Towards an ethics for digital media : challenges between the private and the public ; what, after all, are we doing with words?

Notre problématique centrale concerne le défi éthico-discursif d’une communication qui soit appropriée aux sociétés démocratiques, sur la base de la distinction entre argumentation légitime (persuasion/appropriation) et manipulation (abus/violence). Dans un monde compris comme « globalisé », un tel défi rencontre le problème cognitiviste de traiter les dichotomies entre universel/contextuel, objectif/subjective, public/privé (etc.) dans notre vivre-ensemble, lequel se trouve maintenant largement médiatisé par les technologies numériques. Il faut noter également que tout ce qui vaut pour des actions, en général, vaut également pour la discussion en tant qu’action fondamentale et constitutive des sociétés humaines, où les interlocuteurs sont supposés s’exprimer ouvertement, ainsi que tenir bien compte de leurs points de vue réciproques afin d’arriver, d’une façon simultanément raisonnable et critique, à un accord en suivant une discussion critique (Habermas 1992). La communication légitime aurait ce pouvoir, malgré le défi du « paradoxe de l’argumentation » tel que souligné par Philippe Breton (2008), de dépasser les points de vue individuels des interlocuteurs, afin d’arriver à un résultat partagé qui consisterait en une intégration dans un tout universalisable (consensus – Apel 1994). (Ex.: la constitution d’un pays, les lois internationales comme la Carte des Droits Fondamentaux de l’Homme et qui sait, par la suite, une Magna Carta pour l’Internet.) Ces éléments, posés dans la première partie du texte, viennent nous préparer pour la seconde partie, consacrée à une éthique pour les médias numériques. Notre objectif est donc de lier une préoccupation d’éthique et de philosophie politique, incluant une préoccupation centrale pour l’argumentation, avec celle de la question des mécanismes dont nous disposons, ou devrions disposer, sur la question complexe et difficile de ce qu’on peut appeler l’éthique de la protection de la vie privée de la personne sur internet. Les premiers points sont traités dans la partie A, pour en venir à l’éthique des médias numériques dans la partie B. Conclusions : Le paradigme proposé par l’éthique discursive offre une approche possible de la communication afin de la comprendre de façon moins réductionniste (c.-à-d., plus holistique), ce qui est mieux approprié à un monde qui se comprend de plus en plus comme « globalisé ». La synthèse du modèle triadique « composé », selon Peirce-Mead-Grize-Breton, se présente comme un outil éclairant pour cette prise en compte, dans la mesure où elle fournir un cadre interprétatif et critique. Selon ce cadre théorique on analyse les régulations au Canada et au Brésil, en utilisant le model triangulaire adapté du triangle argumentatif de Breton. Une Magna Carta « universalisable » pour l’Internet devient une piste envisagée, en soulignant ces trois principes centraux: - neutralité de la toile; - protection de la liberté d’expression; - protection des données personnelles, liée au droit de la vie privée (« privacy »).Abstract : We confront the tension between legitimacy vs. manipulation in persuasive discourse: the old tricky aporia of argumentation, dating back to the ancient Greeks when they first founded democracy. This has been more recently highlighted by Philippe Breton (2008) as the subtle “paradox of argumentation,” which concerns the dynamics of human language as a valuable hermeneutical enterprise, one susceptible to (mis) interpretations as well as to phenomena of critical dissent and controversies. Our main questions subsequently turn around the central concern of how we may promote democratic participation and discussion, in the era of the Internet, in ways that can work to motivate the improvement of our inter-subjective communicative performances in healthy and legitimate manners, instead of facilitating corruption via blunt censorship or other manipulative tricks. As we consider dialogue and argumentation to be the most crucial traits of the democratic enterprise, we also discuss the role played by American pragmatism to the nourishment of such democratic ideal. Particularly, we focus on the theoretical approaches proposed by Peirce and Mead concerning autonomy and reflexivity, not without mentioning its champion on education, John Dewey, whose works have all been preoccupied with the maintenance and development of the main axes for good functioning democratic societies, namely: education, science, and communication. To better reflect about this, we integrate into Breton’s triangle a Peirce-Mead semiotic “triadic” approach that supports autonomy, so as to propose a compounded model that is able to both encompass the rich possibilities of communication and, on the other hand, delimit as much as possible the range of interactive dialogism, peculiar to human language, so as to foster ethical (legitimate) exchanges. All these elements considered in Part A prepare the terrain for the subsequent considerations developed in Part B, regarding an ethics for digital media. Conclusions: • The paradigm proposed by Discourse Ethics, under the light of a semiotic approach on autonomy, reflexivity and the self, is suggested as a reliable theoretical framework of departure. • This has led us to a compounded ‘triadic’ model that incorporates the most relevant aspects from the views of Peirce, Mead, Grize and Breton. • Then, in Part B, concerning the challenges brought by Digital Media to contemporary societies, we conclude that the more of one’s privacy an individual is required to relinquish for governments and/or companies (no matter the reasons involved), the more transparency by those handling one’s sensitive information should be required to be provided, in return. • All this in order to prevent manipulation and abuses of power as much as possible, so as to keep a balanced ‘communicative triangle’ among interlocutors (according to the proposed triangular model), essential for democracies to be maintained and thrive, so as to rend possible the adoption of a Magna Carta for the Internet that would be globally acceptable and focused on the three main principles of: - net neutrality; - freedom of expression; - privacy protection

