Constituting selves: Augustine, Sartre, and the role of religion in structuring the relationship between self and other

It is commonly held that Augustine’s Confessions provides an early source for the modern “turn to the self.” But as many critics of modernity note, along with this accentuated sense of self has come a decreased sensitivity to the value and significance of the other. Perhaps the thinker credited (or blamed) for being the source of the modern notion of the self can also be a source for the postmodern retrieval of the other. This dissertation examines the understandings of the self presented in Augustine’s Confessions and Sartre’s Being and Nothingness to highlight and challenge structures latent in standard modern conceptions of the self derived from these very works. Despite their many similarities, these models differ fundamentally due to the fact that one arises from within an ideology of radical autonomy and freedom while the other arises from within an ideology of radical heteronomy and givenness. Sartre rejects givenness and leaves us with a system which asserts that the human self “is a useless passion,” and “Hell is other people;” Augustine assumes givenness and presents a model in which a fully-integrated self is possible only in becoming inseparably bound to the other. By examining how their contrasting ideologies contribute to constituting the stark difference in their conclusions about the similar selves they detail, I explore how structures of a religiously constituted self can preserve the possibility for communion in human relationships that are precluded by a worldview based on an atomistic and autonomous self as exemplified by Sartre. Closely examining the ways in which the self is experienced, expressed, and actualized in these two works, I highlight the fact that their opposing modes of engaging alterity are in fact entailed by their respective religious and modernist orientations. In exploring the role of religion in holding open possibilities for integration and communion between self and other, this work contributes to the contemporary conversation about the “turn to religion” as being a potentially productive response to the failure of modern and even postmodern notions of self to secure a basis for meaningful human experience

PERFORMING EMBODIMENT: IMPROVISATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE INTERSECTIONS OF ECOLOGY AND DISABILITY

Performing Embodiment: Improvisational Investigations into the Intersections of Ecology and Disability is a practice-based doctoral study employing an extensive series of site-specific/sensitive improvisations to simultaneously engage with, challenge, problematize, confound, interject, overlap, expand, decolonize and/or displace understandings of embodiment as they relate to the imbrication of disability and ecology in the age of climate change. Premised on the belief that ‘improvisation’, ‘disability’ and ‘ecology’ are lenses that demand moment-to-moment responsiveness, adaptability, and collaborative engagement, the tiers of this thesis are teased out through a series of sixteen out/indoor performances-into-poetic-performative writings and ekphrastic responses in a variety of locations specifically chosen for the author in Canada, the USA and the UK. The study examines the transdisciplinary implications of engaging (auto)ethnographicallyin the exploration of the intersections of Performance, Ecology and Disability Studies in/for our current age in relation to understanding and establishing ethical practices. It explores the experiential relationship between the experience of (per)forming an ‘ecological’ and ‘disabled’ identity. The project engages a heuristic improvisational approach, generating through practice further questions. In particular, two pertinent areas of inquiry thus became foci within the study. The first examines whether the performance of ecological and disabled identities is dependent on the presence of the human. This is followed by whether we should consider ourselves performing notions of ‘ecological selves’ or are we, as ‘selves’ being performed by ecology and, concomitantly, are we performing and/or being performed by a self-disabling ecology? The exegesis is at once theoretical, conceptual, poetic, performative and ontologically artistic. Structural/cultural performance dualisms are contended with, none the least of which are: positionalities of audience/performer, (shared) documentation, subjectivity/objectivity, beginnings/endings and site-specificity/trans-location as they emerge through the improvisatory process. The study recognizes and values the humble, intimate nature of the unpretentious undertakings that were had. It addresses the reconciliation between engaging small acts as a way to actively engage with matters of global concern. The interdisciplinary and intersectional study reveals an engagement with, and understanding of, ‘embodiment’ as an innate capacity of/for semi-permeable trans-corporeality: personally/globally

