The politics of scaling

A fixation on ‘scaling up’ has captured current innovation discourses and, with it, political and economic life at large. Perhaps most visible in the rise of platform technologies, big data and concerns about a new era of monopolies, scalability thinking has also permeated public policy in the search for solutions to ‘grand societal challenges’, ‘mission-oriented innovation’ or transformations through experimental ‘living labs’. In this paper, we explore this scalability zeitgeist as a key ordering logic of current initiatives in innovation and public policy. We are interested in how the explicit preoccupation with scalability reconfigures political and economic power by invading problem diagnoses and normative understandings of how society and social change function. The paper explores three empirical sites – platform technologies, living labs and experimental development economics – to analyze how scalability thinking is rationalized and operationalized. We suggest that social analysis of science and technology needs to come to terms with the ‘politics of scaling’ as a powerful corollary of the ‘politics of technology’, lest we accept the permanent absence from key sites where decisions about the future are made. We focus in on three constitutive elements of the politics of scaling: solutionism, experimentalism and future-oriented valuation. Our analysis seeks to expand our vocabulary for understanding and questioning current modes of innovation that increasingly value scaling as an end in itself, and to open up new spaces for alternative trajectories of social transformation.

Impact of cranks displacement angle on the motion non-uniformity of roller forming unit with energy-balanced drive

The impact of the cranks displacement angle on the motion non-uniformity is determined for three forming trolleys of a roller forming unit with an energy-balanced drive mechanism. At the same time, the specified unit is presented by a dynamic model with one freedom degree, where the extended coordinate is taken as the angular coordinate of the crank rotation. For such a model, a differential equation of motion is written, for solved which a numerical method was used. The inertia reduced moment of the whole unit, and the resistance forces moment, reduced to the crank rotation axis, to move of forming trolleys during the formation of products from building mixtures are determined, and also the nominal rated power of the electric motor was calculated, when solved a differential equation of motion. According to these data, asynchronous electric motor with a short-circuited rotor was chosen, for which a mechanical characteristic is constructed by the Kloss formula. Having solved the differential equation of motion with all defined characteristics, we obtain the change function of the crank angular velocity from start-up moment and during steady motion mode. After that, we calculated the time corresponding to the angular velocity value, and obtained the change function of the crank angular acceleration from start-up moment and during steady motion mode. The motion non-uniformity of the roller forming unit has been determined by the motion non-uniformity factor, the motion dynamism factor and the extended factor of motion assessment during steady motion mode. The impact of drive cranks displacement angle on the motion non-uniformity has been traced, as a result, the specified factors have the minimum values at cranks displacement on the angle Δφ=60°. The results may in the future are used to refine and improve the existing engineering methods for estimating the drive mechanisms of roller forming machines, both at design stages and in practical use.

The Alteration in Jamba and Pinumkopi on Prophet Muhammad SAW Maulid Ceremony in Pariaman - Indonesia

The birthday of the Prophet Muhammad SAW is one of the religious and cultural ceremonies carried out by the people of West Sumatra, precisely in Padang Pariaman. The MaulidPariaman ceremony is performed in a unique tradition by using cultural attributes that are only found in that area. This Maulid ritual is usually performed exactly in the months of Rabiul Awal, Rabiul Akhir, and Jumadil Awal (Arabic Calendar) or Mauluik, Adiakmauluik, Adiak MauluikK aduo (Pariaman Calendar). This research is a qualitative study using interview data as informants. Data processing uses descriptive qualitative data analysis techniques. The results of this study found that there are changes in the jamba and pinumkopi performed at Pariaman. A very revolutionary change occurred in jamba and pinumkopi. The alteration occurs in a modern way. The conclusion of this study shows that the changes that occur in jamba and pinumkopi in Pariaman do not change function and meaning. However, Change occurs because there is social change.

Racial neoliberal philanthropy and the arts for social change

Major philanthropic organizations are increasingly turning to the arts for social change [AFSC] to address racial injustices ranging from racialized poverty and mass incarceration, to health and educational disparities. This article problematizes the emergence, and increased celebration, of AFSC philanthropy by situating it within successive articulations of racial neoliberalism. Focusing on the Canadian context, I argue that this ‘progressive turn’ in arts philanthropy is the product of a series of neoliberal political-economic and ideological shifts that uniquely punish(ed) the racialized poor on a material level, while simultaneously producing these same communities and their artistic practices as attractive sites of investment for a primarily white and increasingly empowered philanthropic base. Drawing on a series of examples, I show how contemporary approaches to AFSC philanthropy – particularly those that mobilize ‘business-like’ strategies, priorities, and tools in pursuit of social change – function to extend and legitimize the ‘post-racial’ ideological foundations of the racial neoliberal project, resulting in a paradoxical phenomenon that I term ‘racial neoliberal philanthropy’. In addition to making the case for centering race in extant critical work on the political economy of philanthropy, this article – as well as the concept of racial neoliberal philanthropy – highlights how well-intentioned organizational responses to racial injustice can, in fact, reify racial inequities through policies and programming that are seemingly ‘beyond race’.

