The Opportunities and Challenges of using Email for Political Communication in Authoritarian States

2015 ◽  
pp. 1488-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Takavarasha, Jr. ◽  
Eldred V. Masunungure
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Email Marketing ◽  
Big Brother ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Media Monitoring ◽  
Communicative Space

This chapter uses Illich's (1973) concept of conviviality for analysing the challenges and opportunities of using email for political communication in authoritarian states. Based on evidence from a case study of Zimbabwe's Media Monitoring Project (MMPZ), it contends that while conviviality allows the use of ICTs for political mobilisation, it also enables a counterproductive “big brother” effect. In addition to constant censorship and overt operations, covert strategies are often used for disrupting communication platforms. This calls for a framework for harnessing ICTs for political mobilisation. This chapter is a case study on how perceived state surveillance disrupted a vibrant communicative space in Zimbabwe. Based on evidence from the volumes of email traffic transacted over two weeks of panic, anger, and heroism, the chapter discusses the challenges and opportunities of using email for political mobilisation and warns against uncritical celebration of the role of ICTs in political mobilisation. It concludes by suggesting how the adaption of e-strategies from email marketing to political communication is among the skills that could break the tie between political opponents armed with the same convivial tools for political communication in the information age.

The Opportunities and Challenges of using Email for Political Communication in Authoritarian States

2014 ◽  
pp. 147-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Takavarasha, Jr. ◽  
Eldred Masunungure
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Email Marketing ◽  
Big Brother ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Media Monitoring ◽  
Communicative Space

This chapter uses Illich's (1973) concept of conviviality for analysing the challenges and opportunities of using email for political communication in authoritarian states. Based on evidence from a case study of Zimbabwe's Media Monitoring Project (MMPZ), it contends that while conviviality allows the use of ICTs for political mobilisation, it also enables a counterproductive “big brother” effect. In addition to constant censorship and overt operations, covert strategies are often used for disrupting communication platforms. This calls for a framework for harnessing ICTs for political mobilisation. This chapter is a case study on how perceived state surveillance disrupted a vibrant communicative space in Zimbabwe. Based on evidence from the volumes of email traffic transacted over two weeks of panic, anger, and heroism, the chapter discusses the challenges and opportunities of using email for political mobilisation and warns against uncritical celebration of the role of ICTs in political mobilisation. It concludes by suggesting how the adaption of e-strategies from email marketing to political communication is among the skills that could break the tie between political opponents armed with the same convivial tools for political communication in the information age.

scholarly journals Towards Sustainable Mobility? The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Romanian Mobile Citizens in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4023
Author(s):  
Silvia Marcu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
New Models ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Depth Interviews

Using the case study of Romanians in Spain, this article highlights how the COVID-19 crisis presents both challenges and opportunities when it comes to human mobility and sustainability. Drawing on in-depth interviews with mobile people during the period of lockdown and circulation restrictions, and in accordance with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the paper advances and contributes to the relevance of sustainability and its impact on people’s mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that even in the midst of the crisis, sustainable ways may be found to promote and protect human mobility. The paper raises the way sustainability acts as a driver, gains relevance and influence, and contributes to the creation of new models of resilient mobility in times of crisis. The conclusions defend the respect for the SDGs regarding human mobility and emphasise the role of people on the move as sustainable actors learning to overcome distance and the barriers to their mobility during the pandemic.

scholarly journals “Veillant Panoptic Assemblage”: Mutual Watching and Resistance to Mass Surveillance after Snowden

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vian Bakir
Keyword(s):  
Journalism Studies ◽  
Holding Power ◽  
Digital Surveillance ◽  
The Press ◽  
Intelligence Agencies ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Intelligence Studies ◽  
Public Oversight

