scholarly journals "Brain-mimicking Machine" in Digital Utopias: From Memex to Hypertext and Beyond

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stepanchuk Yu.
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Computer Design ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Computer Development

Computer-brain analogies are ubiquitous in contemporary culture. They also have a long and relevant history. Throughout the history of computer development, computers as “brain-mimicking machines” were used as blueprints for computer design, as inspiration for new visionary ideas, as tools of liberation and as ideological construct obscuring actually existing power relations. Today, with the growing disenchantment with the results of digital transformation, we are forced to admit that these analogies often underpin relationships between human and technology that are disempowering and increasingly problematic. Keywords: human-machine symbiosis, augmented reality, memex, hypertext, ideology, Web 2.0, platform capitalism

Renaissance Mass Murder

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Bowd
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Social History ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Mass Murder ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Italian Wars ◽  
Human Tragedy

Renaissance Mass Murder explores the devastating impact of war on the men and women of the Renaissance. In contrast to the picture of balance and harmony usually associated with the Renaissance, it uncovers in forensic detail a world in which sacks of Italian cities and massacres of civilians at the hands of French, German, Spanish, Swiss, and Italian troops were regular occurrences. The arguments presented are based on a wealth of evidence—histories and chronicles, poetry and paintings, sculpture and other objects—which together provide a new and startling history of sixteenth-century Italy and a social history of the Italian Wars. It outlines how massacres happened, how princes, soldiers, lawyers, and writers, justified and explained such events, and how they were represented in contemporary culture. On this basis the book reconstructs the terrifying individual experiences of civilians in the face of war and in doing so offers a story of human tragedy which redresses the balance of the history of the Italian Wars, and of Renaissance warfare, in favour of the civilian and away from the din of the battlefield. This book also places mass murder in a broader historical context and challenges claims that such violence was unusual or in decline in early modern Europe. Finally, it shows that women often suffered disproportionately from this violence and that immunity for them, as for their children, was often partially developed or poorly respected.

The Crisis of Contemporary Culture: A View from the History of Russian Philosophy: (Fedotov – Weidle – Landau – Bicilli) Materials of the “round table”

2021 ◽  
pp. 184-212
Author(s):  
Boris I. Pruzhinin ◽  
◽  
Aleksandr V. Antoshchenko ◽  
Tanya N. Galcheva ◽  
Inna V. Golubovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Round Table ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Russian Philosophy ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Philosophy Of Culture ◽  
Local Experience ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Organism ◽  
As If

On August 26, 2021, with the support of “Voprosy filosofii” was held a “round table”, the participants of which considered it meaningful and relevant to address the legacy of experiencing and philosophical reflection of critical epochs by peo­ple who have fully endured the “breakdown” of being and an anthropological crisis – for comprehending the disturbing changes taking place in modern soci­ety. In this regard, the intellectual biographies of thinkers who felt a colossal shock in the 1920s and who tried to comprehend their local experience as a global are exceptional. In the authors’ focus are ideas and arguments of the philosophers of the Russian Abroad about the crisis of their contemporary culture (Fedotov – Weidle – Landau – Bicilli). The “round table” is an attempt to correlate their experience with the modern reality of the anthropological crisis. The studying intellectuals underlined the death of culture as the main threat to the life of the social organism. The salvation of culture, first of all, depends on the spiritual efforts of people. From this point of view, philosophy has to com­prehend the principles that make it possible to resist the processes of cultural de­struction. And in this regard, the personality of the philosopher is of exceptional importance, his willingness to live and work “as if history would never end, and at the same time, as if it ended today” (G.P. Fedotov). The philosophy of culture forms the ideal of personal choice as a free submission to universal human goals. The relevance of the intellectual and spiritual search of the “Russian Abroad” thinkers can't be overestimated since this crisis continues today, entering ever new, previously unpredictable phases. The struggle for culture continues. There­fore, the intellectual searches of the "Russian Abroad" thinkers are essential to­day. The core of the discussions was three actual topics in the context of their comprehension by the philosophers: 1. The crisis of religious consciousness; 2. The crisis of scientific rationality; 3. Crisis of cultural identity.

Investigating the political economy of the territory: The contradictory responses of organisations to spatial inequality

Organization ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 135050842110612
Author(s):  
Daniel S Lacerda
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
The Political ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Dialectical Tension ◽  
History Of ◽  
Territorial Division

The spatial imaginations of organisations can be particularly insightful for examining power relations. However, only recently they have gone beyond the limits of the workplace, demonstrating the role of the territory for organised action, particularly in mobilising solidarity for resistance. In this article, I investigate power relations revealed by the political economy of the territory to explain contradictory actions undertaken by organisations. Specifically, I adopt the theoretical framework of the noted Brazilian geographer Milton Santos, who recognises spatial multiplicity and fragmentation while maintaining an appreciation of the structural conditions of the political economy. This perspective is particularly useful for the analysis of civil society organisations (CSOs) in a Brazilian favela (slum), given the context of high inequality perpetuated by the selective flows of urban development. First, I show that the history of favelas and their role in the territorial division of labour explain the profiles of existing organisations. Then, I examine how the political engagement of CSOs with distinct solidarities results in a dialectical tension that leads to both resistance based on local shared interests and the active reproduction of central spaces even if the ends are not shared. The article contributes to the literature of space and organisations by explaining how territorial dynamics mediate power relations within and across organisations, not only as resistance but also as the active reproduction of economic and political regimes.

