Paradoxical Empowerment and Exploitation: Virtual Ethnography on Internet Immaterial Labour in Macao

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Zhongxuan
Keyword(s):  
Specific Context ◽  
Concrete Case ◽  
Virtual Ethnography ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Digital Capitalism ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Local Practices ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Recently, the research topic of immaterial labour had become one of the most significant discussions about the changing nature of capitalism. But the previous studies mainly regard immaterial labour as a unidirectional process of capitalist exploitation in abstract sense, rather than a paradoxical dynamics of exploitation and empowerment in specific context. This article, therefore, investigates immaterial labour in digital capitalism, with a specific case study of the local practices of Internet immaterial labour in Macao, exploring the paradoxical dynamics of exploitation and empowerment through concrete case studies, rather than through abstractive and reductive theoretical discussion. This study has found that the alternative media created by Internet users’ immaterial labour helps them to resist the traditional mainstream media and the government; the affective community founded based on their immaterial labour gives them the collective sentiment of ‘family and belonging’; the individual feelings derived during their immaterial labour not only offer them positive personal feelings, but also a new way of ‘being-in-the-world’ in the age of social media.

scholarly journals flipkart.com’s Strategy on Amazon.com’s Entry into India :A Case Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-143
Author(s):  
Padmanabh B
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Foreign Investments ◽  
Online Retail ◽  
Online Sales ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Government

The online retail industry in India is expected to grow to Rs. 7000 crores by 2015. Its size in 2013 is Rs. 2500 crores. By 2014 India is expected to become the 3rd largest nation of Internet users and this would provide huge potential to the online retail Industry1.Among the major cities in India, consumers in Mumbai topped the chart in doing online shopping followed by Ahmedabad and Delhi2. As per Google study conducted in 2012, 51 percent of the traffic for its Great online shopping festival (GOSF) was due to customers from cities other than the four metros. Referring to the growth in online sales, Nitin Bawankule, industry director, e-commerce, online classifieds and media/entertainment at Google India said, “Top motivators for shopping online include cash back guarantee, cash on delivery, fast delivery, substantial discounts compared to retail, and access to branded products”3.  The E –commerce space in India has seen a lot of action and there are many online players like flipkart.com, Myntra.com, Fabmart, Indiaplaza and Indiatimesshopping. Amazon.com made an indirect entry through Junglee.com. The reason for this indirect entry is the result of government policy towards foreign direct investment.  The Government of India announced in September 2012 the revised foreign direct investment policy in retail. As per this announcement foreign investments are blocked in e-commerce sector while allowing 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail stores and 100 percent FDI in single brand retail. Amazon has been eyeing the Indian E commerce market which is estimated around $2 billion4.

scholarly journals ‘Confession’ and ‘Forgiveness’ as a strategy for development in post-genocide Rwanda

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kubai
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
State Level ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Interpretative Analysis ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

The government of Rwanda has pursued reconciliation with great determination in the belief that it is the only moral alternative to post-genocide social challenges. In Rwanda, communities must be mobilised and reshaped for social, political and economic reconstruction. This creates a rather delicate situation. Among other strategies, the state has turned to the concepts of confession and forgiveness which have deep religious roots, and systematised them both at the individual and community or state level in order to bring about reconciliation, justice, social cohesion and ultimately economic development. In view of these strategies and challenges, some of the important questions are: Does forgiveness restore victims and empower them to heal their communities? What empirical evidence exists that religiously inspired justice and reconciliation processes after mass political violence make a difference? In what areas might the understanding of religious thought and activity towards transitional justice be deepened? These questions provide the backdrop against which I examine the case of post-genocide Rwanda in this article. A hermeneutic interpretative analysis is used to situate the phenomena of forgiveness, confession and social transformation within the specific context of post-conflict societies.

scholarly journals Freedom of expression and protection of personal data on the Internet: The perspective of Internet users in Serbia

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (47) ◽  
pp. 5-34
Author(s):  
Marta Mitrović
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