The Snowden leaks indicate the extent, nature, and means of contemporary mass digital surveillance of citizens by their intelligence agencies and the role of public oversight mechanisms in holding intelligence agencies to account. As such, they form a rich case study on the interactions of “veillance” (mutual watching) involving citizens, journalists, intelligence agencies and corporations. While Surveillance Studies, Intelligence Studies and Journalism Studies have little to say on surveillance of citizens’ data by intelligence agencies (and complicit surveillant corporations), they offer insights into the role of citizens and the press in holding power, and specifically the political-intelligence elite, to account. Attention to such public oversight mechanisms facilitates critical interrogation of issues of surveillant power, resistance and intelligence accountability. It directs attention to the <em>veillant panoptic assemblage</em> (an arrangement of profoundly unequal mutual watching, where citizens’ watching of self and others is, through corporate channels of data flow, fed back into state surveillance of citizens). Finally, it enables evaluation of post-Snowden steps taken towards achieving an <em>equiveillant panoptic assemblage</em> (where, alongside state and corporate surveillance of citizens, the intelligence-power elite, to ensure its accountability, faces robust scrutiny and action from wider civil society).

scholarly journals What can the African diaspora contribute to innovation and knowledge creation? The case study of Zimbabwean innovators

2021 ◽  
Vol 9s1 ◽  
pp. 101-125
Author(s):  
Juliet Thondhlana ◽  
Roda Madziva ◽  
Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe
Keyword(s):  
Brain Drain ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Rich Countries ◽  
Innovation And Development

The importance of diaspora and transnational knowledge production, innovation, and development is of growing interest, particularly in the developing world. The phenomenal increase in high human capital migration from poor to rich countries has historically led to what is commonly known as brain drain, which has negatively impacted the capacity of such countries to innovate. Yet more recently the emergence of the phenomenon of transnationalism has demonstrated the potential to transform brain drain into brain circulation, for the mutual benefit of both sending and receiving contexts. This article uses the case of Zimbabwe to explore the role of diasporan professionals, scholars, and entrepreneurs in contributing to knowledge production, innovation, and development initiatives in their countries of origin. Zimbabwe is an example of many African countries that have experienced substantial attrition of highly qualified knowledge workers for various reasons. A qualitative approach, involving interviews and documentary evidence, enabled the researchers to engage with the Zimbabwean diaspora to capture their narratives regarding the challenges and opportunities, which were then used to develop successful transnational knowledge production initiatives.

scholarly journals Digital Media and Perceptions of Source Credibility in Political Communication

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Flanagin ◽  
Miriam J. Metzger
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Information Consumers

The rich research heritage on source credibility is fundamentally linked to processes of political communication and the provision of political information. Networked digital technologies, however, have recently complicated the assessment of source credibility by modifying people’s ability to determine source expertise and trustworthiness, which are the foundations upon which credibility evaluations have traditionally rested. This chapter explores source credibility in online contexts by examining the credibility of digital versus traditional channels, the nature of political information conveyed by social media, and the dynamics of political information online. In addition, this chapter considers related research concerns, including the link between credibility and selective exposure, the potential for group polarization, and the role of social media in seeking and delivering credible political information. These concerns suggest challenges and opportunities as information consumers navigate the contemporary information environment in search of the knowledge to make them informed members of a politically engaged citizenry.

scholarly journals Sustaining the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda: The Role of UN Peacekeeping in Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 103-121
Author(s):  
Lisa Sharland
Keyword(s):  
Peace Operations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Peace Operation ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Women And Girls

Abstract Peacebuilding is less likely to succeed without the participation and consideration of women. In the last two decades, peace operations deployed on the African continent under the banner of the United Nations and the African Union have included mandates focused on strengthening women’s participation in peace processes, ensuring the protection of women and girls, and integrating gender considerations into the approach of missions at building sustainable peace. This chapter examines the approaches undertaken in two case study countries—Liberia (where a long-standing UN peace operation has recently departed) and South Sudan (where a UN peace operation continues to operate with significant constraints)—in order to examine some of the challenges and opportunities that UN engagement has offered in terms of advancing equality and women’s security in each country.

