Technical Change: Political Options and Imperatives

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Williams

By The Standards of The Solar System, Where are found the only comparable bodies of whose existence we have certain knowledge, the earth is not a large planet. For most of recorded history, on the other hand, it has certainly seemed so to its inhabitants, and only in recent decades has a different perception come to prevail, as instanced, for example, by the much-remarked Ward-Dubos book of 1972, Only One Earth — The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet. In 1872 Phileas Fogg needed almost eighty days to go around the world, in 1961 Yuri Gagarin managed the feat in little more than eighty minutes, and nowadays less intrepid travellers than these think nothing of accomplishing the task using commercial aircraft in comfortably less than eighty hours. Photographic images and, in general, data of unlimited complexity meanwhile circle the globe virtually instantaneously. The technologies here are those of transport and communications but in most other areas of human activity too the twentieth century has seen similar technological strides.

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Squires

Modernism is usually defined historically as the composite movement at the beginning of the twentieth century which led to a radical break with what had gone before in literature and the other arts. Given the problems of the continuing use of the concept to cover subsequent writing, this essay proposes an alternative, philosophical perspective which explores the impact of rationalism (what we bring to the world) on the prevailing empiricism (what we take from the world) of modern poetry, which leads to a concern with consciousness rather than experience. This in turn involves a re-conceptualisation of the lyric or narrative I, of language itself as a phenomenon, and of other poetic themes such as nature, culture, history, and art. Against the background of the dominant empiricism of modern Irish poetry as presented in Crotty's anthology, the essay explores these ideas in terms of a small number of poets who may be considered modernist in various ways. This does not rule out modernist elements in some other poets and the initial distinction between a poetics of experience and one of consciousness is better seen as a multi-dimensional spectrum that requires further, more detailed analysis than is possible here.


1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-273
Author(s):  
Constance Lever-Tracy ◽  
David Ip

This article explores two new and related phenomena of the late twentieth century that will surely play a major role in shaping the world of the twenty-first: the economic development and opening up of China, and the emergence onto the world economic stage of diaspora Chinese businesses, producing a significant, identifiably Chinese current within global capitalism. Each of these has, we believe, been crucial and perhaps indispensable to the other.


Tempo ◽  
1966 ◽  
pp. 2-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelio de la Vega

For a long time now—long when we consider the quick, changing time-scale of our days—electronic music has been with us. The public at large usually remains cold, confused or merely dazed when faced with any new aesthetic experience. Critics, musicologists and the like still seem, as usual, to be unable to predict what will happen to this peculiar, mysterious and often anathematized way of handling musical composition, while many traditionally-minded composers consider it a degrading destruction of the art of music. On the other hand, the electronic medium seems to attract a long, motley caravan of young, inexperienced and often unprepared ‘beatnik type’ self-titled composers, who believe that the world began yesterday and that you only have to push buttons and prepare IBM cards to obtain magical results. Probably not since Schoenberg proclaimed the equal value of the twelve semitones of our sacred but by now obsolete tempered scale has twentieth-century music been faced with such a bewilderment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (36) ◽  
pp. 081-106
Author(s):  
張琬琳 張琬琳

<p>二十世紀初,在國際間崛起的各國勢力,加速了各民族內部自我整頓與反省的動力,東方音樂家學習西方音樂,也試圖以西方音樂的樂制,來整建自我民族內部的音樂紋理。</p> <p>東方音樂家欲望著西方,希冀能登上國際音樂舞臺;西方樂壇也期待從東方音樂家那裡,聽見西方人能夠「聽得懂」的「東方聲音」。在東 / 西方彼此期待、渴望之間,音樂本身被賦予極大的感官寓意,對西方人而言,帶有異國情調的音樂,尤其能夠吸引他們的目光;對於東方音樂家而言,這些「東方」的元素,卻是取自於不同民族風土的獨特聲音。</p> <p>本文聚焦臺灣近代音樂家江文也,以近年來新出版的傳記、日記和音樂作品全集,以及本論文作者近年於歐洲搜集的史料為分析佐證,探討江文也「屬於自己 / 東方的聲音」創作,如何引發西方樂壇對於「東方聲音」的想像。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>The early twentieth century was a century that had the two global-scale World Wars between world powers across continents and oceans. Rising nationalism and increasing national awareness became a major political issue in general society. Eastern musicians reflected on the issue and diligently learned Western music system to get a remarkable grasp of it. Because they knew well the so-called Oriental music sounds must be rooted in the Western music theory to be able to compete among nations by international standards. On one hand, Eastern musicians desired to be seen and rival upon the world stage; on the other hand, Western musicians looked forward to hearing pure Oriental music sounds from the East. However, for Taiwanese composer Jiang, Wen-Ye, the Oriental music sounds are not the ones of a traditional and exotic concept. Traditionally, the Oriental music sounds derive its flavor from the pentatonic scale and use traditional Chinese musical instruments to play. It is under such circumstances Jiang, Wen-Ye compose beautiful musical forms that embody his love and respectful duty to the Taiwanese motherland throughout frequent international music events and competitions.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>


