Chapter 1. The Strategic Defense Initiative: A Case Study of the Political Economy of a Military Research Program

Author(s):  
Helmut Willke
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Santino Bussmann

Esse artigo analisa o poder explicativo da Teoria da Autonomia de Hélio Jaguaribe em relação aos momentos indubitavelmente autônomos da Política Externa Brasileira (PEB). Isso foi feito mediante o estudo de caso, em forma de teste de teoria, da Política Externa Independente (PEI) do governo Jânio Quadros, que é representativa desses momentos. O estudo de caso foi realizado por meio da análise de conteúdo no programa de pesquisa Nvivo. O argumento resultante da análise realizada é o de que a Teoria da Autonomia tem o potencial de explicar de forma mais precisa e estruturada os momentos de autonomia da PEB do que arranjos conceituais usados atualmente no estudo dos referidos momentos da PEB, já que a PEI, de forma representativa, evidencia objetivos referenciados a uma visão estrutural-hierárquica do cenário internacional, no campo político-econômico.Palavras-chave: Teoria da Autonomia, Política Externa Independente, Política Externa Brasileira.ABSTRACT:This article analyzes the explanatory power of Helio Jaguaribe's Theory of Autonomy in relation to the undoubtedly autonomous moments of Brazilian Foreign Policy (BFP). This was done through a case study, in the form of a theory test, of the Independent Foreign Policy (IFP) of the Jânio Quadros government, which is representative of these moments. The case study was conducted through content analysis in the Nvivo research program. The argument resulting from the analysis is that the Autonomy Theory has the potential to explain in a more precise and structured way the moments of autonomy of the BFP than the conceptual arrangements currently used in the study of the referred moments of the BFP, since the IFP, in a representative way, shows objectives referenced to a structural-hierarchical vision of the international scenario, in the political-economic field.Keywords: Autonomy Theory, Independent Foreign Policy, Brazilian Foreign Policy.Recebido em: 29 jan. 2019 | Aceito em: 03 dez. 2019. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Joseph

Valve Corporation’s digital game distribution platform, Steam, is the largest distributor of games on personal computers, analyzed here as a site where control over the production, design and use of digital games is established. Steam creates and exercises processes and techniques such as monopolization and enclosure over creative products, online labour, and exchange among game designers. Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding framework places communication at the centre of the political economy, here of digital commodities distributed and produced by online platforms like Steam. James Gibson’s affordance theory allows the market Steam’s owners create for its users to be cast in terms of visuality and interaction design. These theories are largely neglected in the existing literature in game studies, platform studies, and political economy, but they allow intervention in an ongoing debate concerning the ontological status of work and play as distinct, separate human activities by offering a specific focus on the political economy of visual or algorithmic communication. Three case studies then analyze Steam as a site where the slippage between game-play and work is constant and deepening. The first isolates three sales promotions on Steam as forms of work disguised as online shopping. The second is a discourse analysis of a crisis within the community of mod creators for the game Skyrim, triggered by changes implemented on Steam. The third case study critiques Valve Corporation’s positioning of Steam as a new space to extract value from play by demonstrating historical continuity with consumer monopolies. A concluding discussion argues Steam is a platform that evolves to meet distinct crises and problems in the production and circulation of its digital commodities as contradictions arise. Ultimately, Steam shows how the cycle of capital accumulation encourages monopolization and centralization.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-240
Author(s):  
Kathryn Moeller

Drawing on an integrative review of the literature on the privatization of education and an empirical case study of technology corporations in education, this article examines the corporate within the political economy of education. It argues that by analytically conceiving of corporations under the banner of the private sphere and, correspondingly, by subsuming the processes of corporatization within the processes of privatization, the literature on privatization conceals the very specific role and influence of corporations. The article puts forward an analytic framework for researching and theorizing corporations in education. How the field of education conceives of corporate actors and their related practices, processes, and power relations is analytically and empirically significant for ensuring equitable, transparent, and accountable educational systems in the United States and globally.


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