1,477 research outputs found

    Ethnographies of Collaborative Economies across Europe: Understanding Sharing and Caring

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    "Sharing economy" and "collaborative economy" refer to a proliferation of initiatives, business models, digital platforms and forms of work that characterise contemporary life: from community-led initiatives and activist campaigns, to the impact of global sharing platforms in contexts such as network hospitality, transportation, etc. Sharing the common lens of ethnographic methods, this book presents in-depth examinations of collaborative economy phenomena. The book combines qualitative research and ethnographic methodology with a range of different collaborative economy case studies and topics across Europe. It uniquely offers a truly interdisciplinary approach. It emerges from a unique, long-term, multinational, cross-European collaboration between researchers from various disciplines (e.g., sociology, anthropology, geography, business studies, law, computing, information systems), career stages, and epistemological backgrounds, brought together by a shared research interest in the collaborative economy. This book is a further contribution to the in-depth qualitative understanding of the complexities of the collaborative economy phenomenon. These rich accounts contribute to the painting of a complex landscape that spans several countries and regions, and diverse political, cultural, and organisational backdrops. This book also offers important reflections on the role of ethnographic researchers, and on their stance and outlook, that are of paramount interest across the disciplines involved in collaborative economy research

    The Iranian-Saudi Rivalry: Prolonging the War in Yemen. External Actors, Securitisation, Sectarianisation, and Digital Media.

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    Despite the scale of the conflict in Yemen and the influence of external actors, few studies to date have analysed the nature, impact, and scope of their media campaigns surrounding the war. Across digital media, especially on online news platforms and social media, Iran and Saudi Arabia have exhibited a range of behaviours, in attempts to frame their involvement in the conflict. Thus, this thesis addresses the following research question: How have Saudi Arabia and Iran used digital propaganda to legitimise and frame their involvement in Yemen to international audiences? This is the first study to examine the impact of these two competing propaganda networks on the Yemen War. In doing so, it traces Iranian and Saudi securitisation narratives across the conflict, testing their success in gaining the support of elite and non-elite actors in the international arena. It also shows the ways in which these narratives have aided Iran and Saudi Arabia in their struggle for supremacy in the region. The thesis develops an innovative approach to securitisation theory. It also incorporates critical discourse analysis and visual analysis to explore how Tehran and Riyadh have used digital media as part of their regional competition. Using evidence from the most intense periods of fighting in Yemen and tension between the two actors between 2015 and 2021, the thesis show that Saudi Arabia successfully securitised their intervention in Yemen. Ironically, however, this worked to benefit Tehran far more than it did Riyadh. Several episodes of significance for the Saudi-Iranian relationship, and for the war in Yemen, are analysed, including: Operation Decisive Storm in 2015, The Riyadh Conference in 2017, instances of prominent Saudi airstrikes in 2017-18, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and the Houthi ‘Operation Victory from God’ in 2019. Through discursive and visual analysis, the thesis explores the ways in which the representation of these events had an impact on framing the conflict, to the detriment of the people of Yemen. Securitisation narratives, dispersed across the Internet, regularly had a sectarian tone. These narratives fanned the flames of war, preventing any room for a meaningful prospect for peace. They also exacerbated the humanitarian situation, a dynamic properly detailed in the thesis’ conclusion. Such narratives created a deeply polarising environment, in which extraordinary measures were justified. Through visual analysis, critical discourse tracing, and analysis of dynamics specific to the world of digital media, this thesis traces this process, providing a holistic analysis of the impact of the Iranian-Saudi rivalry on the war in Yemen. The thesis offers new methodological, theoretical, and empirical insights, emphasizing the importance of digital narrative warfare as a worthwhile and insightful field of study

    Algorithmes et accords restrictifs de concurrence : risques et caractérisation

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    Metaverse. Old urban issues in new virtual cities

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    Recent years have seen the arise of some early attempts to build virtual cities, utopias or affective dystopias in an embodied Internet, which in some respects appear to be the ultimate expression of the neoliberal city paradigma (even if virtual). Although there is an extensive disciplinary literature on the relationship between planning and virtual or augmented reality linked mainly to the gaming industry, this often avoids design and value issues. The observation of some of these early experiences - Decentraland, Minecraft, Liberland Metaverse, to name a few - poses important questions and problems that are gradually becoming inescapable for designers and urban planners, and allows us to make some partial considerations on the risks and potentialities of these early virtual cities

    South Carolina Weatherization Assistance Program policy and procedures manual

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    This document is intended to serve as a reference for the proper procedures, policies, and processes of the South Carolina State Weatherization Assistance Program

    Political Advertising in Virtual Reality

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    This Article is about how biometric data collected through VR technologies will greatly exacerbate existing problems with political ad microtargeting. Commercially available VR devices can—and in some cases, must—be integrated with sensors that track users’ eyes, faces, hands, and bodies. Political campaigns will be able to leverage this data to target ads with extraordinary precision. Indeed, targeting ads with biometric data may well be the next step in the evolution of microtargeted political messaging—a practice that has contributed to a rise in disinformation, filter-bubbles, and privacy invasions. If this sounds like science fiction, it is closer than you may think. Ad platforms have a tremendous financial incentive to improve the accuracy of their predictions about user preferences; consumer researchers already use biometric monitoring to test advertisements; campaigns have long incorporated data about voters to shape messaging; and candidates are already experimenting with VR and related technologies. Nonetheless, a formidable obstacle awaits policymakers who try to curb this ad-targeting practice: The Supreme Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence. After examining the ad-targeting practices described above, this Article warns that current Speech Clause doctrine will cast doubt upon laws that limit political ad microtargeting. As a result, policymakers must take extraordinary care in designing such laws, and reformers must pursue private-sector solutions as well

    ‘Conclusion: Youth aspirations, trajectories, and farming futures

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    This book commenced with a question of global importance: in a world in which farming populations are ageing, who is going to provide the planet’s peoples with the “sufficient, safe and nutritious food” that is needed to meet the “dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2006)? In other words, where are the people who are needed to generationally renew farming? As explained in the introduction, addressing this question meant going against the grain of much research on youth and agriculture. Rather than seeking to understand youth’s apparent disinterest in farming and their exodus from the countryside, the research teams focused on those youth and young adults who stayed in, returned, or relocated to rural areas and were involved in farming (often alongside various other economic activities). Thereby, the case studies presented in this book have put in the spotlight the next generation of farmers. In this concluding chapter, we draw out some important issues emerging from across the chapters and reflect on key differences. This way, we reiterate the various pathways of becoming a farmer, the main challenges experienced by these young farming women and men, and the roles that policies and organizations could play in facilitating the process of becoming a farmer

    Co-designing Collaborative Care Work through Ethnography

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