scholarly journals “The revolution will not be supervised”: Consent and open secrets in data science

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205395172110356
Author(s):  
Coleen Carrigan ◽  
Madison W Green ◽  
Abibat Rahman-Davies
Keyword(s):  
Computer Technology ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Boundary Violation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Epistemic Violence ◽  
Do So

The social impacts of computer technology are often glorified in public discourse, but there is growing concern about its actual effects on society. In this article, we ask: how does “consent” as an analytical framework make visible the social dynamics and power relations in the capture, extraction, and labor of data science knowledge production? We hypothesize that a form of boundary violation in data science workplaces—gender harassment—may correlate with the ways humans’ lived experiences are extracted to produce Big Data. The concept of consent offers a useful way to draw comparisons between gender relations in data science and the means by which machines are trained to learn and reason. Inspired by how Big Tech leaders describe unsupervised machine learning, and the co-optation of “revolutionary” rhetoric they use to do so, we introduce a concept we call “techniques of invisibility.” Techniques of invisibility are the ways in which an extreme imbalance between exposure and opacity, demarcated along fault lines of power, are fabricated and maintained, closing down the possibility for bidirectional transparency in the production and applications of algorithms. Further, techniques of invisibility, which we group into two categories—epistemic injustice and the Brotherhood—include acts of subjection by powerful actors in data science designed to quell resistance to exploitative relations. These techniques may be useful in making further connections between epistemic violence, sexism, and surveillance, sussing out persistent boundary violations in data science to render the social in data science visible, and open to scrutiny and debate.

MODELING ENDOGENOUS RULE CHANGES IN AN INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT: THE ADICO SEQUENCE

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 199-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEX SMAJGL ◽  
LUIS R. IZQUIERDO ◽  
MARCO HUIGEN
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rule Changes ◽  
Do So

Agent-based modeling is being increasingly used to simulate socio-techno-ecosystems that involve social dynamics. Humans face constraints that they sometimes wish to challenge, and when they do so, they often trigger changes at the scale of the social group too. Including such adaptation dynamics explicitly in our models would allow simulation of the endogenous emergence of rule changes. This paper discusses such an approach in an institutional framework and develops a sequence that allows modeling of endogenous rule changes. Parts of this sequence are implemented in a NetLogo KISS model to provide some illustrative results.

scholarly journals Beyond Informal Social Protection – Personal Networks of Economic Support in Namibia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalena Oppel
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Method ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Support Practices ◽  
Support Relationships ◽  
Group Inequality ◽  
Do So

This paper poses a different lens on informal social protection (ISP). ISP is generally understood as practices of livelihood support among individuals. While studies have explored the social dynamics of such, they rarely do so beyond the conceptual space of informalities and poverty. For instance, they discuss aspects of inclusion, incentives and disincentives, efficiency and adequacy. This provides important insights on whether and to what extent these practices provide livelihood support and for whom. However, doing so in part disregards the socio-political context within which support practices take place. This paper therefore introduces the lens of between-group inequality through the Black Tax narrative. It draws on unique mixed method data of 205 personal support networks of Namibian adults. The results show how understanding these practices beyond the lens of informal social protection can provide important insights on how economic inequality resonates in support relationships, which in turn can play a part in reproducing the inequalities to which they respond.

scholarly journals Researching the Dynamics of National Social Policy in a Globalized Society. A Proposal for a De-Nationalized Analytical Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-155
Author(s):  
Erica Righard
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Pension Scheme ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social

Abstract Epistemological hierarchies in the social sciences stipulate that sedentarism is naturalised as a normality, and that mobility is viewed as a deviation. This article sets out to propose an analytical framework that takes the analysis beyond this kind of nationalized knowledge production, and to empirically show the gains of de-nationalized frameworks for analysis of social protection and dynamics of in-/equality in the globalised society. I will do this relying on the empirical example of the public old-age pension scheme in Sweden.

Theorizing the configuration of modifiable off-the-shelf software

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 887-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elham Mousavidin ◽  
Leiser Silva
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Social Construction Of Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Interpretive Flexibility ◽  
Do So

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theorize the social dynamics of modifiable off-the-shelf software (MOTS) configuration process. The authors do so by formulating theoretical propositions about the configuration process. Design/methodology/approach The authors have conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on MOTS configuration and the associated challenges to draw on the properties of MOTS. The authors then examined these properties through the lens of social construction of technology to formulate the authors’ theoretical propositions. Findings The authors formulate theoretical propositions about the configuration process. The authors also develop four scenarios based on the authors’ theoretical propositions for managing the configuration process of MOTS. These scenarios categorize the difficulty level of the configuration by two theoretical groups: malleability and interpretive flexibility. Practical implications The findings especially the scenarios can guide practitioners when managing configuration processes. Originality/value The authors synthesize the literature on MOTS. The theoretical contributions emphasize the social dynamics in configuring this type of software which is an angle that has not been developed in previous literature.

