Negotiating Subjectivity within Simulation: The Posthuman in Philip K. Dick’s Ubik

The aim of this paper is to offer a reading of P. K. Dick’s Ubik which investigates the possibility for a representation of posthuman subjectivity in the novel. The forming of a sustainable posthuman subjectivity occurs in the novel against the backdrop of what might be described in Baudrillardian terms as hyperreality. The use of Baudrillard?s idea of hyperreality may not only guide the analysis towards uncovering the circumstances facilitating the emergence of posthuman subjects in Ubik, but also reveal an illustration of the dialogue between the postmodern and the posthuman positions. Ultimately, I contend that Dick’s novel depicts the emergence of posthuman modes of subjectivity in a process which is facilitated by the context of hyperreality. This unexpected coincidence occurs through a positive, constructive interaction with the environment, bestowing, through symbolic exchange, sustainability to the inhabitants of unstable reality.

Meaningless labor in the concept of David Graeber

David Graeber (1961–2020) is a former professor at the London School of Economics, sociologist, and social anthropologist, prominent thinker of modernity; in the decades ahead, his views and social ideas will be highly demanded in social and humanistic knowledge. Assessment is given to his social theory of labor, which Graeber dedicated multiple books and articles, viewing labor as a futile phenomenon for the society and individual. He notes that meaningless labor in just a set of actions subordinated to some social force. The analysis of his ideas reveals several important vectors of modern social mentality: 1) in reconsideration of the role of labor in life of a person and society, the social frame of references (from the perspective of total sociality) is brought to the forefront, while the economic and political vectors of the assessment of labor assessment are shifted to the background; 2) meaningless labor becomes the social norm and generates the new system of values, for example, bureaucracy, administration, office, etc.; 3) gradually and with strong consolidation in society, labor becomes part of the active symbolic struggle (for example, for power) and symbolic exchange, which entails inequality between people and social commonalities. The article substantiates the heuristic nature of application of the concept of meaningless labor in characterizing the central ideas pf David Graeber, taking into account the fact that labor is viewed as an “imitation” of social value. This thesis is fundamental in comprehension of Graeber’s theory, as all his works contain a refrain on the need to reconsider the key social values (labor, money, finance, taxes, resources, and other), the nature of which is determined by both economic and sociocultural relations.

Perceptions and Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic amongst Frontline Nurses and Their Relatives in France in Six Paradoxes: A Qualitative Study

Due to their frontline position to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the professional and personal life of nurses was severely disrupted. To understand and describe their lived experiences and perceptions during the pandemic’s first wave in France, we interviewed 49 nurses, including 16 nursing students, and 48 of their family members from June to July 2020. Using a purposeful sampling, the semi-structured interviews were scripted according to Abric’s method with probing questions. The interview analysis led to the identification of six paradoxical perceptions concerning the pandemic’s consequences: the Silence Paradox, the Hero Paradox, the Workforce Paradox, the Learning Paradox, the Symbolic Exchange Paradox, and the Uncertainty Paradox. However, despite different experiences, the nurses perceived their frontline position both as a burden jeopardizing their safety and well-being and as a spotlight of nurses’ tough working conditions. Indeed, because they were in the frontline position, nurses and nursing students were psychologically vulnerable, even more so when they felt alone and inadequately protected. Besides, their families were vulnerable too, as they were also exposed to the consequences of the nurses’ frontline engagement. Thus, to preserve their safety and well-being, institutions should also provide them with better organizational support and inclusive leadership, without neglecting their families.

