Spatial practices and narratives

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 732-754
Author(s):  
Óscar García Agustín ◽  
Félix J. Aguirre Díaz
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Santiago De Chile ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Movement

The Chilean students’ rebellion emerged in 2011 within the wave of global protests. Even though it is an organized movement, with roots in a specific historical context, it shares with the global movement the use of new media technologies, the appropriation of public spaces, and the concern for democracy and equality. The movement deploys flexible forms of organization and mobilization such as flash mobs, in the case analyzed in this article, the GenkiDama for Education. The students create a narrative based on the famous Manga series Dragon Ball Z to reframe the conflict between students and government. As Manga fans, they open up participation to other less politically defined identities. The flash mob moment works as a communicative event in which the narrative is put into place and strengthens a sense of community in the streets of Santiago de Chile. To analyze the connections between the fictional narrative of Manga and the use of the public space, we draw on Michel de Certeau’s theory on spatial practices and the function of stories and place/space. Spatial practices during the flash mob challenge the social and spatial order in order to represent a symbolic victory of the students over the political system.

Spatial practices and narratives

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 732-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Óscar García Agustín ◽  
Félix J. Aguirre Díaz
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Fictional Narrative ◽  
Santiago De Chile ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Movement

The Chilean students’ rebellion emerged in 2011 within the wave of global protests. Even though it is an organized movement, with roots in a specific historical context, it shares with the global movement the use of new media technologies, the appropriation of public spaces, and the concern for democracy and equality. The movement deploys flexible forms of organization and mobilization such as flash mobs, in the case analyzed in this article, the GenkiDama for Education. The students create a narrative based on the famous Manga series Dragon Ball Z to reframe the conflict between students and government. As Manga fans, they open up participation to other less politically defined identities. The flash mob moment works as a communicative event in which the narrative is put into place and strengthens a sense of community in the streets of Santiago de Chile. To analyze the connections between the fictional narrative of Manga and the use of the public space, we draw on Michel de Certeau’s theory on spatial practices and the function of stories and place/space. Spatial practices during the flash mob challenge the social and spatial order in order to represent a symbolic victory of the students over the political system.

scholarly journals Historicizing media, globalizing media research: infrastructures, publics, and everyday life

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Research ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractVisions of media spanning the globe and connecting cultures have been around at least since the birth of telegraphy, yet they have always fallen short of realities. Nevertheless, with the internet, a global infrastructure has emerged, which, together with mobile and smartphones, has rapidly changed the media landscape. This far-reaching digital connectedness makes it increasingly clear that the main implications of media lie in the extent to which they reach into everyday life. This article puts this reach into historical context, arguing that, in the pre-modern period, geographically extensive media networks only extended to a small elite. With the modern print revolution, media reach became both more extensive and more intensive. Yet it was only in the late nineteenth century that media infrastructures penetrated more widely into everyday life. Apart from a comparative historical perspective, several social science disciplines can be brought to bear in order to understand the ever more globalizing reach of media infrastructures into everyday life, including its limits. To date, the vast bulk of media research is still concentrated on North America and Europe. Recently, however, media research has begun to track broader theoretical debates in the social sciences, and imported debates about globalization from anthropology, sociology, political science, and international relations. These globalizing processes of the media research agenda have been shaped by both political developments and changes in media, including the Cold War, decolonization, the development of the internet and other new media technologies, and the rise of populist leaders.

Illusions of Empowerment

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Weisgerber
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Digital Democracy ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Attention Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Systems

This article calls into question the social media empowerment narrative and the underlying idea that social media platforms are empowering everyday netizens to have their voices heard. The author argues that social media technologies may simply privilege only those Internet users who are new media savvy and have leisure time to participate in the so-called digital democracy. While social media systems might have lowered the entrance threshold for civic engagement, hurdles such as the growing competition in an attention economy, the odds of standing out amidst millions of other individual voices, knowledge of new media technologies required to achieve visibility, and time demands make the social media empowerment vision more difficult to attain than the architects of the empowerment ideology have made the public to believe.