CITIZENS, FOREIGNERS, OR GERMANS? THE STATE AND PERSONS OF IMMIGRANT BACKGROUND IN THE MAKING OF MEMBERSHIP IN GERMANY SINCE 1990

This dissertation examines citizenship and nationness in contemporary Germany. It argues that citizenship and nationness represent two forms of membership which are constituted at the level of state and at the level of prospective citizens. At the level of the state, it considers changes in German citizenship policies in 1990, 1992, and 2000. At the level of prospective citizens, it examines forty-seven persons of immigrant background and their understandings of German citizenship and their own nationness. Though not the same, citizenship and nationness may be related in various ways. Previous scholarship shows that nationness has been a key category and criterion for who may become a citizen at the level of state, as expressed in citizenship policies. Similarly, the self-understandings of individuals as members of the nation may inform their decision to become citizens. Equally, their citizenship status may inform their sense of their own nationness. Finally, understandings of citizenship and nationness which are institutionalized in the state may inform the understandings of persons of immigrant background. Beginning in 1990, citizenship policies became increasingly more liberalized and accessible to persons of immigrant background without German descent. This dissertation shows that these changes after 1990 are explained by understandings of nationness, as expressed in narratives of political parties about immigrants and foreigners, Germany and the nation, and citizenship as an institution. Contrary to scholarship emphasizing nationally-specific traditions of citizenship, as well as shifts towards liberalizing access to citizenship, this dissertation shows that understandings of nationness differ mainly by political parties. The self-understandings of persons of immigrant background reflect some, but not all, of the changes at the level of the state. In particular, most persons of immigrant background see themselves as German and as belonging in everyday life in Germany. However, their citizenship status is largely independent of their sense of national belonging. This suggests that national belonging and citizenship are largely disconnected for ordinary people. In addition, the disconnect between nationness and citizenship is more pronounced for persons who are citizens, indicating that they view their membership as citizens should be met with a sense of national membership

Assessing the Cyborg Center: Assemblage-Based, Feminist Frameworks Toward Socially Just Writing Center Assessments

This dissertation will broaden the purview of recent scholarship pertaining to socially just writing assessments by making connections among assemblage theory and materialism, studies of ecological and anti-racist assessments, and studies of writing center work, to ground theoretical conversations in everyday practices. Focusing on systemic oppression in the neoliberal university and consciously using assemblage theory as a mechanism for confronting multiliteracies allows writing center directors to see the constant movement and reshaping of students’ knowledges as they approach different environments, different courses, and different genres. Notions of intra-relatedness and intertwinings evident in assemblage theory are essential to this dissertation’s consideration of pedagogy and administration. Expanding upon research on ecological and anti-racist assessment practices, I argue that it is vitally important for writing program administrators and writing center directors to bring complex views of literacies and identities to their assessment protocols. I further argue that this practice can be aided by frameworks based in assemblage theory. Using archival research and critical discourse analysis, this project explores one WC’s history and current practices in a large public, urban university system as a case study. Acknowledging the burden of negotiating hurdles set up by corporatized university structures, this dissertation examines the ways institutional pressures can shape assessments, and makes suggestions for new, socially just approaches relying on assemblage theory that follow current trends in writing assessment

A complex systems perspective on innovation, investment and regulation of evolving telecommunications networks

