Intertextuality, Interdiscursivity and Identification in the 2008 Obama Campaign

This paper argues that a key factor in Barack Obama’s ability to mobilise support for his successful 2008 presidential campaign was his use of multicultural intertextual references in a hybrid discourse with which different ethnic audiences could identify. Obama’s rhetoric drew on two discursive traditions in particular: that of Abraham Lincoln and the Founding Fathers on the one hand, and that of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement on the other. By combining explicit and implicit references to both traditions in his speeches, and by interweaving the white myth of an America founded in freedom and equality with the black narrative of a journey towards freedom and equality, Obama was able to persuasively present a unifying metanarrative that embodied an inclusive revisioning of the American story and the American Dream, offering Americans a common future that connected with their various pasts. In addition to examining Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ and victory speeches, the paper will illustrate how he created a dialogical relationship with diverse audiences by including extracts from songs to which he alluded and examples of the many YouTube videos – often themselves hybrid creations which sampled his speeches – that he inspired during the course of his campaign

Prevalence of gram-negative infections in cervico-facial sepsis

Magister Chirurgiae Dentium (MChD)In cervico-facial sepsis a substantial proportion of organisms are normally gram-negative staining of which the majority are anaerobes (Boyanova 2006 and Sanchez 2010). At Tygerberg Academic Hospital and Tygerberg Oral Health Centre it has been found that patients treated for cervico-facial sepsis seldom have gram-negative organisms on culture, although the staining results reported the presence of gram-negative organisms. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of gram-negative staining in a population of patients with cervico-facial sepsis and to determine the number of gram-negative stains that yield gram-negative organisms on culture. Results indicated that 71 out of a possible 90 pus swabs reported a gram stain. Of those, 48 specimens stained gram-negative and only two of these cultured gram-negative organisms. Although gram-negative organisms are present on gram stain, microbiological diagnosis of gram-negative organisms on culture was very seldom found at the Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery unit at the Tygerberg Academic Hospital and Tygerberg Oral Health Centre

Alasdair Macintyre and Trotskyism

This essay features as part of a collection of essays that explore the implications of Alasdair MacIntyre’s critique of liberalism, capitalism, and the modern state, his early Marxism, and the complex influences of Marxist ideas on his thought. A central idea is that MacIntyre’s political and social theory is a form of revolutionary—not reactionary—Aristotelianism. The contributors aim, in varying degrees, both to engage with the theoretical issues of MacIntyre’s critique and to extend and deepen his insights

Uneven and combined development: modernity, modernism, revolution

Trotsky’s theory of Uneven and Combined Development was born out of his experience of the Russian Revolution. To mark the centenary of the revolution, we are publishing a series of five pieces by Neil Davidson that explore the theory’s wider contribution to how we understand capitalist modernity. These articles show how ideas that began life in the revolution continue to inspire new ways of grasping the world, and that we are very much engaging in a living 21st century world when reflecting on the previous century. The series published here are extracts of his forthcoming book Violating all the Laws of History that will be published in the Haymarket Historical Materialism series in 2018

Trial By Jury Involving Persons Accused of Terrorism or Supporting Terrorism

This chapter explores issues in jury trials involving persons accused of committing acts of international terrorism or financially or otherwise supporting those who do or may commit such acts. The jury is a unique institution that draws upon laypersons to decide whether a person charged with a crime is guilty or innocent. Although the jury is instructed and guided by a trial judge and procedural rules shape what the jury is allowed to hear, ultimately the laypersons deliberate alone and render their verdict. A basic principle of the jury system is that at the start of trial the jurors should have open minds and regard the accused innocent until proven guilty. The chapter raises issues about jurors\u27 assumptions of innocence in the aftermath of terrorist bombings in the United States, England, Bali, Spain and elsewhere when persons are persons accused of committing acts of terrorism or indirectly supporting terrorists through financing organizations associated with terrorism. A study of a United States trial involving charges of supporting terrorism is used to illustrate the problem, but the thesis of this chapter is that the basic issues apply to trials that might be held in England, Australia, Canada or other countries with jury systems