2,006 research outputs found

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

    Get PDF
    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    Provincialising whiteness: Òyìnbó and the politics of race in Lagos, Nigeria

    Get PDF
    Much academic work on racialisation processes to date has focused on a geographically restricted range of racial regimes characterised by white supremacy. This study broadens the geographical scope of analyses by looking at race-making practices in Lagos, Nigeria. I explore the geographical specificity of race-making in Lagos through interrogation of the concept of òyìnbó – a Yorùbá word most often translated into English as ‘white person.’ By highlighting the particular meanings attached to òyìnbó, and the political work that racialisation does in this understudied context, I argue for the need to provincialise understandings of whiteness in studies of global race-making processes. The project is based upon eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork with Lagosians of different generations and social demographics at three different research sites: a senior secondary school, the University of Lagos, and at a church. My findings suggest that divergent meanings are attached to òyìnbós in these contexts, which do not universally celebrate whiteness. Rather, the practice of race-making in Lagos predominantly addresses local political concerns, and common attributes associated with òyìnbós are primarily evaluated according to local people’s own moral economy. This results in highly ambivalent attitudes to òyìnbós as individuals and to òyìnbó as trope. I suggest that these attitudes can best be explained by situating constructions of òyìnbós within their wider social context in Lagos. By centring local understandings in this way, I argue that the political practice of race-making in Lagos is not purely a reflection of a singular, global racial hierarchy, but a means of actively engaging with global and local power structures. I propose that seeking to understand the emic nature of divergent global race-making processes in this way has the potential to broaden academic understanding of these and related social phenomena

    Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management

    Get PDF
    This book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings

    Security Elites in Egypt and Jordan after the Arab Spring : A Case Study on Securocracies’ Role on National Security, Domestic Power Politics, Regional Order and Middle Eastern Alliance Making between 2011 and 2021