Organizacija ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 189-197
Author(s):  
Peter Veber

An Overview of Models for Assessment of Organization VirtualityA virtual organization is a network of legally independent organizations and/or individuals that produce products and/or services based on a common business understanding. This new organization structure is posited as radical departure from the traditional, hierarchic, bureaucratic and co-located mode of organizing that dominated the twentieth century. In contrast, the characteristics of the new, virtual organization forms are seen to be dynamic, networked, distributed, digital, flexible, collaborative and innovative. The challenge, however, is to determine which organization as a subject employs virtual form and which not. The answer to this question is decidedly complex as most organizations have forms that are somewhere in between; therefore, it is usually only possible to determine how virtual one organization is on certain aspects. In the other words: what is the level of its virtuality? Several models for the assessment of organization virtuality have been developed by many different authors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and present all the published models of virtual organization that are publicly available in the world literature. The strengths and weaknesses of all models found are presented, together with their mutual relations.


2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Jock Given

For a third of the twentieth century, the only way Antipodeans could talk with people on the other side of the world was by wireless. The submarine cables that traversed the oceans from the 1860s carried messages in Morse code, ‘telegraphy’, but not voice. From 30 April 1930, the wireless telephone service made it possible to conduct a conversation in real time between England and Australia. This article explores the old era of international wireless telephony at a time when wireless is again transforming social and economic possibilities. It examines the economics and politics of the era, the man most closely identified with the Australian services, the technology employed and the way the service was used, identifying similarities and differences between this period and the present.


Author(s):  
Elisabeth Hein

The Ternus effect refers to an ambiguous apparent motion display in which two or three elements presented in succession and shifted horizontally by one position can be perceived as either a group of elements moving together or as one element jumping across the other(s). This chapter introduces the phenomenon and describes observations made by Pikler and Ternus in the beginning of the twentieth century. Next, reasons for continued interest in the Ternus effect are discussed and an overview of factors that influence it offered, including low-level image-based factors, for example luminance, as well as higher-level scene-based factors, for example perceptual grouping. The chapter ends with a discussion of theories regarding the mechanisms underlying the Ternus effect, providing insight into how the visual system is able to perceive coherent objects in the world despite discontinuities in the input (e.g., as a consequence of eye movements or object occlusion).


2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Jock Given

For a third of the twentieth century, the only way Antipodeans could talk with people on the other side of the world was by wireless. The submarine cables that traversed the oceans from the 1860s carried messages in Morse code, ‘telegraphy’, but not voice. From 30 April 1930, the wireless telephone service made it possible to conduct a conversation in real time between England and Australia. This article explores the old era of international wireless telephony at a time when wireless is again transforming social and economic possibilities. It examines the economics and politics of the era, the man most closely identified with the Australian services, the technology employed and the way the service was used, identifying similarities and differences between this period and the present.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Campbell Orchard

<p>Revitalised by Mussolini in the early twentieth century as a symbol of the ‘New Roman Empire’, Roma has endured a long history of national representation. Traditionally the figure of Roma is on the one side associated by historians with the Roman imperial cult and Augustus, and on the other by Numismatists as the helmeted female figure on the coinage of the Roman Republic. However, these figures are not presently considered one and the same. When describing this figure, Roma is considered a Greek innovation travelling west, which naturally discounts well over two centuries of Roman issued coinage. Roma inaugurated by Hadrian and previously manipulated by Augustus was not simply a Greek import, but a complex Roman idea, which, true to Roman form, incorporated native and foreign elements in shaping an outward looking signifier of Roman identity.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-181
Author(s):  
Agustin Soewitomo Putri