The paper examines the views of Internet users concerning the protection of their rights on the Internet. The Web survey, conducted by the snowball sampling, included 783 Internet users who expressed their views regarding the ways the state (Serbia) and private agents (Facebook and Google) relate to the right of freedom of expression and privacy on the Internet. Also, the survey was used to examine the individual responsibility of users when it comes to the use of Internet services. Several hypotheses suggested that Internet users in Serbia do not have confidence in the country and private actors on the issue of protecting their rights. However, users also do not demonstrate a satisfactory level of individual responsibility. The most important findings indicate that: 1) only one-sixth of the respondents consider that the Government of the Republic of Serbia does not violate the privacy of Internet users; 2) almost half of the respondents do not feel free to express their views criticizing the government; 3) almost 90% of users are not satisfied how Facebook protects their privacy, while it is 1% lower in the case of Google; 4) a third of respondents answered positively to the question whether they had read terms of use of the analyzed companies, but half of them did not give a correct answer to the main questions; 5) only 8.9% of respondents who claimed to have read terms of use are aware of the fact that Facebook shares their data with third parties.

scholarly journals Indices of Bad Governance by African Political Leaders: The Case Study of Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1506-1514
Author(s):  
Blaise Ngambinzoni Kombeto ◽  
Romain Bakola Dzango ◽  
Modeste Ndaba Modeawi ◽  
Gédéon Bongo Ngiala ◽  
Muhammad Ridwan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The People ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Marcel SONY LabouTansi, the author of the novel "The Shameful State", denounces the dictatorial system often practiced by most African leaders in the management of the "res publica". He paints the barbarity of man in relation to his fellow man. It also presents the duality between the traditional society characterized by democracy, peace ... and the modern society based on dictatorship in which the government behaves as a state, as absolute master, and the governed in the eternal "- mute", "voiceless". It invites the recipients to renounce to the bad principle in order to establish democracy, a system that respects the individual freedom of the people, that of human rights, of professional promotion for the harmonious development of a sovereign and democratic State. The novel "The Shameful State" unfolds the spiral of the unpleasant reign of a megalomaniacal, criminal and lustful president, Colonel Martillimi Lopez, who "shamefully" manages power and ends with the crying and gnashing of his constituents' teeth. After having committed: pedophilia, adultery, assassination of opponents, he was deposed by his relatives who created an insurrection and was forced to hand over power to civilians to return to his native village.

scholarly journals Lockdown: a case study in how to lose trust and undermine compliance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Faulkner
Keyword(s):  
Collective Good ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Coordination Problem ◽  
Coordination Problems ◽  
Social Coordination ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

To protect against COVID-19, the UK Government imposed a national lockdown that shut schools and business, and required people to stay at home. This lockdown instituted a social coordination problem: it demanded the individual bear a cost – a significant restriction to their movement – in order to achieve a collective good. Initially there were remarkably high levels of social compliance with the lockdown restrictions, but the Government defense of Mr. Cummings corresponded with a notable drop in both levels of compliance and levels of trust in government. By considering the logic of social coordination problems, this paper offers an explanation as to why these drops in compliance and trust were to be expected.

scholarly journals Transitional Justice in Rwanda: Analysis of Reconciliation Initiatives in Musha Village

Politologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-148
Author(s):  
Urtė Jakubėnaitė
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Field Trip ◽  
National Government ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

The article examines how reconciliation is perceived at the individual level. This particular case study analyses what types of reconciliation practices exist in Musha village and whether or not the inhabitants see it as effective ones. In an attempt to investigate the reconciliation definition from the local people’s perspective and to observe their community-level experiences, ethnographic fieldwork in Rwanda has been conducted. This study reveals that locals understand reconciliation in the same way as the government authorities proclaim. Data gathered during this field trip indicate the significance of reconciliation as controlled by the national government. As a consequence, the people are not able, and at the same time, are not really concerned about rethinking reconciliation in other possible ways. Furthermore, this concludes the fact that the central authorities have become able to peacefully construct the narrative of forced reconciliation, while social exclusion in the country still robustly prevails.

scholarly journals Evolution of the Physical and Social Spaces of ‘Village Resettlement Communities’ from the Production of Space Perspective: A Case Study of Qunyi Community in Kunshan

