Flickering cities: multimedia city fabrics and the changing nature of citizenship

How do the multiple media in cities today cause us to rethink the constructions and locations of our artifacts and their effects on us? In this dissertation, I argue that city artifacts, and by extension cities themselves, exist as multiple iterations scattered across the whole range of the media spectrum. The new persuasive potential of these iterations in their different media necessitate a turn to “post-urban” city fabrics, and these new fabrics are expansion and re-expression of the urban in unexpected media. Therefore, we must work to acknowledge and take advantage of the ways cities “flicker” as their artifacts are repeated across the various languages, contexts, communities, and media that make up cities today. Chapter 1: Exploded Artifacts examines a piece of graffiti that appeared in Detroit by the street artist Banksy. The different iterations of this artifact are distributed across different media spaces and seem to demonstrate a sense of diffusion about the city that gets drawn back together when we examine how these iterations affect one another. Chapter 2: Collapsed Artifacts takes up Photosynth, a tool for digitally stitching together photographs and producing 3D models that viewers can walk-through and annotate. Once the model is created, individual experiences and media seem to get “collapsed” into what appears to be a “complete” artifact that needs to be pulled apart to have its separate iterations, and their affordances, exposed. Chapter 3: On-Demand Artifacts explores 3D printing technology, which uses an additive layering process to create 3D objects from computer models. The potential for perfection with 3D printing further exacerbates the strained relationship between media and mobility in cities, and iterations of this artifact expose the necessity for deep reflection that is demanded from its users. The Conclusion, Flickering Citizenships, examines how our understanding of citizenship has adapted to the multiple and iterative nature of our cities such that today citizenship itself is also iterative. The artifacts with which we choose to engage persuade, challenge, and inspire us, and as such they determine the expectations and limitations of our civic action

Liveability analysis of gated and non-gated low middle income communities in kuala lumpur, Malaysia

The aim of this paper is to examine the liveability conditions in gated and non-gated low middle income communities in Kuala Lumpur where rapid urban growth has led to many disruptions in the urban living environment. Hence, a livability framework was developed with dimensions from housing condition, economic condition, functional environment, social relations and community safety towards achieving the research objectives of – a) to study the liveability level in gated and non-gated communities, b) to compare the level of liveability between gated and non-gated communities, and c) to determine the dimensions and indicators which influence the level of liveability in both communities. Residents’ views were collected through a questionnaire survey which consisted of twenty-four indicators of liveability belonging to five dimensions from three communities in Kuala Lumpur. Two communities belong to non-gated and one community had gated living status. The findings of the research revealed that gated community has a better living conditions compared to the non-gated community. Thus, this research can be used as a turning point to improve the living environment of both gated and non-gated communit

Teaching the conflicts

PhD ThesisI read Neal Town Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle to interrogate what types of links they make to US countercultural writing, postmodern discourse in American culture, and perceived uninterrogated links to the term America itself in images of modern progressive liberalism. Postmodernist readings of literary texts came under increasing public scrutiny in intellectual debates of the 80s and 90s. My analysis is to situate and reconsider these fictions within debates happening in the North American academy at this time and the more recent one concerning the demise of poststructuralism in the humanities. Linking together works of Sean McCann, Michael Szalay, John Guillory and Mark McGurl I locate Cryptonomicon as constitutive of the postwar drift from the modernist aesthetic yet simultaneously developing within Sacvan Bercovitch’s model of dissensus. Through reference to McGurl’s work in particular, my thesis will offer the first sustained critical reading of Cryptonomicon relevant to the University’s new teaching standards of diversity and research excellence. Through Lauren Berlant’s concept of an intimate public I argue The Baroque Cycle develops a richly aesthetic form of criticism that challenges the consensus view of culturally affirming alternatives to American sociopolitical and economic life. In addition, each chapter charts specific aspects of the impact of European critical theories that presided over the marriage of intellectualism and professionalism in the North American academy. More specifically, and throwing particular focus on resistances to theory and canon change, I discuss how the politics of the classroom developed within the literary culture wars brought with it a renewed emphasis on what postwar professors taught in the classroom

Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2021

This open access book is the proceedings of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT)’s 28th Annual International eTourism Conference, which assembles the latest research presented at the ENTER21@yourplace virtual conference January 19–22, 2021. This book advances the current knowledge base of information and communication technologies and tourism in the areas of social media and sharing economy, technology including AI-driven technologies, research related to destination management and innovations, COVID-19 repercussions, and others. Readers will find a wealth of state-of-the-art insights, ideas, and case studies on how information and communication technologies can be applied in travel and tourism as we encounter new opportunities and challenges in an unpredictable world

