Socially-Sensitive Systems Design:Exploring Social Potential

In human society, individuals have long voluntarily organized themselves in groups, which embody, provide and/or facilitate a range of different social concepts, such as governance, justice, or mutual aid. These social groups vary in form, size, and permanence, but in different ways provide benefits to their members. In turn, members of these groups use their understanding and awareness of group expectations to help determine their own actions, to the benefit of themselves, each other, and the health of the group

Disinformation and Fact-Checking in Contemporary Society

Funded by the European Media and Information Fund and research project PID2022-142755OB-I00

Assessing the quality of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) : evaluation, improvement, application

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The SMS-Revolution

Bei Massenprotesten spielen zunehmend neue Medien wie das Internet und das Mobiltelefon eine zentrale Rolle. Im vergangenen Jahr haben das vor allem Proteste in Moldawien und im Iran deutlich gemacht. Einer der ersten Fälle, in dem Mobiltelefone und besonders SMS zur Mobilisierung von tausenden Protestierenden beigetragen haben (sollen), ist der so genannte EDSA 2 Aufstand auf den Philippinen im Jahr 2001. Der massive zivile Protest, der vier Tage lang eine der Hauptverkehrsadern Manilas blockierte, trug maßgeblich zum Sturz des damaligen Präsidenten Joseph Estrada bei. Die Euphorie solcher Ereignisse und die Neuheit des Einsatzes von Mobiltelefonen bergen die Gefahr eines unkritischen „Hochjubelns“ der Technologie sowie einer fehlenden Kontextualisierung ihrer Rolle bei den Ereignissen. Weitverbreitete techno-deterministische Ansichten verknüpft mit Auffassungen der Moderne verstärken die Tendenz, der Technologie Handlungsmacht zuzuschreiben und die eigentlich Handelnden zu ignorieren. Meine Diplomarbeit stellt daher eine umfassende Analyse der Rolle, die Mobiltelefone bei diesem Protest gespielt haben, dar. Durch eine pluralistische, existierende soziale und politische Kontexte berücksichtigende Sichtweise wird der Komplexität der involvierten Prozesse Rechnung getragen. Mit Hilfe Victor Turners Konzepten Communitas und Liminalität wird die dem Mobiltelefon zugeschriebene Macht genauer beleuchtet.In mass protests new media like internet and mobile phones are increasingly playing a central role. In the past year, this was especially obvious in the protests in Moldavia and in Iran. The so called EDSA 2 uprising in the Philippines in 2001 was one of the first cases when mobile phones and especially text messages (are said to) have contributed to the mobilization of thousands of protesters. This massive civil protest that blocked one of Manila’s main traffic arteries, contributed significantly to the downfall of President Joseph Estrada. The euphoria of such events and the novelty of the use of mobile phones carry with it the danger of an uncritical celebration of technology and of a lacking contextualization of their role in the events. Widespread techno-deterministic views linked to notions of modernity enhance the tendency to assign the technology with agency and thus ignore those that are actually using it. My thesis thus presents an extensive analysis of the role that mobile phones played in this protest. A pluralist view accounting for social and political contexts allows for the complexity of the involved processes. Drawing on Victor Turner’s concepts of communitas and liminality, I analyze the power attributed to the mobile phone

Divided, they win? a case study of the new political generation in Egypt since 25th January 2011

This dissertation explores the political culture of the new political generation in Egypt after 25th January 2011. It aims at examining the reasons behind generational conflicts on the new political landscape. It defines political generation as â a group of people who have been subject to common social and political (â ¦) influences and circumstances\u27 that shape their political values, attitudes, and signify their sharing of an essential destiny\u27 . Hence, generations are defined in terms of political culture, rather than age groups. The study examines six suggestive cases: The National Movement for Changeâ Kefayaâ , the 6th of April, the We Are All Khaled Saed, the Egyptian Current Party, the Salafyo Costa movement and Ultras Ahlawy football community. Through examining formative experiences, ideological composition and organizational forms, values, symbols, strategies, and inter-relationships, I aim at resolving one research problem: The significant variation within the political culture of the new generation deepens conflicts both within the emergent Generation and with the Muslim Brotherhoodâ on various ideological issues and political strategies. Also, it stimulates ideological transformation and threatens to upgrade political authoritarianism. In order to develop a \u27grounded\u27 , knowledge of the subject, the study, first, examines reasons behind the MB\u27s failure to co-opt the new generation both before and after the 25th January. Secondly, It examines the formative socio-political experiences of each generational unit. Thirdly, I report the interview findings on ideological and organizational manifestations and, finally, I analyze the results in order to understand the reasons behind generational conflicts and how they might lead into upgrading Mubarak\u27s authoritarianism. This research provides future studies with elementary background on the situation, its main actors, their inter-relationships and possible means of resolving their conflicts. I use two integrative methods of qualitative research: ethnographic semi-structured interviews with members of the new political generation and â participation as observer\u27. Data culled from primary and secondary sources is analyzed through conceptual analysis tool to examine the undergoing transformation and possible means to resolve the conflict. The study concludes that there are four intertwined lines through which generational conflicts evolved: a) problems either withered away or got replaced by new problems, b) a change and/or loss of leadership, mobilizable resources and sympathy, c) the rise of unexpected generational cooperation, and d) one generation topple or liquidate the other

Max – A Thought Experiment: Could AI Run the Economy Better Than Markets?

