Agency in ensemble interaction and rehearsal communication

Agency refers to the capacity to act and act upon, to initiate and carry out actions either for their own sakes or to influence and affect others. The concept is often invoked in music studies, but the nature and types of actions and agents are defined differently in various research frameworks. This study integrates sociocultural and metaphorical approaches to investigate the interactions between work and performer agencies in the verbal communication and gestural exchanges that take place during ensemble rehearsal. The chapter begins with an overview of current theories of musical agency and traces their implications for research on ensemble music-making. Next, using conversational segments drawn from two empirical case studies of professional string quartets as illustrations, the chapter considers agential roles and ascriptions that are not accounted for in current paradigms. In closing, the chapter explores the theoretical implications of the research outcome and proposes a new critical perspective.

The Use of Examples in Philosophy of Technology

This paper is a contribution to a discussion in philosophy of technology by focusing on the epistemological status of the example. Of the various developments in the emerging, inchoate field of philosophy of technology, the “empirical turn” stands out as having left the most enduring mark on the trajectory contemporary research takes. From a historical point of view, the empirical turn can best be understood as a corrective to the overly “transcendentalizing” tendencies of “classical” philosophers of technology, such as Heidegger. Empirically oriented philosophy of technology emphasizes actual technologies through case-study research into the formation of technical objects and systems (constructivist studies) and how they, for example, transform our perceptions and conceptions (the phenomenological tradition) or pass on and propagate relations of power (critical theory). This paper explores the point of convergence of classical and contemporary approaches by means of the notion of the “example” or “paradigm.” It starts with a discussion of the quintessential modern philosopher of technology, Martin Heidegger, and his thinking about technology in terms of the ontological difference. Heidegger’s framing of technology in terms of this difference places the weight of intelligibility entirely on the side of being, to such an extent that his examples become heuristic rather than constitutive. The second part of the paper discusses the methodological and epistemological import of the “example” and the form of intelligibility it affords. Drawing on the work of Wittgenstein (standard metre), Foucault (panopticism), and Agamben (paradigm), we argue that the example offers an alternative way of understanding the study of technologies from that of empirical case studies.

What is the Blue Economy? A spatialised governmentality perspective

The Blue Economy is a recent economic development paradigm, being promoted worldwide as a way to deliver sustainable ocean development in the context of the sustainable development goals. Research has drawn attention to its contested nature and the propensity of sectoral interests to co-opt it to their own ends. An emerging body of critical studies of the Blue Economy, as practiced, provides an opportunity to address the question “What is the blue economy?” in new ways. This review of published empirical case studies initiates a conversation between governmentality concepts and place-space–time theory, aiming to open new lines of enquiry regarding the influence of spatiality on the nature of governance. This approach has allowed the elucidation of a complex and nuanced understanding of the Blue Economy, complementing earlier discourse and content analyses. In relation to Blue Economy governance, I pose the specific question, “Does place matter?”, leading to an interrogation of material and spatial relations in Blue Economy governance. I describe a complex spatialised governmentality, dominated by growth-based imaginaries and market-led practices. I draw attention to the production of ocean space through socio-material Blue Economy relations and the material and spatial contingency of its governance. Finally, I draw a distinction between “place” and “location” which has important consequences for Blue Economy governance.

REMAXINT: a two-mode clustering-based method for statistical inference on two-way interaction

We present a novel method, REMAXINT, that captures the gist of two-way interaction in row by column (i.e., two-mode) data, with one observation per cell. REMAXINT is a probabilistic two-mode clustering model that yields two-mode partitions with maximal interaction between row and column clusters. For estimation of the parameters of REMAXINT, we maximize a conditional classification likelihood in which the random row (or column) main effects are conditioned out. For testing the null hypothesis of no interaction between row and column clusters, we propose a $$max-F$$ m a x - F test statistic and discuss its properties. We develop a Monte Carlo approach to obtain its sampling distribution under the null hypothesis. We evaluate the performance of the method through simulation studies. Specifically, for selected values of data size and (true) numbers of clusters, we obtain critical values of the $$max-F$$ m a x - F statistic, determine empirical Type I error rate of the proposed inferential procedure and study its power to reject the null hypothesis. Next, we show that the novel method is useful in a variety of applications by presenting two empirical case studies and end with some concluding remarks.