Labour in a Single Shot

This collection of essays offers a critical assessment of Labour in a Single Shot, a groundbreaking documentary video workshop. From 2011 to 2014, curator Antje Ehmann and film- and videomaker Harun Farocki produced an art project of truly global proportions. They travelled to fifteen cities around the world to conduct workshops inspired by cinema history’s first film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, shot in 1895 by the Lumière brothers in France. While the workshop videos are in colour and the camera was not required to remain static, Ehmann and Farocki’s students were tasked with honouring the original Lumière film’s basic parameters of theme and style. The fascinating result is a collection of more than 550 short videos that have appeared in international exhibitions and on an open-access website, offering the widest possible audience the opportunity to ponder contemporary labour in multiple contexts around the world

Three social science disciplines in Central and Eastern Europe: handbook on economics, political science and sociology (1989-2001)

Content: Ulrike Becker, Max Kaase, Gabor Klaniczay, and Vera Sparschuh: Social Sciences in Central and Eastern Europe on the Verge of EU Enlargement (7-10); Andrei Plesu: Financing Difference. Fostering the Social Sciences in the Field of Tension Between Homogenization and Differentiation (12-16); Elemer Henkiss: Brilliant Ideas or Brilliant Errors? (17-24); Janos Matyas Kovacs: Business as (Un)usual (26-33); Mitko Dimitrov: Bulgaria (34-49); Frantisek Turnovec: Czech Republic (50-64); Tiia Püss: Estonia (65-82); Laszlo Csaba: Hungary (83-101); Raita Karnite: Latvia (102-120); Linas Cekanavicius: Lithuania (121-134); Tadeusz Kowalik: Poland (135-151); Paul Dragos Aligica: Romania (152-167); Julius Horvath: Slovakia (168-186); Joze Mencinger: Slovenia (187-194); Hans-Jürgen Wagener: Demand and Supply of Economic Knowledge in Transition Countries (195-203); Hans-Dieter Klingemann: Political Science in Central and Eastern Europe: National Development and International Integration (206-212); Georgi Karasimeonov: Bulgaria (213-225); Jan Holzer and Pavel Pseja: Czech Republic (226-245); Raivo Vetik: Estonia (246-257); Mate Szabo: Hungary (258-274); Andris Runcis: Latvia (275-285); Algis Krupavicius: Lithuania (286-305); Stanislaw Gebethner and Radoslaw Markowski: Poland (306-321); Daniel Barbu: Romania (322-342); Darina Malova and Silvia Mihalikova: Slovakia (343-357); Danica Fink-Hafner: Slovenia (358-374); Pal Tamas: Followers or Activists? Social Scientists in the Reality Shows of Transformation (376-385); Nikolai Genov: Bulgaria (386-404); Michal Illner: Czech Republic (405-424); Mikk Titma: Estonia (425-436); Denes Nemedi and Peter Robert: Hungary (437-451); Aivars Tabuns: Latvia (452-466); Anele Vosyliute: Lithuania (467-483); Janusz Mucha and Pawel Zalecki: Poland (484-501); Maria Larionescu: Romania (502-517); Zuzana Kusa, Bohumil Buzik, Ludovit Turcan and Robert Klobucky: Slovakia (518-535); Frane Adam and Matej Makarovic: Slovenia (536-547); Piotr Sztompka: The Condition of Sociology in East-Central Europe (548-556); Mihaly Sarkany: Cultural and Social Anthropology in Central and Eastern Europe (558-566); Thomas Kucera and Olga Kucerova: Population science in Central and Eastern Europe: Implications for Research and Practice (567-577); Marie-Claude Maurel: Central European Geography and the Post-Socialist Transformation. A Western Point of View (578-587); Grazyna Skapska: Law and Society in a Natural Laboratory: the Case of Poland in the Broader Context of East-Central Europe (588-603)