Design Thinking Mindset

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne SOBEL ◽  
Jochen SCHWEITZER ◽  
Bridget MALCOLM ◽  
Lars GROEGER
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Capability Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

This case study reflects on the role of design thinking mindsets in building design thinking capability within professional services consultancies. The nine design thinking mindset attributes developed by Schweitzer et. al (2016) formed the basis of five engagements with consultancies including workshops and semi-structured interviews. Data collection and observation by the authors identified key themes relating to the role of design thinking mindsets at an individual, team and organisational level, as well as the challenges and opportunities of embedding design thinking mindsets to build capability. The authors believe that capability development through the use of design thinking mindsets has the potential to support professional service consultancies to make more significant progress in embedding design thinking beyond the current focus on methods. Potential experiential learning frameworks and measurement tools are also identified.

The Contribution of Female Creativity to the Development of Gastronomic Tourism in Greece

2022 ◽  
pp. 246-258
Author(s):  
Panoraia Poulaki ◽  
Antonios Kritikos ◽  
Nikolaos Vasilakis ◽  
Marco Valeri
Keyword(s):  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
National Economy ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Women’S Entrepreneurship ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Women's Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Rich

Gastronomy as an important part of the culture, morals, customs, and traditions of the countries meets the needs of visitors and at the same time contributes to tourism development through the rich gastronomic heritage. Gastronomic tourism offers the possibility of increasing the income criteria of a population, increasing jobs, and developing the national economy. The purpose of this study is to highlight the role of female creativity in the development of a gastronomic destination with a case study of Naxos in the South Aegean in Greece. At the same time, it aims to highlight the great challenges and opportunities brought about by gastronomic tourism with the contribution of women's entrepreneurship. Women's creativity and entrepreneurship create new job opportunities. The dynamic presence and activity of the women of Naxos highlights the tourism destination of Naxos as a destination of high gastronomy. Secondary sources present gender discrimination in entrepreneurship, women's entrepreneurship in tourism, and the connection of tourism with gastronomic heritage.

LOCAL CULTURE MEETS SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET - AN ASSESSMENT OF INTERNATIONALIZATION CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENT ENTREPRENEURS IN THE FRENCH BOOK RETAIL SECTOR

1999 ◽  
Vol 07 (04) ◽  
pp. 365-388
Author(s):  
ELKE PIOCH ◽  
RUTH A. SCHMIDT
Keyword(s):  
European Market ◽  
Retail Sector ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Single European Market ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Face ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Changing Role

The introduction of the Single European Market (SEM) acted as a catalyst to internationalization activities throughout the European Union (EU). Set against the backdrop of a wider study of retail change within the SEM this industry case study examines the changing role of the independent sector within French book retailing in the face of a growing trend towards cross-border activity. The interplay between consumer culture and the dynamics of the changing structural components of the market is discussed against the backdrop of a wider EU context. Barriers and challenges as well as opportunities for international activities are examined and the respective positioning of the different types of retail capital considered. Conclusions highlight the importance of entrepreneurial style rather than the size of the firm as a driver of international activity and present a discussion of likely future trends in this market.

scholarly journals Research and Technology Organizations as Super Intermediaries: A Conceptual Framework for Policy and a Case Study From Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gussai H. Sheikheldin
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Policy Environments ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Innovation Processes

Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) have key roles in stories of national industrial development in many countries, and in various contexts they have transformed according to changes in their surrounding economic and policy environments. This paper proposes a conceptual framework of ‘RTOs as super intermediaries’ as they play multiple intermediary roles in the triple helix (government, research and industry), the overlap of industrial policy and research policy, and research-industry frontiers. The framework helps in understanding and advancing the role of RTOs in industrial development, particularly in developing countries. For a case study, the paper showcases research in Tanzania that explored possibilities of revamping RTOs and whether investing in them would help in spurring Tanzania's industrial development. Through key informant interviews and systemic literature review, a case study on the challenges and opportunities of RTOs was designed to examine their role and potential in industrial development and technology innovation processes. The study findings were overall in-line with two main lenses of inquiry: 1) that for RTOs to play their key roles in Tanzania, industrial policies shaped by the command economy era before the 1990s need to be reviewed and modified; and 2) that more investment in revamping RTOs will take place if policymaking processes acknowledge RTOs as super intermediaries. To organize policy lessons drawn, a multi-level policy map—micro, meso and macro—was utilized as an analytical tool.

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