<p>  </p> <p>The transition of Folk music in the USA from the margins to notoriety, had its roots in the ‘leftist’ ideology of their proponents, and a message of communal solidarity, based on the ‘we’. The arrival of Bob Dylan in the 60s to an already recognized folk movement propelled him to global stardom, which made it possible for his music to permeate Spanish houses and songwriters’ circles. Dylan focused on the ‘you’ as a finger-pointing technique that questions his listener’s alliances. He had a revolutionary character that influenced songwriters both in the USA and Spain, whether through his lyrics or his rebellious rejection of any kind of pressure group. </p> <p>His lyrical content of vivid images placed before the eyes of the listeners (<em>enargeia</em>), captivated his audiences. Spanish songwriters, who at the same time received influence from France, or the social poets of the first half of the 20th Century, among others, found in Dylan a valuable source to widespread a non-conformist message of freedom. They translated and reinterpreted some of Dylan’s protest songs, and in the case of Catalonia or Galicia, used their native languages as a symbol of defiance against the Francoist Government.</p> <p>Early Dylan and his counterparts in Spain became organic intellectuals as a bridge between the subalterns and the ruling bloc. They used epideictic discourses to put their audiences in questioning and decision-making positions. Their use of <em>prosopopeia</em> bestowed memory to those individuals who were wronged by the judiciary system in the USA and Spain; aiding in developing a counter-hegemonic discourse that placed them in the tradition of the <em>euphantasiotos</em>, who is as skilled in the <em>ars </em>of <em>enargeia </em>as in the <em>ars </em>of <em>actio</em>, as a poet and a performer. </p>

This paper investigates the impact of place-based identity on trust in international organizations and examines the role of civic engagement in reinforcing or mitigating these attitudes. In an era marked by global challenges and increasing polarization, trust in international organizations has become crucial for effective cooperation. Previous research has identified place-based identity as a fundamental social identity that influences out-group attitudes and plays a role in shaping civic engagement outcomes. Drawing on social identity theory and social capital theory, this study employs quantitative methods, utilizing ANES survey data conducted in the United States to explore the relationship between place-based identity and trust in international organizations. Focusing on the distinction between rural- and urban-identifying American citizens, the results reveal that rural-identifying individuals exhibit lower levels of trust in international organizations compared to their urban counterparts. These differences are characterized by marginal yet statistically significant effects. Furthermore, although the conditioning effect of civic engagement is not statistically significant, it provides intriguing insights that suggest it may reinforce the impact of place-based identity, potentially leading to negative effects on trust in civil society. These findings contribute to a broadened understanding of the interplay between identity and political attitudes, shedding light on the factors that influence them.

The past 10 years has been filled with an ambition to encourage the non- profit sector to become a producer of welfare services by making it easier to apply for financial aid and co-operation. Non-profit labour is described as a force that is not driven by financial gains but with the purpose to contribute to the overall welfare of the citizens. Many studies have so far tried to understand the underlying motives behind non-profit labour and its structure historically but what effect has social relationships on the emergence of civic engagement and what kind of resources are necessary to enter the third sector? The main purpose of this study is to contribute to previous studies made in the field of non-profit-labour by further investigating the importance of social relationships for the entrance to the third sector and the requirements to get involved in a non-profit organization. This study is based on 16 interviews made with individuals who are currently engaged in a non-profit organization. The material was analyzed by Mark Granovetters theory based on the strength of weak ties and Pierre Bourdieu theory onfields, habitus and capital. The theories made it possible to highlight and understand the importance of different relationships in the development of civic engagement and the informal requirements that create thresholds. 
 
 The main conclusions of this study is that distant friendships contribute to spontaneous civic engagement while close relationships with relatives encourage civic engagement in specific organizations that have a meaning, purpose and connection to the family. The findings of this study further indicates that informal thresholds exist to get involved in the third sector. The participants have experienced competition in the field with other organizations to gain financial resources and to initiate innovative projects to deserve these resources. To be able to engage in a non-profit organization the participants are not only expected to have specific values and a specific force. Participants of the third sector value differents resources over others. Resources such as academic knowledge, personal experience and insight are highly valued and seen as legitimate by peers in the same field.

