Ever wonder why we get stuck in endless debates about whether political protesters are being “civil” or not, and whether this should even matter in the first place? 1/

This is a question I ask in my latest article in Theory & Society, “Boundary-work and the demarcation of civil from uncivil protest in the United States: control, legitimacy, and political inequality” (https://t.co/EFMY6Q5hLd) 2/
In the article, I develop the concept of *civility contests*—everyday efforts to distinguish between civil and uncivil individuals, groups, or behaviors. 3/
Focusing on political protest in the US, I find that civility contests involve a wide range of political actors (power holders, opposing movements, the media) who seek to *control* or *delegitimize* protesters (or defend protesters’ *legitimacy*). 4/
When powerholders or political rivals question protesters’ civility, this is a way of changing the subject. Civility contests suck the air and energy out of protests, leaving less room for substantive debate. They also justify sometimes severe punitive action. 5/
Many protesters present themselves as nonthreatening in order to avoid being pulled into civility contests. Others provoke civility contests intentionally, in order to shock audiences and press for an expanded definition of appropriate political behavior. 6/
The tricky thing is that it is hard for any protesters to avoid being accused of incivility by someone. Most forms of protest could be viewed as “uncivil” if using the narrowest definitions of “civility,” insofar as they are designed to be disruptive. 7/
And most grassroots political actors (on the Right & Left) feel they need to be at least somewhat disruptive in order to get people’s attention, especially if they feel they lack other forms of power or have been ignored otherwise. 8/
But everyone’s “incivility” is not treated the same by society — groups with more social status/$$$/political power are less likely to experience negative fallout from uncivil behavior; the most marginalized groups in society will be most harmed by accusations of incivility. 9/
The concept of the “civility contest” allows us to better understand how public debates about the civility of protest can reinforce existing political inequalities, even as they may also enable some protesters to challenge existing boundaries of acceptable political behavior. 10/
Check out the full article here! https://t.co/EFMY6Q5hLd (Let me know if you need a PDF!) 11/11

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The first ever world map was sketched thousands of years ago by Indian saint
“Ramanujacharya” who simply translated the following verse from Mahabharat and gave the world its real face

In Mahabharat,it is described how 'Maharishi Ved Vyasa' gave away his divine vision to Sanjay


Dhritarashtra's charioteer so that he could describe him the events of the upcoming war.

But, even before questions of war could begin, Dhritarashtra asked him to describe how the world looks like from space.

This is how he described the face of the world:

सुदर्शनं प्रवक्ष्यामि द्वीपं तु कुरुनन्दन। परिमण्डलो महाराज द्वीपोऽसौ चक्रसंस्थितः॥
यथा हि पुरुषः पश्येदादर्शे मुखमात्मनः। एवं सुदर्शनद्वीपो दृश्यते चन्द्रमण्डले॥ द्विरंशे पिप्पलस्तत्र द्विरंशे च शशो महान्।

—वेद व्यास, भीष्म पर्व, महाभारत


Meaning:-

हे कुरुनन्दन ! सुदर्शन नामक यह द्वीप चक्र की भाँति गोलाकार स्थित है, जैसे पुरुष दर्पण में अपना मुख देखता है, उसी प्रकार यह द्वीप चन्द्रमण्डल में दिखायी देता है। इसके दो अंशो मे पीपल और दो अंशो मे विशाल शश (खरगोश) दिखायी देता है।


Meaning: "Just like a man sees his face in the mirror, so does the Earth appears in the Universe. In the first part you see leaves of the Peepal Tree, and in the next part you see a Rabbit."

Based on this shloka, Saint Ramanujacharya sketched out the map, but the world laughed