A new synthesis about the transformation of early modern rule is necessary, since older assumptions about the making of an institutional bureaucratic state have been undermined. As a consequence, early modern comments on reason of state need to be re-interpreted. They were often (mis-)understood as mirroring the gradual replacement of medieval rule based on personal ties and Christian values by institutionalized power states. Since the 1950s, many of the assumptions on which this interpretation was based have been questioned. The project will re-interpret these comments as reason of princes, analyzing the fundamental transformation in the nature of early modern rule not in terms of state building, but as driven by participation in war on an unprecedented scale and by new constellations within society backing up the enormous increases in war related burdens. It will summarize this new constellation as new monarchy. The project will link this re-interpretation with evidence from pamphlet polemics and estate debates on princely politics. Both sources reflected the debate within society over war-politics and the new constellations in society favoring it. By combining research on contemporary analyses of princely politics with research on the struggle within societies about the consequences of princely politics, the project will contribute to a new synthesis of the nature of Early Modern rule that will be addressed as new monarchy. This combination of intellectual and social history with an international comparison makes this project unique in its kind.

Televised men’s football (soccer) is a key source for entertainment reaching millions of people. It is also one of the most visibly mixed ethnic cultural practices. Numerous studies have shown how football journalists draw on a discourse of ‘enlightened racism’: Black footballers are associated with bodily qualities but not with domains that require intelligence. It remains unknown, though, how these discourses come about. We therefore need to shift the research focus towards the journalists who produce the football coverage. The research question guiding the project is: How do discourses of race/ethnicity play a role in televised football production and how are these discourses articulated at the nexus of televised football content and audience receptions? The vast majority of football journalists is white but little is known about the intersection of whiteness and the meanings journalists give to racial/ethnic diversity of players. The project will supplement a focus on the production process with an examination of televised football content and audience receptions This three-fold focus will provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of televised football in meanings given to race/ethnicity. This is especially relevant in current times when discussions about race/ethnicity dominate policy and media discourses. A combination of observations, interviews, content analyses and online discussions will be used. The study will be conducted across four European countries and is innovative in three ways: - The combination of content, production and reception in one project across different European countries gives important new theoretical insights. It does so through a focus on an important domain where discourses surrounding race/ethnicity are naturalized: televised football. - The project combines various methods and research fields within one study providing a new perspective for media researchers. - The project advances conceptual and empirical understanding of whiteness in media in a European context.

This application is to request funding for Professor Greg Elmer of Ryerson University to spend 6 weeks at Erasmus University department of Media and Communication. He will participate and respond to two ongoing projects, one of Daniel Trottier and the other of Jason Pridmore.

In addition to benefits such as fun, convenience and efficiency, developments in mobile technologies also bring global privacy and surveillance challenges. The way users, organisations, and governments approach these challenges varies based on cultural norms around privacy. This project evaluates how mobile users in the Netherlands and the U.S. think about and make decisions about their privacy and personal data. The projects primary goal is to inform ways of thinking about privacy in the digital age, with an emphasis on tensions between privacy, disclosure, mobility and surveillance. Furthermore, this study highlights important implications for policy decisions regarding privacy.