Queer Feeling: Affective Bonds, Intimate Possibilities

Taking a broad and shifting definition of intimacy, this dissertation looks to queer and/or unexpected forms of intimacy that have taken hold of the public imaginary through contemporary popular cultureprofessional cuddling, feminist pornography, interspecies friendships, and object-oriented sexualities. By analyzing representations of these intimate connections that are found in online public cultures and in responsive forms of queer and feminist art, this project offers a way to rethink our approach to intimate knowledge formation, including challenging dominant structures of relation, kinship, and affection. Through grounded sites of intimate encounter, this project suggests that critically valuing unexpected or dissenting moments of affective connection is fundamental in resisting oppressive and restrictive social orders, including intensified neoliberalisms, ongoing colonial and imperial state projects, and renewed heteronormativities and homonormativities. Methodologically, this work blends scholarly writing with personal narrative and practice-based research methods in a proposal of practice-based affective research: a hybrid methodology which accounts for the ongoingness of affect-based research and values the personal sparks that guide ones objects of study. Located at the crossroads of cultural studies, digital humanities, queer theory, and affect theory, this research aims to diversify the scope of what we understand to be intimate knowledge by augmenting marginalized knowledges, re-imagining intimate futures, and broadening possibilities for living lives in resistance to the status quo

Send in the clowns : scoping non-representational theory as ally and method to foster inclusiveness in digital Iinnovation

Send in the clowns is the account of a post-disciplinary, critical, creative practise that over the course of 6 years explored the subject of ‘digital innovation’ and ‘innovating in the digital’. The digital in this context is interpreted in the widest possible sense and includes any instance where cybertechnology relates to/with humans. This framing has put forward my proposed concept of the digiscape; a phenomenological interpretation of cyber-technology. In 3 distinct interventions (Ch.3,4,5) I have appropriated literatures on inventive methods, sustainable design and diffraction for my thinking. Through the lessons learned from each intervention I have constructed my own interpretation of non-representational theory and methods. I make the case that these can be a fertile ground for emancipatory politics concerning research and development in/on the digital. Seeking to test my claim that such approaches can be deemed valuable to practising innovators, I have submitted my hypothesis together with a non-representational experiment (‘Lickable Cities’) to CHI 2018 [a] (the pre-eminent journal in the field of Human-ComputerInteraction). The submission was accepted. Ch.6 discusses the implications of this on the scholarship of non-representational-theory and philosophy. Thus my conclusion is that non-representational approaches are indeed of value to innovators as a means to catalyse a type of awareness(es) that makes otherwise inutterable questions possible. I am claiming that through fostering alliances across methods, traditions, disciplines, writing styles, ethnicities, media and epistemologies - with the help of non-representational theory - more inclusive research is enabled and method itself can be invigorated (Ch.7). As my work is concerned with knowing about knowing, and knowing about ways of knowing, my work is firmly placed within Science and Technology Studies (STS) and is written for an STS audience

Send in the Clowns: Scoping Non-Representational Theory as Ally and Method to Foster Inclusiveness in Digital Innovation

Send in the clowns is the account of a post-disciplinary, critical, creative practise that over the course of 6 years explored the subject of ‘digital innovation’ and ‘innovating in the digital’. The digital in this context is interpreted in the widest possible sense and includes any instance where cybertechnology relates to/with humans. This framing has put forward my proposed concept of the digiscape; a phenomenological interpretation of cyber-technology. In 3 distinct interventions (Ch.3,4,5) I have appropriated literatures on inventive methods, sustainable design and diffraction for my thinking. Through the lessons learned from each intervention I have constructed my own interpretation of non-representational theory and methods. I make the case that these can be a fertile ground for emancipatory politics concerning research and development in/on the digital. Seeking to test my claim that such approaches can be deemed valuable to practising innovators, I have submitted my hypothesis together with a non-representational experiment (‘Lickable Cities’) to CHI 2018 [a] (the pre-eminent journal in the field of Human-ComputerInteraction). The submission was accepted. Ch.6 discusses the implications of this on the scholarship of non-representational-theory and philosophy. Thus myconclusion is that non-representational approaches are indeed of value to innovators as a means to catalyse a type of awareness(es) that makes otherwise inutterable questions possible. I am claiming that through fostering alliances across methods, traditions, disciplines, writing styles, ethnicities, media and epistemologies- with the help of non-representational theory- more inclusive research is enabled and method itself can be invigorated (Ch.7). As mywork is concerned with knowing about knowing, and knowing about ways of knowing, myworkis firmly placed within Science and Technology Studies (STS) and is written for an STS audience. [a]The ‘ACM’ Conference on ‘Human Factors in Computing Systems’, the principal venue for research in the f ield of ’Human-Computer Interaction’ (HCI

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

The Case for Case Studies

This volume demonstrates how to conduct case study research that is both methodologically rigorous and useful to development policy. It will interest scholars and students across the social sciences using case studies, and provide constructive guidance to practitioners in development and public administration