Enregistering cuteness of fashion clothes on Chinese social media

In the context of cute material culture, this article focuses on the production of valorized cute aesthetic in fashion clothes being sold on Chinese social media. Through corpus-enlightened empirical case studies, the article demonstrates how the baby-talk register converges with the material design and embodiment of clothes to synergically affect the cute materiality of the clothes at issue. With special attention paid to discursive practices of enregisterment, the study tries to recalibrate the existing biased hermeneutics of cute material culture that largely reduce cute clothes to material immediacy and consumerist passivity. The study sheds light on the collegiality and complementarity that enregisterment shows for embodiment and material design in the production of material aesthetics, and by doing so enriches the understanding of materiality within clothing material culture in general.

Trends and Recent Change in the Syntactic Distribution of Degree Modifiers: Implications for a Usage-based Theory of Word Classes

This paper examines the syntactic distribution of degree modifiers in both spoken and written English. The results of the empirical case studies show that degree modifiers, both amplifiers (e.g., very, extremely) and downtoners (e.g., quite, pretty), are generally more often used in predication than in attribution, a result that is in line with earlier observations of the distribution of individual modifiers. This synchronic trend is also evident in diachronic developments: corpus data show that the recent frequency increase of intensifying this and that has largely taken place in predication, and the adjectivization of a class of -ed participles (e.g., interested, scared) can also be connected to their frequent co-occurrence with degree modifiers after be. Finally, the connection between degree modifiers and predicative usage has recently become stronger for a subset of modifiers (e.g., so, this, that) due to the decline of the “Big Mess” construction (e.g., so good an idea). From a theoretical perspective, this paper promotes a dynamic, usage-based model of word classes where frequency of use plays a role in categorization. The data investigated in the article are mainly discussed from the perspective of usage-based Construction Grammar, and the theoretical implications of the findings are examined both in light of a more traditional Construction Grammar network model of language and some recent ideas of overlapping word classes.

Leverage points to foster human–nature connectedness in cultural landscapes

Calls for a reconnection to nature and the biosphere have been growing louder over the last decades. Cultural landscapes are rapidly changing, posing a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, but also to human–nature connections. Human–nature connectedness may be a potential lever to shift the unsustainable trajectory that we are currently proceeding, but is also negatively influenced by it. To concretize the call for a reconnection to nature, we used the leverage points perspective on five empirical case studies with focus on human–nature connectedness. Based on the synthesis of our yearlong work, in this perspective paper, we propose four leverage points to foster a sustainability transformation: (1) maintain and enhance the structural diversity of landscapes, (2) maintain and enhance economically and ecologically sustainable small-scale agriculture, (3) strengthen sense of place and (4) strengthen sense of agency in actors. Intervening in these leverage points could be effective to foster human–nature connectedness and ultimately contribute towards a sustainable trajectory. We further argue that the interconnection between leverage points is equally important as their systemic depth.

Resistance, Rebellion, and the Subaltern

Often falling short of its putative aims, subaltern resistance has throughout history played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of states and empires. This chapter examines some of the more recent developments, as well as criticisms, of the broader study of subaltern resistance and rebellion within a global context. The empirical case studies are drawn primarily from the European imperial expansion during the long nineteenth century, and from British India in particular, and the discussion focusses on three central themes: violence, rumors, and religion. Considering the centrality of historiographical debates on the key concepts of “resistance” and “subalternity,” the discussion is framed by a critical reading of the work of Ranajit Guha and his classic 1983 book, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency.

Media Pseudologies

In this article, the author seeks to understand how any information society generates clusters of information that act to secure and reinforce ecologies of consumption for media conglomerates and its circle of consumers. Empirical case studies would show that news information may not be based in the larger realities of all the players involved. Societies may be described in such situations as desiring their ends by means of segmented branching, but more empirically, by imperatives of survival and growth. Pseudology comprise the only sustaining principle of discourse for such a world immersed and fragmented by its local interests and their recognizable patterns of behavior as they are retrospectively conditioned by media.