Uncountable Matter

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-41
Author(s):  
Jacques Lezra
Keyword(s):  
New Materialism ◽  
Human Hand ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Animal

Humanism returns for the New Materialism in ‘nonhuman’ form as matter. New ‘matter’ and new materialism thus fashion the world to human advantage in the gesture of abjecting us. They commit us to the humanism of masochists. They offer an animistic and paradisiacal realm of immediate transactions, human to human, human to and with nonhuman, face to face, world without end. The impulse is tactically and strategically useful. But ‘matter’ will not help us if we fashion it so that it bears in its concept the signature of a human hand in its making. Can we do otherwise? Only by conceiving matter as what absolutizes what is not-one: matter from which no discipline will normally, normatively, produce an object or take its concept; on which heroical abjection will founder; matter non-human in ways the human animal can neither designate, nor ever count.

The Traffic in Hierarchy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ward Keeler
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Head Of Household ◽  
The World ◽  
Male Head ◽  
Relative Status ◽  
Trans Women

Looking at Buddhist monasteries as social institutions, this book integrates a thorough description of one such monastery with a wide-ranging study of Burmese social relations, both religious and lay, looking particularly at the matter of gender. Hierarchical assumptions inform all such relations, and higher status implies a person’s greater autonomy. A monk is particularly idealized because he exemplifies the Buddhist ideal of “detachment” and so autonomy. A male head of household represents another masculine ideal, if a somewhat less prestigious one. He enjoys greater autonomy than other members of the household yet remains entangled in the world. Women and trans women are thought to be more invested in attachment than autonomy and are expected to subordinate themselves to men and monks as a result. But everyone must concern themselves with the matter of relative status in all of their interactions. This makes face-to-face encounter fraught. Several chapters detail the ways that individuals try to stave off the risks that interaction necessarily entails. One stratagem is to subordinate oneself to nodes of power, but this runs counter to efforts to demonstrate one’s autonomy. Another is to foster detachment, most dramatically in the practice of meditation.

Giving and Promising

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Yves Lacoste ◽  
Oliver O’Donovan
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Present Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
The Given

Giving and promise must be thought together. Being-in-the world entails being-with the other, who is both “given” and bearer of a gift promised. But any disclosure may be understood as a gift; it is not anthropomorphic to speak of “self-giving” with a wider reference than person-to-person disclosure. Which implies that no act of giving can exhaust itself in its gift. Present experience never brings closure to self-revealing. Yet giving is crystallized into “the given,” the closure of gift. “The given” is what it is, needing no gift-event to reveal it. But the given, too, is precarious, and can be destabilized when giving brings us face to face with something unfamiliar. Nothing appears without a promise of further appearances, and God himself can never be “given.”

scholarly journals Analysis of Educational Data in the Current State of University Learning for the Transition to a Hybrid Education Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2068
Author(s):  
William Villegas-Ch. ◽  
Xavier Palacios-Pacheco ◽  
Milton Roman-Cañizares ◽  
Sergio Luján-Mora
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Educational Model ◽  
Hybrid Education ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Current State ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Education Model

Currently, the 2019 Coronavirus Disease pandemic has caused serious damage to health throughout the world. Its contagious capacity has forced the governments of the world to decree isolation and quarantine to try to control the pandemic. The consequences that it leaves in all sectors of society have been disastrous. However, technological advances have allowed people to continue their different activities to some extent while maintaining isolation. Universities have great penetration in the use of technology, but they have also been severely affected. To give continuity to education, universities have been forced to move to an educational model based on synchronous encounters, but they have maintained the methodology of a face-to-face educational model, what has caused several problems in the learning of students. This work proposes the transition to a hybrid educational model, provided that this transition is supported by data analysis to identify the new needs of students. The knowledge obtained is contrasted with the performance presented by the students in the face-to-face modality and the necessary parameters for the transition to this modality are clearly established. In addition, the guidelines and methodology of online education are considered in order to take advantage of the best of both modalities and guarantee learning.

Power and Globalization in Africa: Perceptions of Barriers to Fair Economic Development in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
John Bosco Ngendakurio
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
World Order ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The World ◽  
The Rich ◽  
First World

Abstract This article seeks to reveal the primary barriers to fair economic development based on Kenyans’ perceptions of power and globalization. This search was initially sparked by the seeming disinterest of First World scholars to understand the reasons why poor countries benefit so little from the global market as reflected in a subsequent lack of a wide-ranging existing literature about the subject. The literature suggests that global capitalism is dominated by a powerful small elite, the so-called Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC), but how does this relate to Kenya and Africa in general? We know that the TCC has strong connections to financial capital and wealthy transnational corporations. It also pushes neo-liberalism, which becomes the taken-for-granted everyday language and culture that justifies state policies that result in a further class polarization between the rich and poor. Using Kenya as a case study, this article draws on original qualitative research involving face-to-face interviews with Kenyan residents in different sectors who spoke freely about what they perceive to be Kenya’s place in the world order. My interview results show that, on top of the general lack of economic power in the world order, the main barriers to Africa’s performance are neo-colonial and imperialist practices, poor technology, poor infrastructure, general governance issues, and purchasing power.

Digital transformation of face-to-face focus group methodology: engaging a globally dispersed audience in management of institutional change (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mahmoud ◽  
Anna TOKAR ◽  
Melissa ARRIAS ◽  
Christos MYLONAS ◽  
Heini UTUNEN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Workforce ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

UNSTRUCTURED As part of its transformation process to meet the health challenges of the 21st century by creating a motivated and fit-for-purpose global workforce, the World Health Organization (WHO) is developing the first-ever global Learning Strategy for health personnel around the world. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were organized as part of in-depth qualitative research on staff views, visions, and suggestions. Due to the pandemic, a flexible, multi-linguistic, participatory, iterative methodology for digitization of face-to-face FDGs to engage a globally dispersed workforce was implemented.