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (16) ◽  
pp. 2980
Author(s):  
Lei Zhou ◽  
Liyang Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Social Spaces ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Government Power ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Village resettlement communities (VRCs) are a special type of urban community that the government has promoted considerably during China’s rapid urbanization. This study uses the theory of the production of space as a basis to explore the processes and mechanisms of the physical and social space evolution of VRCs through a case study of Qunyi Community, one of the largest VRCs in Kunshan. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were employed in this study. Results indicate that the coupling relationship between local government power and diversified capital is the fundamental reason that promotes the production of macrophysical space. Moreover, the economic and social relationships among residents promote the reproduction of microsocial space. Landless farmers are the most important spatial producers in the microsocial space. The individual needs and cultural differences of immigrant workers also have significant effects on microspatial production. Furthermore, the production and reproduction of the physical and social spaces, respectively, of VRCs deduce the adjustment relationship among the urbanization processes of land, population, and individuals. Results also indicate that the urbanization of individuals appears to lag behind the previous two processes. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the spatial renovation and management optimization of VRCs, as well as the promotion of a new type of “people-centered” urbanization.

Exploring the role of leadership in territorial strategies for competitiveness

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Larrea ◽  
Mari Jose Aranguren ◽  
Jesús M. Valdaliso
Keyword(s):  
Life Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Elements ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Territorial Strategies ◽  
The University ◽  
Policy Arena

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of leadership in the design and implementation of territorial strategies for competitiveness. It attempts to address two research questions: first, how leadership is influenced by theory and the other way around, how theory is transformed through leadership; and second, what characteristics of leadership are most important to successfully implement territorial strategies. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a case study of the life experience of an individual who has worked in positions of high responsibility in the government, the private sector and at the university. It is based on first-person action research combined with the contrast of two other co-authors. Findings Three findings may be highlighted from this case study. First, the importance of having leaders learning from their own process of leadership and co-evolving with the need for transformation which requires territorial strategies at every moment. Second, the necessity of having leaders whose objectives are aligned with those of the territory. Third, that individual leadership must have three characteristics to implement successfully territorial strategies: a balance between the individual and the collective objectives, a systemic vision and a consciousness of one’s own role in the system and a multi-level dimension. Originality/value Although territorial strategies are becoming increasingly popular both in the academia and in the policy arena, one of their critical elements, the role of individuals and that of leadership in general have not been addressed neither by scholars nor by practitioners. This paper attempts to explore the role of leadership through a case study based on the life experience of an outstanding individual in one of the regions with the longest tradition on territorial strategies for competitiveness.

Mediating Racism

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepa Kumar
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Structural Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Ground Zero ◽  
Concrete Case ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Media

The far right in the United States has ratcheted up anti-Muslim racism in the twenty-first century. However, they are not alone in creating and circulating the discourses of Islamophobia. In this paper, I set out to situate the far right, who I call the ‘new McCarthyites’, within the broader context in which they operate. I argue that they are part of a larger matrix of Islamophobia which includes the liberal establishment. I start with a concrete case study of the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ controversy, in order to demonstrate how various discourses of Islamophobia co-exist and fuel one another. I contend that even while the new McCarthyites were responsible for the hysteria generated, their arguments were enabled by liberals/realists. I then unpack the various agents who make up a coalition of the new McCarthyites and outline how they propagate their troglodyte racism. Finally, I offer a matrix that illustrates where Islamophobic ideologies are produced and how they are circulated in the mainstream. Such a structural analysis necessarily decenters the mainstream media since the media are one set of institutions, among others, that serve both as conduit and creator of anti-Muslim racism.

scholarly journals "Bound to be responsible": the Tasmanian Greens' and the 1996-1998 Liberal minority government

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 28-43
Author(s):  
Arabella Comyn
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Party ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Green Party ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Australian State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Primary Basis

This paper presents a case study of minority government in the Australian state of Tasmania in 1996-1998. The minority government was led by the conservative Liberal Party of Australia and supported, without a formal agreement or formal arrangements, by the newly formed Tasmanian Green Party. This type of minority government is not very common in Australia and was adopted as a result of the specific context within which the government was formed. Two of the Green members elected to the Tasmanian parliament participated in extensive interviews which provide the primary basis for this case study. The case study will show how the negativity ascribed to the Tasmanian Greens and minority government prevented the possibility of a written agreement for minority government. It will also outline how the unity-distinctiveness dilemma was experienced by the Tasmanian Greens and how it played a role in the government’s early end. The case shows that the Tasmanian Greens displayed a high commitment to stability and cooperative politics, but that this was not enough to prevent the governing Liberal Party from calling an early election and breaking a promise. The participating ex-Greens did however find the experience to be ‘worth it’.

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