    Get PDF
    The doctoral dissertation studied changes in the balance of power, alliance making and the hegemonic struggles of security elites within a Middle Eastern regional context over a ten year reference period between 2011 and 2021. The study focused on two case study countries: Egypt and Jordan. The results were compared within a historical context to the pre-Arab Spring era. The theoretical approach combined the English School of Thought and Middle Eastern Studies with a conceptual model of securocracy developed by the author. The primary contribution of the research is the realization of the core importance of securocracy within autocratic state systems. Inside securocracies there exists rivalling groups and organisations that counterbalance each other. The study points to the fact that the power struggle between executive powers – either purely domestic one or supported by foreign involvement, is the main driver behind why case study countries were in varying degrees dragged into instability and turmoil in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Securocracies can be divided into two main types: centralised and decentralised. The centralised model occurs when different elites groups have the same ”distance” to the ruler while having equal privileges and equal access to political power. The model predicts durability and stability of the regime (status quo). In the de-centralised model, there is an ongoing struggle amongst elite groups and “distances” to ruler are not equal, neither are the privileges. In Egypt the hegemonic struggle amongst elites took precedence over the interests and stability of the state after the Arab Spring and has continued since then. The situation at the end of 2021 is a de-centralised model where all executive powers are concentrated within President al-Sisi’s family dynasty (palace) and the leadership of military intelligence. This de-centralised type of securocracy makes Egypt’s situation fragile. Any impact from the outside, such as the Biden administration’s decision to impose additional conditions on U.S. financial military aid, could lead to a new hegemonic struggle challenging al-Sisi’s power. The securocracy’s survival strategy found in the study was the use of vertical power at all levels of the state hierarchy (” the winner takes it all”). In the situation of a power struggle, the ruler uses omni-balancing i.e., alliance making with powerful foreign states in order to gain an advantage against domestic rivals and revisionist regional states. The Egyptian example is al-Sisi’s rapprochement with Russia’s President Putin and his distancing of Egypt from its previous role of being the United States’ loyal Middle Eastern ally. The Jordanian example however, is the opposite, resulting in even closer relations with the United States since January 2021 when the two countries signed an updated Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The study also highlights that decisions concerning ruler succession in authoritarian states take place behind-the-scenes amongst the securocracy as it, per rule, prefers to choose a member inside its own interest group or alternatively a political figurehead that commits to protect securocracy’s privileged interests in exchange of their own power position. Within the Middle East, the recent U.S. pivot to Asia-Pacific created an opportunity for Russia to make a come-back. Russia, however, does not have the resources to compensate for the loss of U.S. financial military aid to the security elites. This in turn, and with Russia’s consent, has given space for regional state actors, particularly, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi-Arabia, to increase their influence. Gulf support to the regional clients is not free of charge: they request their clients adopt their own threat perceptions, take sides in armed conflicts and contribute to military capabilities which support the sponsors’ regional foreign and security policy goals.Väitöstutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin kymmenen vuoden ajanjaksolla voimatasapainon muutosta Lähi-idän alueellisessa valtarakenteessa, liittolaissuhteiden muutoksia sekä turvallisuuseliittien roolia maan sisäisessä valtataistelussa. Tuloksia verrattiin historiallisessa kontekstissa arabikevättä edeltävään aikaan kahdessa tapaustutkimusmaassa: Egyptissä ja Jordaniassa. Teoriaviitekehyksenä sovellettiin Englantilaisen koulukunnan ja Lähi-idän tutkimuksen teoriamalleja, sekä tutkijan kehittelemää sekurokratian konseptuaalista mallia. Tutkimuksen keskeinen tulos on havainto sekurokratian merkittävästä roolista osana autoritaarista valtiomallia. Sekurokratian sisälle on luotu useita toinen toistaan tasapainottavia ryhmittymiä. Tapaustutkimusmaiden arabikevään jälkeisen turvallisuustilanteen muutoksia selittävien tekijöiden joukossa turvallisuuseliittien valtakamppailu nousi merkittävään rooliin. Valtakamppailua käytiin eliittien kesken joko pelkästään maan sisällä tai vaihtoehtoisesti osin myös valtion ulkopuolisten voimien tukemana. Tutkimuksen perusteella sekurokratiat voidaan jakaa kahteen päätyyppiin: keskitettyyn ja hajautettuun malliin. Jos eri turvallisuuseliitti-ryhmien edut, vallankäyttö ja etäisyys vallan keskipisteeseen ovat tasapainossa puhutaan keskitetyn sekurokratian mallista, mikä ennustaa vallassa olevan regiimin pysyvyyttä ja vakautta. Jos taas sekurokratian rakenne on hajautetun mallin mukainen, sen valtakamppailu voi johtaa yhden osan pyrkimyksiin hegemonia-asemasta. Egyptin tapauksessa arabikevään jälkeinen turvallisuuseliittien valtakamppailu asetettiin maan vakauden edelle ja eliittien valtakamppailu on jatkunut tähän päivään. Tilanteessa vuoden 2021 lopussa valta on al-Sisin perhedynastialla ja sotilastiedustelun eliitillä (hajautettu malli). Hajautettu malli ei ennusta pitkäaikaista vallassa pysymistä; vahva ulkopuolinen heräte, esimerkiksi Bidenin hallinnon sotilaallisen talousavun lopettaminen voisi johtaa uuteen valtakamppailuun ja al-Sisin valta-aseman haastamiseen. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että sekurokratoiden selviytymisstrategiana on vallanvertikaalin käyttö valtiohallinnon eri tasoilla. Valtakamppailun tilanteessa käytetään tasapainotusstrategiaa (omni-balancing), missä alueellisia vahvoja valtioita ja suurvaltoja pyritään yhdistämään hallitsijan puolelle kilpailevia eliittiryhmittymiä tai revisionistisia ulkovaltoja vastaan. Egyptissä presidentti al-Sisin valtaannousu johti maan lähentymiseen presidentti Putinin Venäjän kanssa sekä etääntymiseen aiemmasta Yhdysvalloille uskollisen Lähi-idän liittolaisen roolista. Jordaniassa puolestaan maa on nyt entistä tiiviimmin liittoutunut Yhdysvaltojen kanssa. Esimerkkinä tästä on tammikuussa 2021 maiden kesken solmittu sotilasyhteistyötä ja jordanialaisten tukikohtien käyttöä säätelevä isäntämaatuki-sopimus. Tutkimustulosten valossa autoritaariselle vallanperimykselle tyypillistä on se, että julkisuuteen näkymättömän sisäisen valtakamppailun jälkeen uudeksi valtionpäämieheksi pyritään nostamaan sekurokratian sisältä sen oman intressiryhmän edustaja, tai vaihtoehtoisesti sekurokratian valitsema ulkopuolinen poliitikko, jonka vastuulle korporaation intressien vaaliminen lankeaa vastapalveluksena sekurokratian tuesta keulakuva-poliitikon vallassa pitämiseksi. Alueellisen turvallisuusjärjestyksen osalta tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat sen, että Yhdysvaltojen painopisteen siirto Tyynellemerelle vii ja Aasiaan on antanut Venäjälle mahdollisuuden palauttaa vaikutusvaltaansa Lähiitään. Venäjällä ei kuitenkaan ole resursseja kompensoida Yhdysvaltojen arabivaltioiden turvallisuuseliiteille allokoimaa taloudellista tukea. Tämä on antanut tilaa alueellisten toimijoiden kuten Yhdistyneiden arabiemiirikuntien ja Saudi-Arabian vaikutusvallan kasvattamiselle - tosin Venäjän hyväksynnällä. Tuki ei myöskään tule ilmaiseksi, sillä sponsorit edellyttävät, että niille alisteisessa asemassa olevat maat omaksuvat tukijavaltioidensa uhkakuvat, sekä konfliktitilanteissa kontribuoivat sotilaallisia kyvykkyyksiä näiden valtioiden ulko- ja turvallisuuspoliittisten päämäärien saavuttamiseksi

