Identity and Its Transformative Dynamics in Knowledge Era: Some Critical Reflections

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debal K. SinghaRoy

Collective identities of people have remained largely transitional despite largely remaining rooted in certain inherited essentialities. The essential dynamics of identity often get negotiated with various forces and processes like those of the economic transformation, technological reorientation, collective mobilisation, modernisation, colonisation, globalisation, penetration of information and communication technologies (ICTs), mass and social media among others. The contemporary society is marked by the fast transformation of its economic order from agriculture and industry to knowledge/information-driven post-industrial society, fast transference of information, images, ideas, services, goods and people across spaces and the borderless expansion of ICTs. These have paved the way for the emergence of a new social order which has been widely described as the knowledge society. Within this emerging economic, social and technological order, new varieties of social interaction and solidarities are constructed from within the pre-existing varieties causing a good deal of fluidity of collective identities on the one hand and their consolidation on the other. Thus, with fast social transformation and increasing interconnectivity and mobility of people across the globe on the one hand and consolidation of new forms of social collectivities on the other, the contours of contraction and configuration of identities have undergone phenomenal change. Against such a backdrop, this article is an attempt to develop an understanding of the nuances of identity: its essence, construction, transformation and configuration within the broad processes of social transition. This article is arranged in five sections. The Dynamics of Identity section deals with the dynamics of identity. In the Social Movements. Modernity, Colonisation, Globalisation and Identity: Changing Facets of Fluidity and Solidarity section, the processes of construction and reconfiguration of identity in the context of social movements, modernity, colonisation and globalisation are discussed. The key dimensions of the emergence of knowledge society are explained in the Emerging Knowledge Society and its Key Dynamics section. In the Solidarity and Fluidity in Identity: The Emerging Facets section, the emerging facets of solidarity and fluidity of identity are elucidated. Finally, the Conclusion section makes the concluding arguments.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Spulber

Abstract The society is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan as a consequence of driving wave of globalisation. Today we are living in a society with rapid dynamic changes and technologic it can be called the IT era. The one most used paradigm is “knowledge society”. The academic world uses this term for analysing the socio-economic transformation toward so-called post-industrial society. It is also used by politics world when the discourses are about the normative vision that the state, governs should aspire to fulfil or when the economic situation and the link with Universities take into consideration. Often the knowledge society is used in relationship with the economy of innovation or information society or technologic society metaphors that are used for to indicate that the labour market is in rapid change and technological competences are required. The demographic situation is also in rapid evolution: according to UNFPA data in 2019 we are around 7,715 million habitants with 26% of the population aged 0-14, 65% of people aged 15-65 and 9% of people aged more than 65 years. The demographic trends are to have more aged people and less young people. This trend is a new and powerful challenge for society. If we consider that adult percentage of the population is the biggest one and that LLL is seen as a concept that complete the gaps of the formal learning, we can confirm that LLL is a new reply to dynamic exchanges in the society and in the globalised economy. The article purpose is to analyse the different concepts of LLL and its link with ageing. The main focus will be on how LLL can improve the quality of ageing. The used methodology is a review of relevant intervention studies and Political Documents for examining the effectiveness of interventions and how the elder's literacy can be a value for society.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dylan Taylor

<p>Surveys of the situation and prospects of the contemporary Left over the past three decades have frequently underscored themes of fragmentation, decline, even terminal demise. This thesis explores the question of the contemporary Left through interviews conducted with participants in New Zealand social movements. The general theoretical literature around the Left and social movements has consistently highlighted a number of social changes and challenges facing the Left today: the split between old and new Lefts following the rise of the new social movements; economic transformation (for instance, post-Fordism), and changes in class composition; the rise of neo-liberalism, and the dislocating effects of globalization; intellectual challenges, such as the demise of Marxism and the rise of post-modern philosophy; challenges to the state, and the arrival of a "post-political" condition. Analysis of the New Zealand literature around the Left and social movements shows congruent arguments and themes, as well as suggesting Antipodean specificities. To examine these contentions, a series of interviews were conducted with participants in "Left" social movements. These interviews suggest both congruence with some of the arguments in the literature and complexities that do not confirm these generalizations. In particular, the suggestion that a third phase of the Left is emerging, characterized by the joining of culturalist and materialist emphases, appears somewhat confirmed. In addition, a number of the challenges signalled in the literature were singled out by interviewees as pressing - for instance, neo-liberalism and the mediatisation of politics. With respect to the modes of action of social movements connected to the Left, there was here too some confirmation of themes from the literature - for instance, the importance of networking. On the other hand, the widespread theme of the wholesale decline of collective actions was put into question by those interviewed. While no definitive conclusions can be drawn from such a study, the interviews suggest the Left may be entering a period of renewal.</p>


Author(s):  
Nathaniel O. Agola

Knowledge use in socio-economic activities is a critical determinant of the divide between countries and regions into low-productivity-low-wage and labour intensive socio-economic activity countries on the one hand, and high-wage-high-productivity and technology abundant countries on the other hand. Therefore, it is indisputable that the creation of knowledge society is imperative for African countries. Economic transformation from low-productivity-low-wage and labour intensive socio-economic activity countries to high-wage-high-productivity and technology abundant countries predominantly define the socio-economic policy aspirations of most African countries. However, it has never been very clear what are the fundamental pillars that must be built and constantly reinforced by these countries to transition to knowledge society stage. This chapter first presents an empirical connection and contribution of knowledge to higher productivity in economic activities. The importance of infusion of knowledge into diverse economic activities to ensure higher levels of productivity both at micro and macro levels is therefore demonstrated through quantification attempts that include knowledge as one of the variables in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) equation. This empirical discussion serves to illuminate the place of knowledge in economic transformation. The second part of the chapter presents an incisive exposition of the critical ten pillars of knowledge creation, sharing, and usage that African countries can leverage to transition from economies defined by low productivity to higher levels of productivity. The chapter concludes that it is the improvement in the collective stock of knowledge of the African countries that would determine whether they could make a transition to a high productivity knowledge society.


