Workforce participation: developing a theoretical framework for longitudinal research

This paper describes and evaluates an action research project on workforce participation at Viewpoint Research Community Interest Company (CIC). By setting out the research protocols devised by Viewpoint to stimulate and study co-operative management, it is possible to abstract a theoretical framework that emerged from a pilot case study. The paper contributes to theory by highlighting not only the potential of action research to catalyse interest in co operative management but also how to engage theoretically with the paradox of a workforce voting to limit its own participation in ownership, governance and management. In this study, the authors interpreted that participants did not automatically equate participatory management with workplace democracy leading to a theoretical perspective that “democratic management is the propensity and capacity of management systems to respond to members’ desires regarding the scope, depth, level and quality of participation in management”. The paper concludes by evaluating the efficacy of Viewpoint’s action research methodology as a strategy for deepening knowledge on workforce participation in co-operatives and employee-owned businesses

Workforce Participation: developing a theoretical framework for longitudinal research

This paper describes an action research methodology and theoretical framework developed during a pilot study into workforce participation at Viewpoint Research CIC. The study suggests a set of protocols for generating case studies that describe the framing, operationalisation and evaluation of workforce participation in organisations. In the paper's conclusions, the authors argue that the concept of workplace democracy needs reframing to takes account of the level of alignment between the systems of participations that are desired by workforce members and those designed by the organisation's managers

Workforce Participation: developing a theoretical framework for longitudinal research

This paper describes an action research methodology and theoretical framework developed during a pilot study into workforce participation at Viewpoint Research CIC. The study suggests a set of protocols for generating case studies that describe the framing, operationalisation and evaluation of workforce participation in organisations. In the paper's conclusions, the authors argue that the concept of workplace democracy needs reframing to takes account of the level of alignment between the systems of participations that are desired by workforce members and those designed by the organisation's managers

Privacy Fundamentalism: An Essay on Social Responsibility

No abstract available

Privacy Fundamentalism: An Essay on Social Responsibility

No abstract available

Invisibilidade, Desigualdade e Dialética do Real na Era Digital

Na era digital, a possibilidade prática de engajar desigualdades como problemas políticos, ou seja, como problemas relacionados com a competição pelo controle da distribuição de valores na sociedade, é prejudicada pela invisibilidade digital da realidade. No atual estado de coisas, a digitalização da sociedade reflete a influência da interpelação capitalista e provoca a invisibilidade do real. A invisibilidade do real através da digitalização capitalista, por sua vez, confunde digitação e digitalização, subordinando esta última à primeira. Construída como um processo inspirado na racionalidade tecnológica, a digitalização capitalista compromete a possibilidade de mobilizar conhecimentos e legitimar práticas de apoio à interpretação das invisibilidades em relação a desigualdades e injustiças. De acordo com a perspectiva crítica de Andrew Feenberg e outros, a minha abordagem é que a influência do capitalismo na era digital resulta de uma apropriação epistémica de um desenvolvimento tecnológico. Esta apropriação é a fonte de invisibilidades que apoiam desigualdades e, por fim, injustiças que podem e devem ser combatidas. Partindo disso, o meu ponto é que a oposição a essa influência depende da possibilidade de estabelecer fundamentos epistémicos alternativos e da formulação de interpelações alternativas para a produção da subjetividade digital. Para promover a agenda normativa da teoria crítica, discuto essa possibilidade em termos da ‘dialética do real’, da repolitização da construção social da realidade na era digital e do papel da literacia mediática crítica

On Political Epunditry

The article develops the concept of ePunditry, a putative new lens through which to view the work of political blogging and associated digital modes. It starts by describing three conceptual frameworks which appear highly relevant: the information society thesis, the idea of the fifth estate and its relationship with the fourth, and the Habermasian ideal of deliberative democracy. The empirical content of the inquiry comprises interviews with twenty-seven political bloggers, ranging from celebrated figures such as Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale to lesser-known, arguably heroic practitioners working as far afield as Lebanon and Trinidad. The article evaluates their responses, where possible mapping these onto the conceptual frameworks, for example by showing their contribution to an activist form of democratic politics. It is concluded that ePunditry represents a useful new construct for journalism studies

Four Discourses of Digital Rights : Promises and Problems of Rights-Based Politics

The notion of digital rights has recently generated a number of political declarations and civil society initiatives across the world. By critically examining these declarations and academic debates on digital rights, this article asks: Why is it that information policy issues are increasingly framed in terms of individual rights? And on what understandings of rights do various political, corporate, and civil society declarations of digital rights rest? The article identifies four discourses of digital rights, linked to different ideological assumptions and political contexts. Finally, possible limitations and pathologies of the rights discourse are discussed.Peer reviewe