The development of the world, especially in relation to the condition of the earth which includes nature and its environment, increases the time it experiences an increasingly dire situation. News about the occurrence of floods, smog that causes pollution, land damage and marine pollution due to uncontrolled plastic waste and garbage and various forms of environmental pollution have become news that is commonly heard and even tends to be considered wind. Earth's worsening conditions can no longer be underestimated. The condition of the earth will affect the continuity of human civilization in the future and the inevitable consequence is that today's humans are also responsible for the condition and health of the earth which will be passed on to their children and grandchildren. While on the other hand, religion, with its teachings that talk more about heaven, is accused of being the cause of all causes of damage due to human neglect of nature. This is where Ecotheology is expected to become a bridge to resolve this gap so that understanding of God and care for all of His creation are connected with the biblical explanation. This study aims to present the biblical idea of saving the earth and its contents, so that Christians can share responsibility for the management of the earth. As for the conclusion are: First, humans must return to the original concept of its formation, as guardians, preservers, managers of the earth with full power but not done arbitrarily. Second, saving the earth actually begins with a mandate for humans to protect their own race, the task of procreating and multiplying is the task of balancing the existing population, the task of balancing also includes being responsible for education for the next generations. Third, the laws in the Old Testament provide an important concept which until today can be a pattern for humans to care for the preservation of nature. Fourth, the concept of redemption carried out by Christ includes the restoration of the earth and everything in it and this restoration requires cooperation and awareness from humans to work for it.Perkembangan dunia, khususnya berhubungan dengan kondisi bumi yang meliputi alam dan lingkungannya, bertambah waktu mengalami keadaan yang semakin memprihatinkan. Berita tentang terjadinya banjir, kabut asap yang mengakibatkan polusi, kerusakan tanah dan pencemaran laut akibat limbah plastik dan sampah yang tak terkendali dan berbagai bentuk pencemaran-pencemaran lingkungan telah menjadi pemberitaan yang biasa didengar bahkan cenderung dianggap angin lalu. Kondisi bumi yang makin buruk ini tidak lagi bisa disepelekan. Keadaan bumi akan mempengaruhi kelangsungan peradaban manusia di masa depan dan konsekuensi yang tak dapat dielakkan adalah manusia jaman sekarang turut bertanggungjawab atas keadaan dan kesehatan bumi yang akan diwariskan kepada anak cucunya. Sementara di pihak lain, agama dengan ajarannya yang lebih banyak berbicara tentang surga, dituding menjadi penyebab segala pemicu kerusakan karena pengabaian manusia terhadap alam. Di sinilah Ekoteologi diharapkan menjadi jembatan untuk menyelesaikan kesenjangan tersebut sehingga pemahaman tentang Allah dan perawatan terhadap seluruh ciptaan-Nya terhubung dengan penjelasan Alkitab. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengemukakan gagasan Alkitab tentang penyelamatan bumi dan isinya, sehingga orang-orang Kristen ikut bertanggung jawab terhadap pengelolaan bumi. Adapun sebagai kesimpulan adalah: Pertama, manusia harus kembali kepada konsep awal pembentukannya, sebagai penjaga, pemelihara, pengelola bumi dengan kekuasaan yang penuh namun bukan dikerjakan dengan sewenang-wenang. Kedua, penyelamatan bumi justru diawali dengan mandat untuk manusia menjaga rasnya sendiri, tugas beranak cucu dan bertambah banyak adalah tugas untuk menyeimbangkan populasi yang ada, tugas menyeimbangkan juga meliputi tugas bertanggung jawab untuk pendidikan bagi generasi-generasi berikutnya. Ketiga, hukum-hukum dalam Perjanjian Lama memberikan konsep penting yang hingga hari ini dapat menjadi pola manusia untuk merawat kelestarian alam. Keempat, konsep penebusan yang dilakukan oleh Kristus mencakup pemulihan atas bumi dan segala isinya dan pemulihan tersebut memerlukan kerjasama dan kesadaran dari manusia untuk mengusahakannya.


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