    Security and Privacy for Modern Wireless Communication Systems

    Get PDF
    The aim of this reprint focuses on the latest protocol research, software/hardware development and implementation, and system architecture design in addressing emerging security and privacy issues for modern wireless communication networks. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following: deep-learning-based security and privacy design; covert communications; information-theoretical foundations for advanced security and privacy techniques; lightweight cryptography for power constrained networks; physical layer key generation; prototypes and testbeds for security and privacy solutions; encryption and decryption algorithm for low-latency constrained networks; security protocols for modern wireless communication networks; network intrusion detection; physical layer design with security consideration; anonymity in data transmission; vulnerabilities in security and privacy in modern wireless communication networks; challenges of security and privacy in node–edge–cloud computation; security and privacy design for low-power wide-area IoT networks; security and privacy design for vehicle networks; security and privacy design for underwater communications networks

    Making Endless War: The Vietnam and Arab-Israeli Conflicts in the History of International Law

    Get PDF
    Making Endless War is built on the premise that any attempt to understand how the content and function of the laws of war changed in the second half of the twentieth century should consider two major armed conflicts, fought on opposite edges of Asia, and the legal pathways that link them together across time and space. The Vietnam and Arab-Israeli conflicts have been particularly significant in the shaping and attempted remaking of international law from 1945 right through to the present day. This carefully curated collection of essays by lawyers, historians, philosophers, sociologists, and political geographers of war explores the significance of these two conflicts, including their impact on the politics and culture of the world's most powerful nation, the United States of America. The volume foregrounds attempts to develop legal rationales for the continued waging of war after 1945 by moving beyond explaining the end of war as a legal institution, and toward understanding the attempted institutionalization of endless war

    Vehicle as a Service (VaaS): Leverage Vehicles to Build Service Networks and Capabilities for Smart Cities

