitalist mode of production.

KEY WORDS: gender equality; academic structure; intersectionality; precariousness; work-life balance

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Book reviews

  • Angela Nagle: Ubijte vse normalžene: Internetne kulturne vojne od 4changa in Tumblrja in alternativne desnice. Hana Hunjet
  • Aleš Črnič in Anja Pogačnik: Religij in šola. Poučevanje o religiji in njena simbolna prisotnost v javni šoli. Igor Jurekovič
  • Primož Krašovec: Tujost kapitala. Lea Kuhar
  • Ana Podvršič in Maja Breznik (ur.): Verige globalnega kapitalizma. Matej Klarič
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