How are U.K. churches using social media to engage with their congregations?

Churches are important non‐profit organisations that are increasingly adopting social media. In order to contribute to understanding of the value of social media as a communications channel for non‐profit organisations, this article examines, and develops a typology of, the uses of social media by two global churches with a strong presence in the United Kingdom, Hillsong, a megachurch, and the Church of England. Informed by previous typologies of the use of social media in both commercial and non‐profit contexts, content analysis was conducted of Hillsong's and the Church of England's social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. This analysis provided the basis for the formulation of a typology of uses, the main categories of which are building a brand, building the church community, outreach, and developing spiritual mission. Differences between the approaches adopted by the Church of England and Hillsong are outlined. Suggestions are offered for future practice and further research.     

The Development of Motivation and Amotivation to Study and Work across Age-Graded Transitions in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - People’s motivation to engage in studying and working is an important precursor of participation and attainment. However, little is known about how...     

Autonomy-related Parenting Processes and Adolescent Adjustment in Latinx Immigrant Families

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - It is unclear how autonomy-related parenting processes are associated with Latinx adolescent adjustment. This study uses Latent Profile Analysis to identify...     

Cultural Stress,Emotional well-being,and Health Risk Behaviors among Recent Immigrant Latinx families: The Moderating Role of Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Latinx families can experience cultural stressors, which can negatively influence their emotional and behavioral health. Few studies have examined if perceived...     

The challenge of locating land-based climate change mitigation and adaptation politics within a social justice perspective: towards an idea of agrarian climate justice

Abstract

The global land rush and mainstream climate change narratives have broadened the ranks of state and social actors concerned about land issues, while strengthening those opposed to social justice-oriented land policies. This emerging configuration of social forces makes the need for deep social reforms through redistribution, recognition, restitution, regeneration and resistance – book-ended by the twin principles of ‘maximum land size’ (‘size ceiling’) and a ‘guaranteed minimum land access’ (‘size floor’) – both more compelling and urgent, and, at the same time, more difficult than ever before. The five deep social reforms of socially just land policy are necessarily intertwined. But the global land rush amidst deepening climate change calls attention to the linkages, especially between the pursuit of agrarian justice on the one hand and climate justice on the other. Here, the relationship is not without contradictions, and warrants increased attention as both unit of analysis and object of political action. Understanding and deepening agrarian justice imperatives in climate politics, and understanding and deepening climate justice imperatives in agrarian politics, is needed more than ever in the ongoing pursuit of alternatives.     

Abortion Law and Scotland: An Issue of What?

In recent years, several decisions have been made regarding the devolution of abortion laws from central government at Westminster to the devolved regions of the United Kingdom. This article considers the decision to devolve abortion law to Scotland. It addresses Westminster debates from the time, employing a discursive analysis to examine the arguments made for this legislative move. It argues that the debate was largely a proxy argument for the broader question of Westminster–Edinburgh relations and Scottish independence. It further argues that utilising abortion in this way is problematic, and politicises an area which is better seen as an issue solely of women's rights.     

Representing sexuality and morality in sex education picture books in contemporary China

This study conducts a social semiotic analysis of six sex education picture books for preschool children in the People’s Republic of China. Following van Leeuwen’s framework for analysing the discursive construction of social actors, this paper examines two types of social actors directly associated with the education of human sexuality: the physical body of human beings and the institutional, disciplinary body of the family. The analysis of the linguistic and visual representations of the two types of social actors reveals a significant compromise of biosexuality to the complicated psychosexual and sociosexual concerns in the People’s Republic of China. The introduction of biological knowledge about human reproduction is conducted in such a manner that aims to instil the appropriate moral values and behaviours that are regarded as the norm in contemporary Chinese culture as well as ensuring the sound physical and psychological development of young children.     

Global Renewable Electricity Policy: A Comparative Policy Analysis of Countries by Income Status

Although the drivers of renewable electricity (RE) are well-established among Western high-income countries, little is known about the factors that encourage RE development elsewhere. This paper analyzes an unprecedented, original dataset of 149 countries from 1990 to 2010 to compare the policy instruments and other factors that influence RE adoption across low-, middle-, and high-income countries. We find the factors driving RE development vary both across income group and between hydroelectric and non-hydro generation. Most notably for environmental concerns, non-hydroelectric RE generation is driven by feed-in-tariffs and renewable portfolio standards in high-income countries, feed-in tariffs alone in middle-income countries, and by subsidies in low-income countries. Non-policy drivers of RE also vary by country income level.     

Great expectations: the effect of democratic ideals on political trust in European democracies

While in the older literature, low levels of political trust were routinely interpreted as a lack of support for democracy, more recently authors have claimed that the value pattern of critical citizens is a hallmark for a mature and stable democratic system. In this paper we assess the empirical validity of this claim, by relying on the relative deprivation literature highlighting the relation between expectation and frustration. The 2012 wave of the European Social Survey included an extensive battery measuring democratic ideals, and using latent class analysis we identify a group with high ideals on how a democracy should function. Multilevel regression analysis shows that strong democratic ideals are associated with lower levels of political trust, and most strongly so in countries with low quality of government. We close with observations on how rising democratic ideals could be a cause for the occurrence of a new group of ‘critical citizens’.