Urban Design as a Form of Agonistic Democratic Expression

2019 ◽  
pp. 120633121986126
Author(s):  
José Francisco Vergara-Perucich
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
The Public ◽  
Design Practices ◽  
Santiago De Chile ◽  
Agonistic Democracy ◽  
Democratic System

This article reflects on the potential of urban design to contribute to spatializing the theory of agonistic democracy grounding this reflection by three specific urban practices that have emerged from cracks in the democratic system under neoliberalism: a protest, a community-developed square, and an artistic intervention in the public space. The analysis of these practices valorizes the role of urban design as a potential methodology for contesting the consensus of democracy from the very praxis of shaping urban spaces illustrating how urban design practices can contribute to democratizing society. “How do urban design practices contribute to the discussion of democracy under neoliberalism?” The spatial practices analyzed were observed in three different neoliberal cities: marches in Santiago de Chile, an informal public space in Madrid’s downtown, and an artistic intervention near Euston in London. Finally, the article constructs an agenda for a democratic contestation using urban design resulted from these explorations of spaces of dissensus.

The hunger striker: a case for embodied visuality

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bishnupriya Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Iconic Image ◽  
Popular Movements ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Formal Operations ◽  
New Media Technologies

‘Image operations’ immediately evokes the rich scholarship on new media technologies, be they satellite or drone images. Their shadow occludes another mode of image mobilisation: the formation of popular movements against state and corporate hegemonies. At the centre of such mobilisation lies an ‘embodied visuality’, harnessing spectatorial senses to the image and forging collectivity among those held in its thrall. A theory of embodied visuality indexes the social power of the image, a power perhaps most potent in the icon. Focusing on one kind of iconic image, visceral and sensuous, this chapter considers the image operations of the hunger striker in forging the popular. It looks at the anti-governmental campaign launched in the name of Irom Sharmila, the iron lady of Manipur, and asks: What is the nature of Sharmila’s appeal? Can we argue it has something to do with the formal operations of the image or its specific historical materiality? Can its operation be generalized beyond the historical context of Manipur?

Disruptive Fixation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Sims
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
New Media ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Middle Schoolers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
Class Divisions ◽  
Conventional Type

In New York City in 2009, a new kind of public school opened its doors to its inaugural class of middle schoolers. Conceived by a team of game designers and progressive educational reformers and backed by prominent philanthropic foundations, it promised to reinvent the classroom for the digital age. This book documents the life of the school from its planning stages to the graduation of its first eighth-grade class. It is the account of how this “school for digital kids,” heralded as a model of tech-driven educational reform, reverted to a more conventional type of schooling with rote learning, an emphasis on discipline, and traditional hierarchies of authority. Troubling gender and racialized class divisions also emerged. The book shows how the philanthropic possibilities of new media technologies are repeatedly idealized even though actual interventions routinely fall short of the desired outcomes. It traces the complex processes by which idealistic tech-reform perennially takes root, unsettles the worlds into which it intervenes, and eventually stabilizes in ways that remake and extend many of the social predicaments reformers hope to fix. It offers a nuanced look at the roles that powerful elites, experts, the media, and the intended beneficiaries of reform—in this case, the students and their parents—play in perpetuating the cycle. The book offers a timely examination of techno-philanthropism and the yearnings and dilemmas it seeks to address, revealing what failed interventions do manage to accomplish—and for whom.

Early Debates

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Llano
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Domestic Space ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Conduct Manuals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The Social ◽  
Undeserving Poor

This chapter provides an account of how organilleros elicited public anger because their activity did not fit into any of the social aid categories that had been in place since the late eighteenth century. Social aid in Spain relied on a clear-cut distinction between deserving and undeserving poor in order to rationalize the distribution of limited resources and reduce mendicancy on the streets. Organilleros could not, strictly speaking, be considered idle, since they played music, but their activity required no specific skills and was regarded with suspicion as a surrogate form of begging. The in-betweenness of the organillero caused further anger as it challenged attempts to establish a neat distinction between public and private spaces. On one hand, organillo music penetrated the domestic space, which conduct manuals of the nineteenth century configured as female; on the other, it brought women into the public space, which those manuals configured as male.

