Digital Ontology and Appreciation

This chapter takes up the aesthetic implications of images belonging to digital schemes. I consider how the most basic feature of digital scheme types—namely, their inherent replicability—properly conditions appreciation of digital artworks. Returning to the art examples from chapter 1, I show that the inherent replicability of digital imagery does not guarantee the multiple instantiability of digital image-based works. In the digital age artists face a choice as to whether to limit their works to a particular exhibition space, or make their works universally available on the screens of networked computers. I explore the interpretive significance of this choice and the way such significance rests on recognition of the underlying digital structure of an artwork.

Religious Subjectivities and Digital Collectivities on Social Networking Sites in India

This article analyses how the infrastructural architecture of social networking sites (SNS) is conducive to the emergence of religious subjects and digital collectivities. I argue that SNS enable social connections, and subjectivities are created to reify discriminatory religious and political practices and discourses online. This study identifies and responds to three critical arguments about SNS and religious subjectivities. First, it challenges the liberal assumptions that advancement in SNS will lead to the creation of depoliticized and more rational societies. I argue that SNS deepens the already existing social segregations in the society through the creation of digital collectivities. Digital collectivities inform functional possibilities (ontology) and discursive modes (epistemology) of enacting religious subjectivities. These collectivities not only shape the ways in which users articulate their religious and political allegiance but also the content of their online presence. Finally, in unpacking the formation and existence of digital collectivities and how they are linked with the emergence of religious subjects, I examine the question of digital ontology—the debate regarding what a religious subject on SNS is and of epistemology—how is a religious subject defined.

THE CONCEPT OF THE DIGITAL STATE: DEFINITION, NATURE, STRUCTURE, AND ONTOLOGY

The article studies the phenomenon and concept of the digital state. The author reveals the general concept and importance of digitalization in public administration. The article explains the problems of relevant interpretation and the limits of applicability of the concept to the system of public administration. The author considers methods, approaches, and prospects for improving the efficiency of public administration in the context of the digitalization of society and puts forward his concept for the term “digital government”. Using methods of analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction and abduction, classification, and formalization, the work reveals the essential descriptive characteristics of the phenomenon and concept of the digital state. After the data analysis, it is proposed to consider the concept of digital state in four interpretative definitions: as an ecosystem of multiservice and proactive state digital services; as an integrated computer and software meta-platform; as an organizational and technological approach and corresponding paradigm; and as a digital ontology of state-building and functioning, public administration and public policy. According to the author’s interpretation, the concept of the “digital state” includes: “digital government”, “digital democracy”, “digital justice”, “digital electoral technologies”, “digital public control of public administration”.