Emergency remote education and smart working at three European higher education institutions

2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Remote Education ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The World ◽  
Administrative Procedures ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
Smart Working

Due to the threat posed by COVID-19, many colleges and universities around the world opted to switch to online courses and smart working to keep their students, professors, and staff safe during the pandemic emergency. Face-to-face classes, including labs and workshops, have been canceled and substituted with online activities. New administrative procedures have also been established to support the emergency remote education. This article analyzes these changes in light of the experiences of three higher education institutions in different countries, namely Latvia, Poland, and Italy. From this analysis, some aspects have emerged that have stimulated a deeper reflection on the use of digital technology in higher education. .

scholarly journals Interrogating the Founding Gestures of the New Materialism

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Bruining
Keyword(s):  
New Materialism ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
The Way

In this article, I aim to further thinking in the broadly ‘new materialist’ field by insisting it attends to some ubiquitous assumptions. More specifically, I critically interrogate what Sara Ahmed has termed ‘the founding gestures of the “new materialism”’. These founding rhetorical gestures revolve around a perceived neglect of the matter of materiality in ‘postmodernism’ and ‘poststructuralism’ and are meant to pave the way for new materialism’s own conception of matter-in/of-the-world. I argue in this article that an engagement with the postmodern critique of language as constitutive, as well as the poststructuralist critique of pure self-presence, does not warrant these founding gestures to be so uncritically rehearsed. Moreover, I demonstrate that texts which rely on these gestures, or at least the ones I discuss in this article, are not only founded on a misrepresentation of postmodern and poststructuralist thought, but are also guilty of repeating the perceived mistakes of which they are critical, such as upholding the language/matter dichotomy. I discuss a small selection of texts that make use of those popular rhetorical gestures to juxtapose the past that is invoked with a more nuanced reading of that past. My contention is that if ‘the founding gestures of the “new materialism”’ are not addressed, the complexity of the postmodern and poststructuralist positions continues to be obscured, with damaging consequences for the further development of the emerging field of new materialism, as well as our understanding of cultural theory’s past.

scholarly journals Shape-shifting connections, relationships and Pacific education in the uncharted waters of a global pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 168-174
Author(s):  
Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Face To Face Learning

The importance of maintaining connections and relationships across tertiary education for students is discussed as a way of examining the nature of Pacific education in challenging times, particularly in terms of fractured face-to-face learning. Universities have been thrust into an unpredictable time of remote/distance/online learning in a short period of time. The process has been unsettling and challenging for people across the world. As Pacific students and staff experience the unchartered waters of Covid-19 and global disturbances, they are searching out ways to build purposeful connections, shape-shifting and ways to maintain communities of academic togetherness while harnessing the tools of their knowledge trajectories in research. This article will focus on four key principles: valuing personal and academic connections beyond the textbook; discovering heart-warming methods of connection; and connecting for growth and wellbeing.

scholarly journals Dog guides as witnesses with specific reference to Miles and Houellebecq

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Du Toit
Keyword(s):  
Physical World ◽  
The Self ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Guide Dogs ◽  
Contemporary Novels ◽  
Michel Houellebecq ◽  
The World ◽  
Constant Feature ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Wild Dog

Since Wild Dog first crawled from the Wet Wild Woods and laid his head on Woman’s lap, he has helped man, not only to hunt and protect, but also as guide. A guide with enhanced senses in the physical world who could find a way across unmarked landscapes, a clever empathic being who could lead man to certain places or to specific individuals. No wonder then that the best-known ancient dog deities accompany humans as guides, often on their way to the afterlife. Dog guides—not to be confused with guide dogs—have remained a constant feature of the representation of dogs in literature, reflecting as much of the nature of these dogs as of the nature and needs of the humans they attend. In this way, the human-animal relationship also reveals how the solipsistic tendencies of human self-definition limits our capacity for being in the world. In the two contemporary novels that form the basis of my enquiry, La Possibilité d’une île (2005) by Michel Houellebecq and Op ’n dag, ’n hond (2016) by John Miles, the agency of dog guides introduces an intriguing element of distancing, reminding us that the self has meaning only in relation to another and that human concerns are not absolute.

scholarly journals We Still Have Mutual Friends

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sierra Burrier
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Qualitative Interview ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
The World

The project We Still Have Mutual Friends is a qualitative interview study into women’s experiences with sexualviolence. Through the interview process, mostly face-to-face recorded interviews, I have evaluated multiplefacets of sexual abuse/marginalization and their consequences on survivors. In total, I interviewed thirty-twowomen about their familial background, their adolescence, and depending on their age, their life experienceswith their sexuality. Some of the facets I have focused on are the disparity between a subject’s definition andtheir experience of sexual assault. I have also evaluated their self-awareness of this disparity, and why they thinkit occurs. I tried as much as I could, to ask questions in an order/way that did not create preferential answering.Because these interviews followed a standard oral history format of open-ended questions with follow-ups basedon the interviewee’s answers, instances of leading answers were possible. Seventeen out of thirty-two womenwere white, with the next largest group being Hispanic, and then Black. With ages ranging from eighteen upto fifty-eight, several generational voices are accounted for. While there were certain trends found within typesof assault, and who it was (trends not entirely new to us), one thing I discovered is a similar background everyperson shared with their family. All the women had at some point experienced some sort of “body policing.” Ihope this project has provided a more holistic view into the world of sexual violence that women face.

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