    Full text link
    Smart cities demand resources for rich immersive sensing, ubiquitous communications, powerful computing, large storage, and high intelligence (SCCSI) to support various kinds of applications, such as public safety, connected and autonomous driving, smart and connected health, and smart living. At the same time, it is widely recognized that vehicles such as autonomous cars, equipped with significantly powerful SCCSI capabilities, will become ubiquitous in future smart cities. By observing the convergence of these two trends, this article advocates the use of vehicles to build a cost-effective service network, called the Vehicle as a Service (VaaS) paradigm, where vehicles empowered with SCCSI capability form a web of mobile servers and communicators to provide SCCSI services in smart cities. Towards this direction, we first examine the potential use cases in smart cities and possible upgrades required for the transition from traditional vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) to VaaS. Then, we will introduce the system architecture of the VaaS paradigm and discuss how it can provide SCCSI services in future smart cities, respectively. At last, we identify the open problems of this paradigm and future research directions, including architectural design, service provisioning, incentive design, and security & privacy. We expect that this paper paves the way towards developing a cost-effective and sustainable approach for building smart cities.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figure

    Clever Minds and Nimble Hands? Making Embroidery in Late Qing and Republican China

    Get PDF
    The handiwork of embroidery signified gentry lady’s intelligence and refinement in late imperil China. Yet in late Qing and Republican China, embroidery was practised by a wide range of makers – gentry ladies, male professionals, home-based female workers, young students, and peasant women. Why was the exquisite art of embroidery able to be crafted by makers of a diverse backgrounds? My study explores various contexts and investigates the secrets for the maintenance of the technical virtuosity of different embroidery genres and argues that the making of embroidery in late Qing and Republican China was a constantly changing knowledge redistribution process in the context of values, economy, and culture in fluidity. My dissertation begins with a study of the stereotypical embroiderers in public perception – boudoir ladies in the late Qing. I borrow anthropologist Alfred Gell’s concept of “technical excellence” to explain the dilemma associated with boudoir embroiderers: because embroidery was such a mysterious process for viewers that gentry embroiderers were regarded as occult technicians. On the one hand, they embodied female virtues pointing to a quiet, gentle, and self-disciplined woman; on the other hand, the glamour of an embroiderer rendered her invulnerable to male seduction, signifying erotism and sexuality. The second chapter examines late Qing rank badges that were made in hierarchical social environments – workshops inside the Forbidden City, imperial workshops in Jiangnan, and regional commercial workshops. I explore how these badges were made by different modes of production and how they potentially affected the owners. Chapter three expands to the investigation of commercial embroidery of nineteenth-century China where embroidery was a collaborative work by both genders. The leadership roles of men as middlemen, painters, and master embroiderers marginalized female workers who earned low wages embroidering at home. As chapter four enters Republican China, it uncovers the history of embroidery reform led by female innovators who aimed at reclaiming the control over the entire process of embroidery from underdrawing to stitching. This reform took place in the context of adopting Western aesthetics and building Western market, reflecting Chinese perception of modernity in textile industry. Discussing another form of modernity in the next chapter, I focus on cross-stitch, the Western introduced technique supported by China’s cheap labor and exported to American market. Pattern books played a central role in the popularity of cross-stitch among young girls. My last chapter continues to investigate paper as medium delivering sophisticated painting knowledge, but in a different form – papercuts as stencils, which spread embroidery to uneducated peasant women

    PLA Logistics and Sustainment: PLA Conference 2022

    Get PDF
    The US Army War College People’s Liberation Army Conference (PLA) Conference was held March 31 to April 2, 2022, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The conference focused on PLA logistics and sustainment. As the PLA continues to build and modernize its combat forces, it is important to examine if the capabilities meant to support combat operations are also being developed. Specific topics included: 1) China’s national-level logistics, including how China mobilizes national resources for the military and how it provides joint logistics support to the PLA Theater Commands; 2) the logistics capabilities of the different PLA services, especially the Army, Navy, and Air Forces; 3) PLA logistics in China’s remote regions, such as airpower projection in the Western Theater Command along the Indian border; and, 4) the PLA’s ability to sustain overseas operations at its base in Djibouti. Despite notable potential shortfalls and points of friction, the PLA has successfully sustained counterpiracy maritime operations for many years and conducted noncombatant evacuation operations well-distant from China. It is increasingly able to move forces across the vast distances of China and conduct large training exercises. Far more must be known about PLA sustainment and logistics before the hard questions about PLA operational reach and endurance can be answered.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1954/thumbnail.jp
    corecore