Author: Brian F. Harrison File Type: pdf American public opinion tends to be sticky. Although the news cycle might temporarily affect the publics mood on contentious issues like abortion, the death penalty, or gun control, public opinion toward these issues has remained remarkably constant over decades. There are notable exceptions, however, particularly with regard to divisive issues that highlight identity politics. For example, over the past three decades, public support for same-sex marriage has risen from scarcely more than a tenth to a majority of the population. Why have peoples minds changed so dramatically on this issue, and why so quickly? It wasnt just that older, more conservative people were dying and being replaced in the population by younger, more progressive people people were changing their minds. Was this due to the influence of elite leaders like President Obama? Or advocacy campaigns by organizations pushing for greater recognition of the equal rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people? Listen, We Need to Talk tests a new theory, what Brian Harrison and Melissa Michelson call The Theory of Dissonant Identity Priming, about how to change peoples attitudes on controversial topics. Harrison and Michelson conducted randomized experiments all over the United States, many in partnership with equality organizations, including Equality Illinois, Georgia Equality, Lambda Legal, Equality Maryland, and Louisianas Capital City Alliance. They found that people are often willing to change their attitudes about LGBT rights when they find out that others with whom they share an identity (for example, as sports fans or members of a religious group) are also supporters of those rights-particularly when told about support from a leader of the group, and particularly if they find the information somewhat surprising. Fans of the Green Bay Packers football team were influenced by hearing that a Packers Hall-of-Famer is a supporter of LGBT rights. African Americans were influenced by hearing that the Black president of the United States is a supporter. Religious individuals were influenced by hearing that a religious leader is a supporter. And strong partisans were influenced by hearing that a leader of their party is a supporter. Through a series of engaging experiments and compelling evidence, Listen, We Need to Talk provides a blueprint for thinking about how to bring disparate groups together over contentious political issues. **

Author: Asaf Y. Shamis File Type: pdf The Media Environment of Political Thought offers a novel way of looking at the tradition of political thought by reconstructing the historical media landscapes in which great political texts of the past were produced. It brings to light the little-charted media environments in which two political innovatorsJean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marxoperated and analyzes both how writing systems shaped their intellectual growth, and how they used those systems to communicate their pioneering ideas. The historical analysis is followed by a critical reflection on the future of political thought in the age of computer-mediated communication. Together the three studies presented in the book conjure up a view of the tradition of political thought as highly regulated stream of information shaped by historical writing systems.**ReviewThe Media Environment of Political Thought proposes that revolutionary political thought and new media technologies exist in a dialectical relationship. By demonstrating how the material production of the text itself is imbricated in the expression of ideas, their circulation and reception, Shamis provides a much-needed and original approach to reading political theory. Written with great clarity and precision, the book deftly moves from Rousseau and Marx to our current moment of networked digital dissemination. (Alyson Cole, The Graduate Center, City University of New York) The Media Environment of Political Thought is an unusually insightful work and deals with matters of great importance to our society. It fruitfully combines approaches derived from the study of political thought with those developed by scholars in the field of media studies, and richly deserves a large audience. (Jack Jacobs, City University of New York) About the Author Asaf Y. Shamis is lecturer of political theory at the History School and in the International School of the University of Haifa.