As ferramentas de mídia social possibilitam a criação de ambientes colaborativos, comunidades virtuais e mecanismos de interação, como bate-papos e registro de comentários. Algumas organizações públicas estão se apropriando dessas ferramentas para ampliar suas formas de participação, inclusive desenvolvendo plataformas próprias. Mas como uma mídia social promove engajamento nos usuários de uma comunidade inserida nela? Assim, para estudo dessa questão foi selecionada a plataforma Participa.br, que foi disponibilizada pelo governo federal brasileiro em 2013, cujo intuito é oferecer meios para que cidadãos interajam entre si e participem do processo de desenvolvimento de políticas públicas. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar o uso de uma mídia social do governo, a partir de uma de suas comunidades, para verificar de que maneira esta promoveu engajamento. Empregou-se a netnografia, como estratégia de pesquisa, sobre um único caso. Ela se refere à observação e análise em profundidade de interações em uma rede social. Além disso, para a triangulação e contextualização dos dados resultantes da análise das interações, foram realizadas entrevistas com alguns dos usuários participantes das discussões na comunidade, a fim de conhecer suas percepções sobre a plataforma e de sua participação; e análise de documentos e notícias sobre a comunidade e a plataforma. Obteve-se, então, a dinâmica de participação e engajamento de uma comunidade de usuários, algumas evidências de engajamento civil, alguns dos atributos do processo de engajamento e as características que indicassem a presença de senso de comunidade entre os usuários participantes. Por fim, foram verificados quais e como os blocos funcionais, característicos da plataforma, influenciaram o engajamento dos participantes da comunidade estudada. / Social media tools enable us to create collaborative environments, virtual communities and interaction mechanisms, as chats and comments posting. Some public agencies are applying these tools in ways to broaden forms of participation. They are also developing their own social media platforms. However, how is social media used for promoting engagement in users from one of its communities? Thus, in order to address this question, it was selected the platform Participa.br, which aims to offer conditions to citizen interaction and participation in public policy development process. This platform was released by the Brazilian federal government in 2013. The objective of this research is to analyze the interactions in a community of users from a governmental social media, verifying how it has promoted engagement. A single-case netnography was chosen as the research strategy for this study. This strategy refers to observation and deep analysis of the interactions in a social media site. Besides that, it was applied data triangulation and contextualization on the results obtained in the interactions analysis. Therefore, interviews were done with some of the users that took part in the discussions in the community, to understand their perceptions about the platform and about the discussions. Analysis of documents and news about the community and the platform was done as well. After that, it was possible to describe the participation and engagement dynamics of the community users, some evidences of civil engagement, some of the attributes from the engagement process and characteristics that would indicate the presence of sense of community among the participants-users. Finally, it was verified how and which of the functional blocs featuring the platform influenced the engagement in the participants of the chosen community.

