scholarly journals TraceTogether: Pandemic Response, Democracy, and Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hallam Stevens ◽  
Monamie Bhadra Haines

Abstract On 20 March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singapore government released a new app called TraceTogether. Developed by the Ministry of Health, SG United, and GovTech Singapore, the app uses the Bluetooth capability of smartphones to store information about other smartphones that have come into close proximity with your own. These data facilitate the government’s process of “contact tracing” through which they track those who have potentially come into contact with the virus and place them in quarantine. This essay attempts to understand what kinds of citizens and civic behavior might be brought into being by this technology. By examining the workings and affordances of the TraceTogether app in detail, the authors argue that its peer-to-peer and open-source technology features mobilize the rhetorics and ideals of citizens science and democratic participation. However, by deploying these within a context that centralizes data, the app turns ideals born of dissent and protest on their head, using them to build trust not within a community but rather in government power and control. Rather than building social trust, TraceTogether becomes a technological substitute for it. The significant public support for TraceTogether shows both the possibilities and limitations of citizen science in less liberal political contexts and circumstances.

Subject Post-election political outlook for Congo. Significance Six months after landmark elections, Congo remains without a new government. An uncomfortable coalition between new President Felix Tshisekedi and former President Joseph Kabila continues to evolve, but the struggle for power and control of the country’s institutions is far from over. Impacts Tshisekedi can face Kabila for now in part because of public support; this may evaporate if he cannot improve living conditions. The longer governance challenges persist, the higher the internal pressures will grow inside the three main political camps. Despite the return from exile of several key leaders, the opposition Lamuka coalition is in disarray and may collapse.


2005 ◽  
pp. 29-30
Author(s):  
Naveen Sharma ◽  
William Stanley

Author(s):  
Phillip Drew

The years since the beginning of the twenty-first century have seen a significant incursion of international human rights law into the domain that had previously been the within the exclusive purview of international humanitarian law. The expansion of extraterritorial jurisdiction, particularly by the European Court of Human Rights, means that for many states, the exercise of physical power and control over an individual outside their territory may engage the jurisdiction of human rights obligations. Understanding the expansive tendencies of certain human rights tribunals, and the apparent disdain they have for any ambiguity respecting human rights, it is offered that the uncertain nature of the law surrounding humanitarian relief during blockades could leave blockading forces vulnerable to legal challenge under human rights legislation, particularly in cases in which starvation occurs as a result of a blockade.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0142064X2110248
Author(s):  
Kyung Min Kim

In 2 Cor. 10–13, Paul tries to prove his authority as a reliable leader by using two different masculinity standards. Paul manifests his power and control over the Corinthian church members by using an image of paterfamilias (11.2-3; 12.14). Paternal control of others was an essential element of hegemonic masculinity in the Greco-Roman world. Moreover, Paul proves his manliness by revealing his endurance and submission to divine authority (11.21b–12.10) according to the Hellenistic Jewish masculinity. I argue that Paul is embedded in these different cultural assumptions regarding masculinity and that he refers to these assumptions to persuade Gentile and Jewish groups in the Corinthian church.


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