Producer as a key figure in the art market of postmodern culture

The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of the producer and cultural and anthropological understanding of the producer as a key figure in the art market of the postmodern culture of the XXI century. Methodology. The conceptual methodological core of the study is a comparative analysis of production as a phenomenon of modern culture and, in particular, culturological analysis of the figure of the producer as a symbolic subject in the light of the progressive development of the third wave society. Using the method of hermeneutic interpretation, the peculiarities of the producer's activity as a key figure in the art market of postmodern culture are revealed. The scientific novelty lies in the conceptualization of the figure of the producer as a phenomenon of humanitarian knowledge of the postmodern culture. It is hypothesized that the worldview of the new synthetic worldview of the producer may be a new paradigm that replaces the third wave: altermodern. Its characteristic features are glocalization, cluster practice, transculture, etc. Conclusions. Understanding of production as a phenomenon of the art market and the figure of the producer (entrepreneur, manager) as a key figure in the creative economy showed that this model of economic relations belongs to the third wave and is a typical manifestation of symbolic exchange. The specificity of the economy of experiences is the escalation of the free market, which through universal enthusiasm tries to appropriate the sphere of artistic culture and turn art products into brands and goods. The metalanguage of the art market, built on the principles of information aesthetics, provides for diffuse mechanisms of assimilation of the world, with many hybrid forms and gradual displacement by art sponsorship, which becomes a commercial concept. This applies to both individual and national acts of creativity, which is reflected in the practices of multiculturalism. The development of symbolic exchange in the creative economy has led to the institutionalization of the institution of production as a mechanism of mediation between the artist and the public, which needs an accessible art product that can differently affect the ontological adequacy of the work.

Redeeming Redemption: Violence, Desecration, and Atonement

The red stain of Cain presents an evocative approach to the atonement based on theological reflection and doctoral studies in the social sciences on human violence and the notion of symbolic exchange. The value and worth of Jesus in exchange for our demerit and history of devaluing others and dishonoring God provides a fresh commendation for an evangelical theology of substitutionary atonement that is also participative. Violence is not incidental to the cross; it is central to its potency both for redemption and for healing. KEYWORDS: Violence, desecration, atonement, Cain, value, power, symbolic exchange

Magic shoes: Dorothy, Cinderella, Carrie

The stories of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Fleming 1939) and Cinderella focus on magic slippers that can only be worn by the ‘right’ person. In various cinematic versions of Cinderella (most notably the 1911 Méliès version), the Prince tries the glass slipper on the feet of a number of ‘wrong’ women before finding the perfect match in Cinderella. In both The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella, as in more recent films that invoke these narratives such as Sex and the City (1998), shoes are a commodity associated with rites of passage and, ultimately, with power. This essay examines the economy of magic shoes, symbolic exchange, and sexual difference, arguing that these films are as much about shopping and the act of trying on as they are about finding one’s feet in a male-dominated world.

Real and Virtual in the Educational Space of Modern Globalized Society

Globalization combines elements of integration and differentiation — common traits, extrapolated to single social groups, undergo a broad system of localization, adapting to the conditions of the new system of existence. In today’s globalized society, the real and the virtual are becoming so intertwined that it is increasingly difficult to define their boundaries. Two specific interpretations of the concept of «alternative globalism» are described: the first one is related to the use of this term to refer to social movement; the second one reflects some, including theoretical, critique of globalization, its manifestations and possible consequences. Structural-functional method, prognostic method, elements of schematization and generalization are used to clarify some issues of the philosophical paradigm of the modern educational space in the global and regional perspective. The study has revealed that the antiсipation of the future educational space is based on the analytics of actual changes in the status of knowledge. The focus of the research is the processes of mercantilization of knowledge, which indicates the commodity status of knowledge in modern society. The transition of society from consumption of mainly tangible goods to consumption of services, and subsequently to maximum consumption of information, was established. The concept of deterritorialization has shown that the essential characteristic of globalization is the loss of physical space in many social processes. A virtual theory related to the formation of «imaginary worlds» due to the imposition of different cultural and symbolic spaces: ethnic, technological, financial, ideological and media space is investigated. The study has revealed emergence of a «knowledge economy» society as a resource base of modern capitalism and the dialectical relations of «global and local» both in the structure of education and in the social system of the nation-state. Keywords: real, virtual, globalized society, deterritorialization, information-symbolic exchange, cultural and symbolic flows, functionalism of information, educational space