The 2016 Police and Crime Commissioner elections

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Public Awareness ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the 2016 elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and to compare them with those that took place in 2012. It seeks to evaluate the background of the candidates who stood for office in 2016, the policies that they put forward, the results of the contests and the implications of the 2016 experience for future PCC elections. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based around several key themes – the profile of candidates who stood for election, preparations conducted prior to the contests taking place, the election campaign and issues raised during the contests, the results and the profile of elected candidates. The paper is based upon documentary research, making particular use of primary source material. Findings The research establishes that affiliation to a political party became the main route for successful candidates in 2016 and that local issues related to low-level criminality will dominate the future policing agenda. It establishes that although turnout was higher than in 2012, it remains low and that further consideration needs to be devoted to initiatives to address this for future PCC election contests. Research limitations/implications The research focusses on the 2016 elections and identifies a number of key issues that emerged during the campaign affecting the conduct of the contests which have a bearing on future PCC elections. It treats these elections as a bespoke topic and does not seek to place them within the broader context of the development of the office of PCC. Practical implications The research suggests that in order to boost voter participation in future PCC election contests, PCCs need to consider further means to advertise the importance of the role they perform and that the government should play a larger financial role in funding publicity for these elections and consider changing the method of election. Social implications The rationale for introducing PCCs was to empower the public in each police force area. However, issues that include the enhanced importance of political affiliation as a criteria for election in 2016 and the social unrepresentative nature of those who stood for election and those who secured election to this office in these contests coupled with shortcomings related to public awareness of both the role of PCCs and the timing of election contests threaten to undermine this objective. Originality/value The extensive use of primary source material ensures that the subject matter is original and its interpretation is informed by an academic perspective.

scholarly journals Social media and sentiment in bioenergy consultation

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Uren ◽  
Daniel Wright ◽  
James Scott ◽  
Yulan He ◽  
Hassan Saif
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Opinion Mining ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – This paper aims to address the following challenge: the push to widen participation in public consultation suggests social media as an additional mechanism through which to engage the public. Bioenergy companies need to build their capacity to communicate in these new media and to monitor the attitudes of the public and opposition organizations towards energy development projects. Design/methodology/approach – This short paper outlines the planning issues bioenergy developments face and the main methods of communication used in the public consultation process in the UK. The potential role of social media in communication with stakeholders is identified. The capacity of sentiment analysis to mine opinions from social media is summarised and illustrated using a sample of tweets containing the term “bioenergy”. Findings – Social media have the potential to improve information flows between stakeholders and developers. Sentiment analysis is a viable methodology, which bioenergy companies should be using to measure public opinion in the consultation process. Preliminary analysis shows promising results. Research limitations/implications – Analysis is preliminary and based on a small dataset. It is intended only to illustrate the potential of sentiment analysis and not to draw general conclusions about the bioenergy sector. Social implications – Social media have the potential to open access to the consultation process and help bioenergy companies to make use of waste for energy developments. Originality/value – Opinion mining, though established in marketing and political analysis, is not yet systematically applied as a planning consultation tool. This is a missed opportunity.

Corporate social responsibility disclosure on the websites of coffee chains in Turkey

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petek Tosun
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Social And Environmental Responsibilities ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose Coffee is among the primary products that attract the public attention to the social and environmental responsibilities of companies. Coffee shops have a big carbon footprint because of their daily operations. With the rising consciousness about sustainability in developing countries, online disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly important for not only multinational but also local coffee chains. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent to which coffee chains include CSR on their websites. Design/methodology/approach Turkey, which is a large emerging economy with an expanding coffee chain market, is selected as the research context. The CSR disclosure on the websites of coffee chains is examined by content analysis according to CSR dimensions. A sample of 27 coffee chains with more than ten stores is included in the analysis. Findings Foreign coffee chains disclose more information on the environment and fair trade than local coffee chains. On the other hand, CSR content in websites of foreign and local coffee chains does not differ significantly in human resources and community dimensions. Foreign coffee chains have comparatively longer brand history, more rooted brands and larger networks than local coffee chains. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first that used a content analysis about CSR on the websites of coffee chains in Turkey. Findings contribute to the understanding of CSR disclosure in the coffee chain industry and can be beneficial for researchers and managers in other emerging markets.

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