Presidential Address: Go to the Principal's Office: Toward a Social History of the School Principal in North America

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Rousmaniere
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
North America ◽  
Social History ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Organizational Changes ◽  
School Based ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

Of the many organizational changes that took place in public education in North America at the turn of the last century, few had greater impact on the school than the development of the principal. The creation of the principal's office revolutionized the internal organization of the school from a group of students supervised by one teacher to a collection of teachers managed by one administrator. In its very conception, the appointment of a school-based administrator who was authorized to supervise other teachers significantly restructured power relations in schools, realigning the source of authority from the classroom to the principal's office. Just as significant was the role that the principal played as a school based representative of the central educational office.

scholarly journals The practice of everyday oystering: aquaculture as resistance

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane K. Michaelis ◽  
Donald Webster ◽  
L. Jen Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Dynamic Power ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Oyster Aquaculture ◽  
System Changes ◽  
History Of

As members of complex social-ecological systems (SES),fishermen navigate and respond to system changes to maintain their livelihoods. These changes often involve dynamic power relationships. In Maryland (United States), commercial fishermen or watermen demonstrate a history of responding to SES changes, including power relationships in which they often feel restricted. We describe how watermen have historically employed tactics, as conceived by de Certeau (1984), to resist and succeed within a constraining system. We considerinvolvement in oyster aquaculture as a recent tactic, and compare data from interviews with watermen and non-watermen involved in aquaculture to understand power relationships and adaptations within this SES. Interviews suggest that, while both watermen and non-watermen aquaculturists perceive similar power relations within the system, only watermen begin work in oyster aquaculture as a tactic in response to these relations (P<0.001). Results illustrate diverse perceptions of power as well as ongoing changes within the SES. More broadly, we introduce the idea of SES adaptations as tactics of resistance and emphasize the need for a more integrative understanding of SES and power.

scholarly journals Komiksy Marzeny Sowy. Marzi opowiada o dzieciństwie w PRL-u

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 99-111
Author(s):  
Anna Podemska-Kałuża
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Industrial City ◽  
Adult World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Difficult Times ◽  
International Success

Marzena Sowa’s Comics. Marzi Talks About Childhood in PRLPolish screenwriter Marzena Sowa is the author of the comics’ cycle about Marzi, which was published in the years 2005–2011 and was an international success (the drawings prepared by Sylvain Savoia). The storiesabout the red-haired girl, the daughter of the workman and the resident of industrial city are the forms autobiographical, that show the reality of life in Poland in the 1980s. The prospect of a child, who is a careful observer of the adult world, has allowed the presentation of history of country in Central Europe at the end of communism. The cycle of Marzi presents an evocative picture of experience “last generation of PRL”, is the witness to the contemporary culture and the record of the struggles of society with the problems of everyday life in “difficult times”. Since its debut in 2005, the critic compares this comic diary from the time of puberty to the famous Persepolisof Marjane Satrapi. For the modern reader the books of Marzena Sowa is a valuable source of knowledge about Poland in the days of “Solidarity” and Lech Wałęsa, as well as the iconic comics that has a big power of social and cultural impact.

scholarly journals "Tense encounters"

2021 ◽  
pp. 299-318
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Kirndörfer ◽  
Madlen Pilz
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western European

We discuss the 'postmigrant condition' of contemporary Western European societies at the example of women's initiatives which aim at promoting encounter between women with and without a history of forced migration. We analyse these initiatives in their potential to forge affective spaces of solidarity and empowerment while at the same time being embedded in hegemonic discursive dynamics of othering and differentiation. Against this background, we ask: Under which conditions can women's initiatives become sites of trust, comfort and solidarity and thus of micro-political struggle? Which paradoxical dynamics can practices of solidarity and empowerment engender in contexts of uneven power relations?

Tracking Public Participation in Urban Governance

2014 ◽  
pp. 813-830
Author(s):  
Nancy J. Obermeyer
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Data Capture ◽  
Occupy Movement ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Gis And Society

This chapter examines the use of GIS, geovisualization, and other geo-locational technologies and applications, including social networking websites and mobile phones associated with Web 2.0, as a tool kit for promoting democratization or leading to loss of data privacy and freedom, focusing on the relevant historical events in 2011 and the first half of 2012. The chapter begins by presenting a brief history of the GIS and society literature, including public participation GIS, volunteered geographic information, and geoslavery. The discussion covers both the rosy view (geospatial and Web 2.0 technologies as a democratizing force) and the gloomy perspective (these same technologies as tools of control based on data capture and loss of privacy). Underlying both of these views are scale and the ability to jump scales, which are examined through the lens of Kevin Cox's (1998) “spaces of dependence and engagement.” Having laid this groundwork, the chapter considers events in the recent past, focusing first on the Arab Spring movements in Tunisia and Egypt and the Occupy movement in the U.S. as examples of the optimistic perspective. It then proceeds to discuss data capture from smart phones and cell phones as examples of the pessimistic view. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how individuals may enhance the democratization potential of geotechnologies and Web 2.0 while minimizing data capture, loss of spatial data privacy, and the harm that these can bring.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document