As ferramentas de mídia social possibilitam a criação de ambientes colaborativos, comunidades virtuais e mecanismos de interação, como bate-papos e registro de comentários. Algumas organizações públicas estão se apropriando dessas ferramentas para ampliar suas formas de participação, inclusive desenvolvendo plataformas próprias. Mas como uma mídia social promove engajamento nos usuários de uma comunidade inserida nela? Assim, para estudo dessa questão foi selecionada a plataforma Participa.br, que foi disponibilizada pelo governo federal brasileiro em 2013, cujo intuito é oferecer meios para que cidadãos interajam entre si e participem do processo de desenvolvimento de políticas públicas. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar o uso de uma mídia social do governo, a partir de uma de suas comunidades, para verificar de que maneira esta promoveu engajamento. Empregou-se a netnografia, como estratégia de pesquisa, sobre um único caso. Ela se refere à observação e análise em profundidade de interações em uma rede social. Além disso, para a triangulação e contextualização dos dados resultantes da análise das interações, foram realizadas entrevistas com alguns dos usuários participantes das discussões na comunidade, a fim de conhecer suas percepções sobre a plataforma e de sua participação; e análise de documentos e notícias sobre a comunidade e a plataforma. Obteve-se, então, a dinâmica de participação e engajamento de uma comunidade de usuários, algumas evidências de engajamento civil, alguns dos atributos do processo de engajamento e as características que indicassem a presença de senso de comunidade entre os usuários participantes. Por fim, foram verificados quais e como os blocos funcionais, característicos da plataforma, influenciaram o engajamento dos participantes da comunidade estudada. / Social media tools enable us to create collaborative environments, virtual communities and interaction mechanisms, as chats and comments posting. Some public agencies are applying these tools in ways to broaden forms of participation. They are also developing their own social media platforms. However, how is social media used for promoting engagement in users from one of its communities? Thus, in order to address this question, it was selected the platform Participa.br, which aims to offer conditions to citizen interaction and participation in public policy development process. This platform was released by the Brazilian federal government in 2013. The objective of this research is to analyze the interactions in a community of users from a governmental social media, verifying how it has promoted engagement. A single-case netnography was chosen as the research strategy for this study. This strategy refers to observation and deep analysis of the interactions in a social media site. Besides that, it was applied data triangulation and contextualization on the results obtained in the interactions analysis. Therefore, interviews were done with some of the users that took part in the discussions in the community, to understand their perceptions about the platform and about the discussions. Analysis of documents and news about the community and the platform was done as well. After that, it was possible to describe the participation and engagement dynamics of the community users, some evidences of civil engagement, some of the attributes from the engagement process and characteristics that would indicate the presence of sense of community among the participants-users. Finally, it was verified how and which of the functional blocs featuring the platform influenced the engagement in the participants of the chosen community.

Activism and Civic engagement on social media have been taking place since they became a part of communication takes place in people’s everyday lives (Mihailidis 2015). This thesis aims to study the new opportunities for civic engagement and activism that have arisen through the growth of digital media. This work aims to study this by specifically studying how activism surrounding disability and disabled people (disability activism) takes place on the social media platform Twitter. Since the needs of disabled people are often not a priority in the development of technology (World Health Organization 2011, s.184). In this study a mediated community of disability activists and their activity on Twitter are studied using nethnography. The observations of which are analyzed through theoretical foundations in infrastructuring (Mosconi et al. 2017), design in relation to civic engagement (Korn &amp; Voida 2015), and the role of mediated communities in activism (Fromm 2015). The primary result of the nethnography is the observation of how the disability activists appropriated Twitter as an infrastructure for their activism, as well as three analytical categories of the activity that was observed during the field work. Based on this categorization and analysis of the activists’ user behavior the main contribution of this thesis is formulated: A description of how disability activists engage in infrastructuring of Twitter to create a platform where their mediated community can engage in online activism and civic engagement. / Aktivism och samhällsengagemang i sociala medier har skett sedan de blev en del av hur kommunikation sker i människors vardagsliv (Mihailidis 2015). Denna uppsats ämnar undersöka de nya möjligheterna för samhällsengagemang och aktivism som uppstått genom utvecklingen av digitala medier. Detta verk ämnar undersöka detta genom att specifikt undersöka hur aktivism kring funktionsvariation och funktionsvarierade personer (funktionsaktivism) sker på den sociala mediaplattformen Twitter. Då funktionsvarierade personers behov ofta inte prioriteras i teknologisk utveckling (World Health Organization 2011, s.184). Genom en netnografi undersöks i denna studie en medierad gemenskap av aktivister och deras aktivitet på Twitter. Observationerna analyseras och diskuteras utefter teoretiska grunder i infrastrukturering (Mosconi et al. 2017) och design i förhållande till samhällsengagemang (Korn &amp; Voida 2015), samt medierade gemenskapers roll i aktivism (Fromm 2015). De primära resultaten av netnografin är observationen av hur funktionsaktivister approprierade Twitter som infrastruktur för sin aktivism, samt tre analytiska kategorier av aktiviteten som observerades under fältarbetet. Utifrån denna kategorisering och analysen av aktivisternas användarbeteende formuleras uppsatsens huvudsakliga bidrag: En beskrivning av hur funktionsaktivister bedriver infrastrukturering av Twitter för att skapa en plattform där deras medierade gemenskap kan bedriva aktivism och samhällsengagemang.

