Inside the postdigital crowds: The aesthetics and politics of the mediation and governing of digitised crowds

This practice-led research analyses and explores, through different artistic mediums and processes, the aesthetics and politics of the mediation and governance of crowds in a postdigital era. Through material and physical articulations it addresses the urgency of a phenomenon where the employment of computational tools and mechanisms representing and governing today´s crowds and collective behaviour are becoming increasingly opaque while facing political and ethical dilemmas. The outcomes of this research proposes a new embodied understanding of the agency of the postdigital crowds. The specific inside approach inherent to the present postdigital condition, is articulated throughout the research and embodied within the practice. Using a ‘post-individualistic’ perspective enables this research to think beyond today’s intensified individualism and deploy a collective understanding of these crowds while shedding light on their fragmented and atomised online and physical existence. The key terms and notions of ‘default’ and ‘flow’ are central in the methodological investigative nature of the research. They act as guiding clues exploring the links between the digital operations of crowds and contemporary economic currents and political strategies while establishing a direct correlation between written theory and the embodied and spatial articulations of the practice. A methodological approach which helps to identify the corporal ramifications and instrumental role the employment of these key terms and the digital tools have on the crowd and collective behaviour. The postidigital crowds are analysed through their digital representations, media and technologies, such as crowd simulations for film and computer games (the latter in partnership with the gaming company Ubisoft), as well as multi-target tracking systems. Through embodied experiences, this practice-based research uses multiple mediums in the form of spatial narratives, such as sculptural installations, collages and performance where the organic human body is used as reference and tool of investigation. This unravelling uses a process of re-mediation to physically understand the postdigital conditions in which the crowd operates with the aim to materialise the immaterial from a critical standpoint while making visible the dissimulated articulations and strategies enabled by computational technologies. The data generated from these various methods of approach are synthesised in a series of essay films forming the core of this research. These films propose an associative and critical analysis of how digital governance of the crowds are modelling the politics of future collective behaviour. In a postdigital era with a 24/7 online life and working body, framed within an accelerated economy affecting our collective behaviour and production modes, this practice-led research attempts to contribute an experienced understanding of the aesthetics and politics of the digital governing and modellations of crowds. By using various artistic media and methods this research establishes a multi-faceted and embodied analysis articulated in various spatial and visual outcomes on the conditions and agency of the postdigital crowd subject

Vem styr vem? : Makten över det möjligas gräns i ett gränslöst kontorslandskap.

Denna uppsats bygger på en observationsstudie som undersöker den aktivitetsbaserade kontorsmiljön utifrån hur den fysiska platsen och miljön styr och styrs av de människor och objekt som befinner sig på platsen. Syftet är att bidra till en djupare förståelse för hur makt kan manifesteras genom att handlande möjliggörs, uppmuntras och begränsas i fysiska rum, såväl av objekten som av människorna som befinner sig på platsen. Till skillnad från tidigare studier i fältet, som främst har fokuserat på hur det aktivitetsbaserade arbetssättet påverkat de anställdas hälsa, välmående och motivation, så ämnar denna uppsats att deskriptivt kartlägga den studerade kontorsmiljön och hur interaktionen mellan aktanter på arbetsplatsen ter sig. Detta görs genom att genomföra en deltagande observationsstudie på en arbetsplats med aktivitetsbaserad kontorsmiljö. Genom att utveckla och använda en teoretisk ansats baserad på främst Actor network theory utgångspunkter, Akrich (1992) begrepp script och de Certeaus (1984) begreppspar strategier och taktiker analyserar vi våra observationer på arbetsplatsen i strävan att undersöka hur aktanters handlande styr och styrs av den miljö de är en del av på kontoret. Studiens resultat visar att den aktivitetsbaserade kontorsmiljön i flera avseenden inte skiljer sig, eller skiljer sig marginellt, i praktiken från så kallade traditionella kontorslandskap. Kontorets utformning är beroende av de sociala och arbetsrelaterade relationerna mellan kollegor, som många gånger i högre grad förklarar strukturen på nätverket och dess möjliggörande av ett visst sätt att handla. Vidare visar analysen att vissa aktanter blir obligatoriska passagepunkter som definierar, formar och styr sin omgivning i relativt hög utsträckning. Produkten av relationerna på kontoret är den makt som manifesteras. Denna makt finns i alla typer av handlingar, men visar sig också vara en del av traditionellt studerade makrostrukturer som exempelvis intressekonflikten mellan arbete och kapital

Teaching Recovery Techniques : evaluation of a group intervention for unaccompanied refugee minors with symptoms of PTSD in Sweden

In 2015, a total of 35,369 unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) sought asylum in Sweden. In a previous study of 208 URMs, we found that 76% screened positive for PTSD. This study aimed to (1) evaluate the indicated prevention program Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) in a community setting and describe the program's effects on symptoms of PTSD and depression in URMs; and (2) examine participants' experiences of the program. The study included 10 groups. Methods for evaluation included the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8) and the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale Self-report (MADRS-S) at baseline and at post-intervention. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 participating URMs to elicit their experiences. Pre- and post-measures were available for 46 participants. At baseline, 83% of the participants reported moderate or severe depression and 48% suicidal ideation or plans. Although more than half (62%) of the participants reported negative life events during the study period, both PTSD (CRIES-8) and depression (MADRS-S) symptoms decreased significantly after the intervention (p = 0.017, 95% CI − 5.55; − 0.58; and p < 0.001, 95% CI − 8.94; − 2.88, respectively). The qualitative content analysis resulted in six overall categories: social support, normalisation, valuable tools, comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness when the youth described their experiences of the program, well reflecting TRT's program theory. Overall, results indicate that TRT, delivered in a community setting, is a promising indicated preventive intervention for URMs with PTSD symptoms. This successful evaluation should be followed up with a controlled study