Climate-Optimized Trajectories and Robust Mitigation Potential: Flying ATM4E

Aviation can reduce its climate impact by controlling its CO2-emission and non-CO2 effects, e.g., aviation-induced contrail-cirrus and ozone caused by nitrogen oxide emissions. One option is the implementation of operational measures that aim to avoid those atmospheric regions that are in particular sensitive to non-CO2 aviation effects, e.g., where persistent contrails form. The quantitative estimates of mitigation potentials of such climate-optimized aircraft trajectories are required, when working towards sustainable aviation. The results are presented from a comprehensive modelling approach when aiming to identify such climate-optimized aircraft trajectories. The overall concept relies on a multi-dimensional environmental change function concept, which is capable of providing climate impact information to air traffic management (ATM). Estimates on overall climate impact reduction from a one-day case study are presented that rely on the best estimate for climate impact information. Specific weather situation that day, containing regions with high contrail impact, results in a potential reduction of total climate impact, by more than 40%, when considering CO2 and non-CO2 effects, associated with an increase of fuel by about 0.5%. The climate impact reduction per individual alternative trajectory shows a strong variation and, hence, also the mitigation potential for an analyzed city pair, depending on atmospheric characteristics along the flight corridor as well as flight altitude. The robustness of proposed climate-optimized trajectories is assessed by using a range of different climate metrics. A more sustainable ATM needs to integrate comprehensive environmental impacts and associated forecast uncertainties into route optimization in order to identify robust eco-efficient trajectories.

The Use of a Hidden Mixture Transition Distribution Model in Clustering Few but Long Continuous Sequences: An Illustration with Cognitive Skills Data

In accordance with the theme of this special issue, we present a model that indirectly discovers symmetries and asymmetries between past and present assessments within continuous sequences. More specifically, we present an alternative use of a latent variable version of the Mixture Transition Distribution (MTD) model, which allows for clustering of continuous longitudinal data, called the Hidden MTD (HMTD) model. We compare the HMTD and its clustering performance to the popular Growth Mixture Model (GMM), as well as to the recently introduced GMM based on individual case residuals (ICR-GMM). The GMM and the ICR-GMM contrast with HMTD, because they are based on an explicit change function describing the individual sequences on the dependent variable (here, we implement a non-linear exponential change function). This paper has three objectives. First, it introduces the HMTD. Second, we present the GMM and the ICR-GMM and compare them to the HMTD. Finally, we apply the three models and comment on how the conclusions differ depending on the clustering model, when using a specific dataset in psychology, which is characterized by a small number of sequences (n = 102), but that are relatively long (for the domains of psychology and social sciences: t = 20). We use data from a learning experiment, in which healthy adults (19–80 years old) were asked to perform a perceptual–motor skills over 20 trials.

The hierarchy of totally α‎-c.a. degrees

This chapter investigates the hierarchy of totally α‎-c.a. degrees. It demonstrates precisely when this hierarchy collapses (Theorem 3.6) and refines this hierarchy when one considers totally less than α‎-c.a. degrees (Theorem 3.25). The chapter then looks at uniform versions of the classes. The array computable degrees were a uniform version of the totally ω‎-c.a. degrees, in that the previous chapter took a single computable bound on the mind-change function of approximations of functions in the degree. This chapter finds the right formulation that generalises this to define uniformly totally α‎-c.a. degrees, and shows (Theorem 3.20) how they fit in the hierarchy.

CHANGES IN THE FUNCTION AND ARCHITECTURE OF LUMBUNG IN BALI HOUSEHOLDS IN SADING CUSTOMARY VILLAGE, BADUNG, BALI

Lumbung or granary is a building that serves as a place to store rice. In some houses in the Sading Traditional Village, the granary is one of the buildings which is generally located near the kitchen. However, at present, this granary in Sading Traditional Village has changed its function and architecture as part of the dynamics of modern life. Seeing this condition, it is necessary to conduct research on the architecture of the barn in Sading Traditional Village. The purpose of this study was to determine the form of change, the causes and meanings contained in the phenomenon of changing the function and architecture of the granary in Balinese houses in Sading Traditional Village. The method used in this research is a qualitative approach with the perspective of cultural studies. The results showed that there was a change in the function of the barn which was previously only a place to store rice, but now the function of storing rice is only as a symbol, while other functions are mostly used as a multipurpose room such as a place to entertain guests during religious ceremonies, a place to relax and other activities. While the architectural changes lie in the materials, decorations and others that follow current developments. The main cause is the livelihoods of the people of the Adat Sading Village who no longer work as farmers. Besides that, it is due to ideological factors and beliefs, economics and the development of science and technology. The meanings contained in these changes include religious, aesthetic, image and cultural preservation. Keywords: Change, Function, Architecture, Granary, meaning