Today’s complex and rapidly developed media landscape has brought a greater need for Media and Information Literacy. In order to live and express one’s opinion in a democratic society, it is considered a requisite to possess the skills that Media and Information literacy carries. This requisite mostly concerns the younger generation, since they are the ones growing up in today's media landscape.   Many studies have shown that Media and Information Literacy is connected to civic engagement in various ways. Yet we have not encountered studies with Media and Information Literacy in correlation to civic engagement for a social issue. Therefore, the study will initially describe the main terminology and abilities concerning Media and Information literacy, this through a model formed by Renee Hobbs. Thereafter, the study presents how the abilities of what the model implicates execute in a civic engagement concerning a social issue.   The study is conducted on eight adolescents in 9th grade at a school in Småland, using a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. The result showed us that the abilities presented in the model, were practiced on a daily basis in the adolescent’s life in different ways. Further, it showed that the abilities played a significant role in order exert civic engagement. Interestingly it showed us that the social context was a remarkable reason for the adolescents to engage together.

Civic competence is critical to the successful functioning of pluralistic democracies. Developing the knowledge, skills, and motivations for effective democratic participation is a national and global imperative that many higher education institutions have embraced through the teaching strategies of community-based learning and service-learning. Yet, scant research literature has focused on the relationship between pedagogical approaches and civic competence outcomes. This five-year longitudinal study of 11,000 students in 700 senior-level capstone courses at an urban research university empirically tested a new theoretically constructed model of civic competence development in order to identify epistemological and pedagogical elements that enhance civic competence. Eight epistemological domains embedded within four components of civic competence (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and actions) were analyzed utilizing item and factor analysis. The model was extremely robust (r = .917) for civic competence development and indicated strong effect size for multiple pedagogical elements of course design, teaching strategies, and integration of community service. Significantly, the greatest effect for developing civic competence is pedagogical incorporation of diversity and social justice issues. Thus, the Critical Pedagogy Model of Civic Competence offers faculty a heuristic taxonomy of teaching and learning strategies to utilize diversity of thought and interaction in community-based learning as a catalyst for transforming students into competent democratic participants.

The question of whether or not school makes a difference in preparing students for democratic citizenship has been debated for a long time in political science and curriculum studies. These discussions are mostly based on the results of international surveys measuring students’ political attitudes, values and participation. However, we first need to define what kind of prepared citizens are needed. This article takes on the definition issue and presents new perspectives by exploring how teachers in Social Science (Samhällskunskap) and their students in Sweden reason about engagement when they address complex societal issues such as globalisation. Based on interviews with a number of teachers and students I will argue that in order to understand what is going on in school we need to interpret Social Science teaching in terms of first- and second-order concepts, where the second-order concepts could be seen as "how to think like a social scientist". I will make a case that there is a didactic dilemma for teachers trying to educate students who are both trained in disciplinary thinking and leave school as politically engaged. However, this dilemma is not unsolvable and I will hold a position that it might contain answers to some of the questions that political scientists deal with in terms of engagement.

Urban research is aware of being culturally embedded, and inability to break free from history in some cases may explain why the change goes in a particular direction. After more than 70 years of centrally planned community and isolation, present urban structures in Russia stand as arenas for the system transitions. The political and socio-economic changes of the last decades had an impact on urban structures and relations between the different levels of planning. The municipalities are now assumed to be independent in terms of decision-making and local priorities, urban programs and civic engagement procedures. While the degree of success in urban development varies between the different Russian cities, the paper studies the local planning functions as well neighborhood governance and puts the results into the soviet planning context. By using in-depth interviews, the data has been collected providing a knowledgebase of the subject across the study area. The results show both various gaps of transformation (e.g. insufficient legislature, lack of local initiative and federal guidance, marginalized master plan, poor neighborhood governance) and path-dependent system (normativism, unsuccessful civic engagement, lack of communication between different institutions, companies and publics). The discussion argues that at the national scale the issue lies in the uncompleted socio-cultural transformation, which creates a quasi-existent planning system at the local level.