This thesis is a Doctoral Thesis of the International Executive Doctorate Programme (DBA) at the School of Management, Cranfield University, UK. The purpose of the study is to present the results of the research dedicated to the topic of Infrastructure Sharing, a common method to make use of the limited infrastructure resources of many stakeholders. The research aims to develop a decision support tool for a National Regulating Authority (NRA) on the basis of a software simulation representing infrastructure in use as complex systems consisting of agent and infrastructure networks. By applying a computational Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) approach to policy decisions, i.e. influence of Duct and Pole Access (DPA) to incumbent telecommunication infrastructures, the research investigates regulatory considerations that stimulate the development of alternative networks. The final deliverable of the research is a simulation tool that provides a solid foundation for simulating experiments, which allows analysis of demand for broadband services by different subgroups of users. The results of the study are of value for regulators, practitioners, representatives of telecommunication and other network industries, and scholars who deal with the topic of sustainable infrastructure development and recognise the value of a complex system perspective

"Truth" and Fiction: Conspiracy Theories in Eastern European Culture and Literature

Several of the most prolific and influential conspiracy theories have originated in Eastern Europe. The far reaching influence of conspiracy narratives can be observed in recent developments in Poland or with regard to the wars waged in Eastern Ukraine and in former Yugoslavia. This volume analyses the history behind this widespread phenomenon as well the role it has played in Eastern European cultures and literature both past and present

The CISG Convention and Thomas Franck\u27s Theory of Legitimacy

The Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) Convention is one of the most talked-about, and written-about, aspects of international commercial law. Ss time progresses, it may become evident that significant numbers of commercial actors and significant numbers of courts and other adjudicatory bodies are simply choosing not to apply the Convention. In such event, the question as to why there should be such a reluctance to adopt the Convention will present itself. This Article finds helpful perspective on this question in the work of international legal scholar Thomas Franck. Specifically, guidance is drawn from the theory of international legitimacy developed in Professor Franck\u27s 1990 book, The Power of Legitimacy Among Nations, and in his earlier Article, Legitimacy in the International System. Under Franck\u27s theory of legitimacy, each rule of international law exerts a greater or lesser pull to compliance to the extent the rule is characterized by greater or lesser legitimacy. Legitimacy itself is analyzed in terms of four factors: determinacy, symbolic validation, coherence and adherence. In so doing, this Article compares the CISG Convention with certain other international laws and rules governing other types of business transactions. It will show that every one of these other laws and rules has been more successful than the CISG. This Article then illustrates that these laws and rules have significantly more legitimacy, in Professor Franck\u27s sense, than the CISG. While it cannot at this stage be proven that the greater legitimacy of these international legal rules is the cause of their greater success, the inference is sufficiently strong to warrant serious interest. Accordingly, the Article concludes that, in order for the CISG Convention to achieve its maximum range of success, certain adjustments in the manner in which it will be enforced and applied may be appropriate to increase international legitimacy. Repository Citatio

The CISG Convention and Thomas Franck\u27s Theory of Legitimacy

The Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) Convention is one of the most talked-about, and written-about, aspects of international commercial law. Ss time progresses, it may become evident that significant numbers of commercial actors and significant numbers of courts and other adjudicatory bodies are simply choosing not to apply the Convention. In such event, the question as to why there should be such a reluctance to adopt the Convention will present itself. This Article finds helpful perspective on this question in the work of international legal scholar Thomas Franck. Specifically, guidance is drawn from the theory of international legitimacy developed in Professor Franck\u27s 1990 book, The Power of Legitimacy Among Nations, and in his earlier Article, Legitimacy in the International System. Under Franck\u27s theory of legitimacy, each rule of international law exerts a greater or lesser pull to compliance to the extent the rule is characterized by greater or lesser legitimacy. Legitimacy itself is analyzed in terms of four factors: determinacy, symbolic validation, coherence and adherence. In so doing, this Article compares the CISG Convention with certain other international laws and rules governing other types of business transactions. It will show that every one of these other laws and rules has been more successful than the CISG. This Article then illustrates that these laws and rules have significantly more legitimacy, in Professor Franck\u27s sense, than the CISG. While it cannot at this stage be proven that the greater legitimacy of these international legal rules is the cause of their greater success, the inference is sufficiently strong to warrant serious interest. Accordingly, the Article concludes that, in order for the CISG Convention to achieve its maximum range of success, certain adjustments in the manner in which it will be enforced and applied may be appropriate to increase international legitimacy. Repository Citatio