Cybernationalism and cyberactivism in China

El nacionalismo en la era de Internet se está convirtiendo cada vez más en un factor esencial que influye en la agenda-setting de la sociedad china, así como en las relaciones de China con los países extranjeros, especialmente con Occidente. Para China, una mejor comprensión de la estructura teórica universal y de los patrones de comportamiento del nacionalismo facilitaría la articulación social general de esta tendencia y potenciaría su papel positivo en la agenda-setting social. Por otra parte, un estudio del cibernacionalismo chino basado en una perspectiva china en el mundo académico occidental es un intento de transculturación. Desde el punto de vista de las relaciones internacionales y la geopolítica actuales, que son bastante urgentes, este intento ayudaría a mejorar la compatibilidad de China con el actual orden mundial dominado por Occidente, a reducir la desinformación entre China y otros países y a sentar las bases culturales e ideológicas para otras colaboraciones internacionales. Teniendo en cuenta el estado actual de la investigación sobre el nacionalismo chino y la naturaleza participativa de las masas del cibernacionalismo, esta disertación se centra en el cibernacionalismo en las tres partes siguientes. El primero es un estudio de los orígenes históricos del cibernacionalismo chino. Esta sección incluye tanto una exploración del consenso social en la antigua China como un estudio de la influencia del nacionalismo en la historia china moderna. El estudio de los orígenes históricos no sólo nos muestra la secuencia cronológica de la experiencia del desarrollo y la evolución tanto del proto-nacionalismo como del nacionalismo en China, sino que también revela un impulso decisivo para las reivindicaciones y comportamientos actuales del cibernacionalismo. La segunda parte trata del proceso de formación y ascenso del cibernacionalismo desde el siglo XXI. El importante antecedente del paso del nacionalismo al cibernacionalismo es el proceso de informatización de la sociedad china. Una vez completado el estudio de la situación básica de la sociedad china de Internet, especialmente el estudio de los medios sociales como espacio público, podemos vincular Internet con el nacionalismo y examinar el nuevo desarrollo del nacionalismo en la era de la participación de masas. El objetivo final es conectar el proto-nacionalismo, el nacionalismo y el cibernacionalismo, y seguir construyendo una comprensión del cibernacionalismo que sea coherente tanto con los principios universales del nacionalismo como con el contexto chino. Por último, validamos los resultados derivados del estudio anterior a través de la realidad social, es decir, estudiando las prácticas de ciberactivismo del cibernacionalismo para juzgar su suficiencia general así como su validez. Llevaremos a cabo varios estudios de caso de natural language processing basados en big data para reproducir la lógica de comportamiento y el impacto real del ciberactivismo de la manera más cercana posible a la realidad de Internet, evitando al mismo tiempo los defectos de argumentación unilateral y de infrarrepresentación de los estudios de caso tradicionales.Nationalism in the Internet age is increasingly becoming an essential factor influencing agendasetting within Chinese society, as well as China’s relations with foreign countries, especially the West. For China, a better understanding of the universal theoretical structure and behavioral patterns of nationalism would facilitate the overall social articulation of this trend and enhance its positive role in social agenda setting. On the other hand, a study of Chinese cybernationalism based on a Chinese perspective in western academia is an attempt at transculturation. From the viewpoint of the current rather urgent international relations and geopolitics, such an attempt would help to enhance China’s compatibility with the current western-dominated world order, reduce misinformation between China and other countries, and lay the cultural and ideological groundwork for various other international collaborations. Considering the current state of Chinese nationalism research and the mass participatory nature of cybernationalism, this dissertation focuses on cybernationalism in the following three parts. The first is a study of the historical origins of Chinese cybernationalism. This section includes both an exploration of the social consensus in ancient China and a survey of the influence of nationalism in modern Chinese history. The historical origins study not only shows us the chronological sequence of experiencing the development and evolution of both proto-nationalism and nationalism in China, but also reveals a decisive impetus for the current claims and behaviors of cybernationalism. The second part deals with the process of formation and rise of cybernationalism since the 21st century. The important background for the move from nationalism to cybernationalism is the informatization process of Chinese society. After we have completed the study of the basic situation of Chinese Internet society, especially the study of social media as a public space, we can link the Internet with nationalism and examine the new development of nationalism in the era of mass participation. The ultimate goal is to connect the proto-nationalism, nationalism, cybernationalism, and furtherly construct an understanding of cybernationalism that is consistent with both the universal principles of nationalism and the Chinese context. Finally, we validate the results derived from the previous study through social reality, i.e., by studying the cyberactivism practices of cybernationalism to judge its general sufficiency as well as validity. We will conduct several natural language processing case studies based on big data to reproduce the behavioral logic and actual impact of cyberactivism in the closest possible way to the Internet reality while avoiding the unilateral argumentation and under-representation flaws of traditional case studies