Immigrants as Symbolic Assailants

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jize Jiang ◽  
Edna Erez
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
Current Configuration ◽  
Immigration Control ◽  
Minority Threat ◽  
The Social

Despite little evidence of an immigration-crime nexus, many American jurisdictions have adopted a punitive approach to undocumented immigrants and an increasingly restrictive and exclusive system of immigration control. The extensive deployment of criminal justice measures to address the immigration “problem” led to the growth of a crimmigration apparatus—a mesh of immigration and criminal justice systems. Drawing on extant literature and applying the framework of the penal field, the article examines the social dynamics, processes, and consequences of crimmigration. It is argued that the portrayal of immigrants as “symbolic assailants” has facilitated the creation and operation of crimmigration under the guise of crime prevention rather than for addressing terrorism and national security—the presumed purpose of utilizing crimmigration practices. The current configuration of crimmigration across the United States is the interactive product of minority threat, partisan politics, and federalism of the American government system, which have jointly formed a “multilayered patchwork” of immigration control. The article first outlines the analytical framework; reviews the social construction of immigrant “criminality”; and describes the punitive and exclusive laws, policies, and enforcement practices established as responses to this “threat.” The dilemmas, contradictions, and contestations associated with crimmigration, including collateral impacts on immigrants, their families and communities, and the criminal justice system, are analyzed; and policy implications are drawn and discussed.

Quantum Modeling of Social Dynamics

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bisconti ◽  
A. Corallo ◽  
M. De Maggio ◽  
F. Grippa ◽  
S. Totaro
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Mathematic Model ◽  
Work Team ◽  
Many Body ◽  
Innovation Potential ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Many ◽  
Quantum Modeling

In this paper, the authors apply models extracted from the Many-Body Quantum Mechanics to understand how knowledge production is correlated to the innovation potential of a work team. This study is grounded in key assumtpions. First, complexity theory applied to social science suggests that it is of paramount importance to consider elements of non-objectivity and non-determinism in the statistical description of socio-economic phenomena. Second, a typical factor of indeterminacy in the explanation of these phenomena lead to the need to apply the instruments of quantum physics to formally describe social behaviours. In order to experiment the validity of the proposed mathematic model, the research intends to: 1) model nodes and interactions; 2) simulate the network behaviour starting from specific defined models; 3) visualize the macroscopic results emerging during the analysis/simulation phases through a digital representation of the social network.

scholarly journals The social construction of statelessness in Canada: a study of national media 1939-2011

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Kane
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Canadian Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
National Media ◽  
National Newspaper ◽  
Stateless Person

To explore notions of knowledge production and narratives of truth surrounding statelessness in Canada, this study employs a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology to a media analysis of 616 newspaper articles from Canada's two largest national newspaper, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. Within a social constructivist analytical framework, it finds that using citizenship as a tool to divide 'us' from 'them', statelessness is constructed in such a way that reinforces power relations between those who belong in Canada and those who do not. This divide is achieved via the construction of the stateless person as the 'other' in Canadian society, the ill-recognition of statelessness as a phenomenon in and of itself, and thirdly, the construction of statelessness contributes to a blurring of the definitional clarity of statelessness, further complicating our understanding of statelessness as a separate and distinct form of status in the Canadian context.

scholarly journals The social construction of statelessness in Canada: a study of national media 1939-2011

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Kane
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Canadian Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
National Media ◽  
National Newspaper ◽  
Stateless Person

To explore notions of knowledge production and narratives of truth surrounding statelessness in Canada, this study employs a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology to a media analysis of 616 newspaper articles from Canada's two largest national newspaper, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. Within a social constructivist analytical framework, it finds that using citizenship as a tool to divide 'us' from 'them', statelessness is constructed in such a way that reinforces power relations between those who belong in Canada and those who do not. This divide is achieved via the construction of the stateless person as the 'other' in Canadian society, the ill-recognition of statelessness as a phenomenon in and of itself, and thirdly, the construction of statelessness contributes to a blurring of the definitional clarity of statelessness, further complicating our understanding of statelessness as a separate and distinct form of status in the Canadian context.

scholarly journals Gender Differences In Computer Usage

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
M.Sadiq Ali Khan
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Computer Technology ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Computer Usage ◽  
Work Place ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Gender Imbalance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Personal Interaction ◽  
The Social

Today in every walk of life both genders play their own roles in all fields which creates equilibrium in respected fields. This balance is seemed to be falling apart in the field of computers due to the comparatively less representation of female in this field. There are many reasons of this gender imbalance which seem to define computer technology as a male dominating field. Computers have intruded our lives in a big way. This technology has much evolved in the past two decades, and now it has become part of our lives. In today’s world the growth of the internet has changed the social dynamics. This includes their personal interaction with all others and the ways they form communities. In this article facts are highlighted that how society and personal relationship are changing in the computer’s age, and I highlighted some measures that can be helpful to reduce the gender bias at any work place.

scholarly journals Social Dynamics of Expectations and Expertise: AI in Digital Humanitarian Innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 591
Author(s):  
Guillaume Dandurand ◽  
François Claveau ◽  
Jean-François Dubé ◽  
Florence Millerand
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Humanitarian Organization

Public discourse typically blurs the boundary between what artificial intelligence (AI) actually achieves and what it could accomplish in the future. The sociology of expectations teaches us that such elisions play a performative role: they encourage heterogeneous actors to partake, at various levels, in innovation activities. This article explores how optimistic expectations for AI concretely motivate and mobilize actors, how much heterogeneity hides behind the seeming congruence of optimistic visions, and how the expected technological future is in fact difficult to enact as planned. Our main theoretical contribution is to examine the role of heterogeneous expertises in shaping the social dynamics of expectations, thereby connecting the sociology of expectations with the study of expertise and experience. In our case study of a humanitarian organization, we deploy this theoretical contribution to illustrate how heterogeneous specialists negotiate the realization of contending visions of “digital humanitarianism.”

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