Freedom to Work: The Impact off Wireless on Labour Politics

2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Melissa Gregg

As the use of wireless communication technologies begins to settle into particular patterns, this essay considers the impact of such devices on workplace culture — particularly that of the professional middle class engaged in information work. While the study of workplace culture is usually the domain of sociology, management theory or organisational behaviour, media and cultural studies methods such as semiotic and discourse analysis, media consumption and theories of everyday life have a useful role to play in understanding how technology is marketed and subsequently used in and outside work contexts. As a starting point for this kind of approach, the paper combines an account of recent wireless advertising in Australia with research that is developing in ‘production-side cultural studies’ (Liu, 2004; Du Gay, 1997). In recognising the significance of new media technologies in contemporary labour practice and politics, it aims to move discussions beyond the notion of ‘work-life balance’ as a research endpoint to allow more variegated notions of freedom and flexibility for the workplaces of the present and near future.

2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Melissa Gregg

As the use of wireless communication technologies begins to settle into particular patterns, this essay considers the impact of such devices on workplace culture — particularly that of the professional middle class engaged in information work. While the study of workplace culture is usually the domain of sociology, management theory or organisational behaviour, media and cultural studies methods such as semiotic and discourse analysis, media consumption and theories of everyday life have a useful role to play in understanding how technology is marketed and subsequently used in and outside work contexts. As a starting point for this kind of approach, the paper combines an account of recent wireless advertising in Australia with research that is developing in ‘production-side cultural studies’ (Liu, 2004; Du Gay, 1997). In recognising the significance of new media technologies in contemporary labour practice and politics, it aims to move discussions beyond the notion of ‘work–life balance’ as a research endpoint to allow more variegated notions of freedom and flexibility for the workplaces of the present and near future. We feel free only because we lack the language to describe our unfreedom. — Slavoj Zizek, Welcome to the Desert of the Real


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Medcalf

AbstractWith the advent of new media technologies and approaches in the twentieth century, public health officials became convinced that health needed mass media support. The World Health Organization believed that educating people, as well as informing them about the health situation around the world, could assist in the enduring fight against disease. Yet in an increasingly competitive media landscape, the agency recognized the need to persuade people and hold their attention through attractive presentation. Public information, the name given to the multiple strategies used to communicate with the public, was rarely straightforward and required the agency not only to monitor the impact of its own efforts but also to identify opportunities to further enhance its reputation, especially when this was in danger of damage or misappropriation. The WHO’s understanding of public information provides insights into the development of international information, communication, and education networks and practices after 1945, as well as the increasingly central position of these processes in generating support for and evincing the value of international organizations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 2-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somava Pande

Purpose New media is reshaping mediated communication. This paper aims to examine whether the online community is concerned about ethical issues in citizen journalism. Design/methodology/approach The study uses critical thematic analyses to examine 1,402 comments posted in response to two YouTube videos of teenage girl molestation in India. This method was appropriate, as it will show how public reacts to information disseminated by common citizens and also show whether ethics are related to citizen journalism. Findings Results show that although some viewers questioned the cameraperson’s and the passerby’s morality, several supportive comments praised the cameraperson’s presence of mind and courage. Furthermore, it shows that while some viewers vilified the victim, others advocated a more prudent response. This shows ambiguity regarding ethics in cyberspace. The mixed reactions present strong evidence to challenge the idealistic and exceedingly rational original notion of the public sphere as homogenous or integrated on issues of public concern. Instead, result exhibits an emergence of pluralistic, intersecting and contending publics that are created by new communication technologies like the internet. Research limitations/implications The study was specific to a particular context thereby lacking generalizability. However, it implies further investigation of social agency and the underlying politics in the move from local to global. Originality/value These findings necessitate a reconceptualization of cyberspace ethics to accommodate the new publics that have materialized from new media technologies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Tencer

This essay examines the ways in which technology defines and divides generations and considers how swipe-­technology (touch-­screen technologies) shape emerging learning styles. Specifically, it focuses on the research currently being investigated on how forms of digital literacy represent a radical shift, away from traditional forms of literacy (Prensky, 2001a, b; Frand, 2000; Prensky, 2001b; Tapscott, 1997; Franco, 2013; Plowman & McPake, 2013; Infante, 2014; Passey, 2014) and evaluates various claims made about the social consequences of such change. This paper emphasizes the impact that swipe-­technology has on young children during early stages of their development and seeks to answer the following question: what are the consequences of digital language becoming the Born Digital’s (Franco, 2013) primary form of expression? The paper draws on some traditional theories such as those of Mannheim (Kecskemeti, 1952) and Vygotsky (1929, 1962, 1978) to provide a broader contextualization. In so doing, it hopes to contribute to the dialogue about how educational institutions should be redesigned to accommodate new media technologies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 111-117
Author(s):  
Gennady Petrovich Bakulev

Digital technologies and the Internet in particular are causing deep changes in film industry. The development of the VoD service is enhancing the tendency for digitalization and disintermediation. Consequently, there is a considerable cost reduction in the value chain. In the long term future there can be a radical revision of the existing system of distribution “windows”. To understand the principles of the on-line distribution the author tries to estimate the impact of new media technologies on film distribution and the strategy of its main participants


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Frank Kessler ◽  
Mirko Tobias Schäfer

This article proposes a consideration of today’s discourses on ‘big data’ from a media archaeological point of view, confronting such discourses with those surrounding projects for large- scale image archives in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Collections of photographs, stereographs and films were thought of as trustworthy and unbiased documents, that allowed for the production of new forms of knowledge. The expectations as to the impact of such new media that circulated at the time are not unlike those formulated today with respect to ‘big data’. It is only by scrutinizing those discourses, and specifically the role attributed to media technologies, that we can understand the processes that govern the production of each medium’s bias.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
Abdesselam FERRATI

Anthropologists and media analysts have long recognized the Internet and satellite channels as some of the most powerful tools that add tremendous value to the knowledge and experiences of youth.  A common interpretation of this idea is that new media technologies have become an important source for information, news updates, cross-cultural communication, socializing, and entertainment. The effects of these tools on young people have predominantly been studied with respect to academic as well as health features. Drawing on data from a survey capturing the digital behaviors of Moroccan students, this article complements previous studies by examining the impact of Internet and satellite channels on the behaviors of Moroccan students.  It explores the implicit and denotative consequences of modern media upon the values, behaviors, and lifestyles of young Moroccans. Further, the paper addresses the effects of the massive dissemination of global cultural products on teenagers’ attitudes towards their cultural values. Additionally, the research assumes that inducing behavioral change is overlooked once media outlets start demonizing the uniqueness of local cultures, thus ignite resistance to unconventional values among youth.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document