One of the fundamental critiques against twentieth century experiments in central economic planning, and the main reason for their failures, was the inability of humandirected planning systems to manage the data gathering, analysis, computation, and control necessary to direct the vast complexity of production, allocation, and exchange decisions that make up a modern economy. Rapid recent advances in AI, data, and related technological capabilities have re-opened that old question, and provoked vigorous speculation about the feasibility, benefits, and threats of an AI-directed economy. This paper presents a thought experiment about how this might work, based on assuming a powerful AI agent (whimsically named “Max”) with no binding computational or algorithmic limits on its (his) ability to do the task. The paper’s novel contribution is to make this hitherto under-specified question more concrete and specific. It reasons concretely through how such a system might work under explicit assumptions about contextual conditions; what benefits it might offer relative to present market and mixed-market arrangements; what novel requirements or constraints it would present; what threats and challenges it would pose, and how it inflects long-standing understandings of foundational questions about state, society, and human liberty.As with smaller-scale regulatory interventions, the concrete implementation of comprehensive central planning can be abstracted as intervening via controlling either quantities or prices. The paper argues that quantity-based approaches would be fundamentally impaired by problems of principal-agent relations and incentives, which hobbled historical planning systems and would persist under arbitrary computational advances. Price-based approaches, as proposed by Oskar Lange, do not necessarily suffer from the same disabilities. More promising than either, however, would be a variant in which Max manages a comprehensive system of price modifications added to emergent market outcomes, equivalent to a comprehensive economy-wide system of Pigovian taxes and subsidies. Such a system, “Pigovian Max,” could in principle realize the information efficiency benefits and liberty interests of decentralized market outcomes, while also comprehensively correcting externalities and controlling inefficient concentration of market power and associated rent-seeking behavior. It could also, under certain additional assumptions, offer the prospect of taxation without deadweight loss, by taking all taxes from inframarginal rents.Having outlined the basic approach and these potential benefits, the paper discusses several challenges and potential risks presented by such a system. These include Max’s need for data and the potential costs of providing it; the granularity or aggregation of Max’s determinations; the problem of maintaining variety and innovation in an economy directed by Max; the implications of Max for the welfare of human workers, the meaning and extent of property rights, and associated liberty interests; the definition of social welfare that determines Max’s objective function, its compatibility with democratic control, and the resultant stability of the boundary between the state and the economy; and finally, the relationship of Max to AI-enabled trends already underway, with implications for the feasibility of Max being developed and adopted, and the associated risks. In view of the depth and difficulty of these questions, the discussion of each is necessarily preliminary and speculative

Is the concept of e-leadership relevant to a physical school context? : a study of Maltese headteachers’ use of digital tools

This study explores the concept of school electronic leadership (e-leadership) by investigating headteachers’ perspectives on technology and its use within their schools. Technology is another layer being added to school leadership with studies mainly focusing on educational and emotional leadership. In view of this this study addresses the electronic aspect of school leadership. A new definition of e-leadership for school settings is provided, focusing on the range of tool-use and their purposes. The study involves interviews with 18 headteachers in middle and secondary state schools in Malta to investigate their individual experiences and interaction with these digital tools. Based on the findings of this thesis, technology was used extensively and seamlessly for daily managerial tasks, leading to greater efficiency. It was also noted that headteachers tended to delegate the use of digital tools for teaching and learning. Although these tools were considered essential for accomplishing managing and leading goals, they were leading to a significant intensification of work as instant communication increased expectations from all stakeholders. In effect, one of this study’s recommendations reflects on the issues of well-being and impersonalisation created through the use of digital tools and encourages leaders to consider this factor in their staff’s context. Furthermore, it was noted that digital tools were used erratically to lead the school vision, with technology mainly being used to communicate with educators and staff regarding processes and procedures. Thus, it was concluded that e-leadership should cover a blend of online and face-to-face interactions with a mix of tools for general purposes and school use. Following this study, recommendations of both an academic and practical nature are made. Action research in school e-leadership and blended research, and extended use of digital tools for educational leadership are suggested