2022 ◽  
pp. 54-64
Author(s):  
Gianluca Attademo ◽  
Alessia Maccaro

The formulation of Charts for research ethics and Codes of conduct has been growing in the last few decades, on the one hand due to a renewed awareness of the ethical dimensions of research governance and the relationship between regulators and researchers, and on the other hand for the expansion of possibilities achieved by innovation in information and communication technologies. The voluntary involvement of research participants, risk management and prevention, data protection, community engagement, reflexivity of researchers are some of the centres of gravity of a debate that involves researchers, institutions, and citizens.


Author(s):  
Petros Nhlavu Dlamini

This chapter explores the role played by Information and Communication Technology tools in the management of indigenous Knowledge in general. Of importance to note, therefore, is the fact that the emergence of Information and Communication Technology tools has opened new avenues in Indigenous Knowledge Management (IKM) which have the potential of playing important roles in the society by making the valuable knowledge available to everyone who recognizes and uses it. Given the nature of indigenous knowledge which is commonly exchanged through personal communication and demonstration exemplified as deriving from the master to the apprentice, from the parents to the children, from the one neighbour to the other and so on. Information and Communication Technology tools appear to be providing as a solution in forestalling the possible extinction of IK.


2020 ◽  
pp. 325-347
Author(s):  
Petros Nhlavu Dlamini

This chapter explores the role played by Information and Communication Technology tools in the management of indigenous Knowledge in general. Of importance to note, therefore, is the fact that the emergence of Information and Communication Technology tools has opened new avenues in Indigenous Knowledge Management (IKM) which have the potential of playing important roles in the society by making the valuable knowledge available to everyone who recognizes and uses it. Given the nature of indigenous knowledge which is commonly exchanged through personal communication and demonstration exemplified as deriving from the master to the apprentice, from the parents to the children, from the one neighbour to the other and so on. Information and Communication Technology tools appear to be providing as a solution in forestalling the possible extinction of IK.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Hemmings

Abstract: Feminist theory worldwide is confronting - perhaps as it always has done - a series of deep challenges. On the one hand, awareness of gender and sexual inequalities seems high; on the other, co-optation of feminism for nationalist or other right-wing agendas is rife. On the one hand, feminist social movements are in ascendancy, on the other there is a continued dominance of single issue feminism and a resistance to intersectional, non-binary interventions. If we add in the collapse of the Left in the face of radical movements such as those underpinning Brexit and Trump (and the frequent blaming of feminism for fragmentation of that Left) then it is hard to know what to argue, to whom, and for what ends. In the face of such claims it is tempting to respond with a dogmatic or singular feminism, or to insist that what we need is a shared, clear, certain platform. I want to argue instead - with Emma Goldman (anarchist activist who died in 1940) as my guide - that it can be politically productive to embrace and theorise uncertainty, or even ambivalence, about gender equality and feminism.


Author(s):  
Mikhno Nadiya

The article deals with the phenomenon of urban activism as a manifestation of «grassroots» self-organization of city dwellers. The logic of the emergence of the centers of urban activism in the postmodern cultural situation has been determined, which is marked by the processes of deconstruction of the principles of modernity, in particular the principle of universal rationality. The possibility of conceptual arrangement and cognitive analysis of urban activism through the lens of the study of «new social movements», which is, on the one hand, a catalyst for social change, and on the other, a representation of current trends of postmodernism.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Dimitris Livanios

<p>The main aim of this essay is to offer a critical survey of the development of Greek collective identities, between 1453 and 1913. That period witnessed dramatic transformations, and the arrival of a modernising and Westernising wave, which crashed onto the Greek shores in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The ensuing clash between Western and modern ideas of nationalism on the one hand, and time-honoured local mentalities nurtured by Orthodoxy and the Ottoman millet system, on the other, was intense. This paper attempts to chart some salient aspects of that struggle, to discuss the evolution of concepts and words, such as "Hellene" [Έ&lambda;&lambda;&eta;&nu;&alpha;&sigmaf;], "Hellenism" [&Epsilon;&lambda;&lambda;&eta;&nu;&iota;&sigma;&mu;ό&sigmaf;], "Roman" [&Rho;&omega;&mu;&iota;ό&sigmaf;] and "Romiosyne" [&Rho;&omega;&mu;&iota;&omicron;&sigma;ύ&nu;&eta;], and to place them within their changing historical context.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 31-40
Author(s):  
Anna Ivanova

The article studies the concept of the global social order as a subject of social research. The author starts with pointing at the changes in the structure and the character of the today's global social order (acceleration of exchanges and flows, gradual disappearing of a single hegemony, multipolarity) and claims that it is exactly capitalism that becomes a foundation for multipolar but yet unequal constitution of the global order. The article proposes to deal with the global social order as an example of a global subject – alternative to world system or global system – which can be placed in focus of social research. Also, the paper offers a definition to the notions of social order and global social order. Then the author provides several possible classification of the approaches to the study of the global social order, and then moves on to pointing out their mutual positions. The paper considers capitalism as a special form of global social order and suggests to analyze imperialism and neocolonialism as, on the one hand, the products of this order, and on the other hand, as instruments for its legitimation and hegemony. In the further research the suggested model can be used, first, for the improvements in the study of sociology's global subject, and, second, for deepening the knowledge about the process of (re)production of global social order.


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