Τα ιδεολογικά χαρακτηριστικά και η εξέλιξη του κινεζικού κομμουνισμού από την περίοδο της διεθνοποίησης της οικονομίας μέχρι σήμερα (1978 – 2022)

Στην παρούσα εργασία πραγματοποιείται μια συνεκτική ανάγνωση των ιδεολογικών μεταβολών, που καταγράφονται στην Κίνα από το άνοιγμα της κινεζικής οικονομίας στον καπιταλισμό (1978) μέχρι σήμερα. Σε αντίθεση με τη μαοϊκή περίοδο (1949 – 1976) κατά την οποία η Κίνα αποτελούσε μια εξόχως ιδεολογική κοινωνία, η περίοδος από το 1978 και έπειτα έχει συχνά χαρακτηριστεί ως «μετα-κομμουνιστική» ή «μετα-δεολογική». Μπορεί, όμως, αυτό να ισχύει; Στο κείμενο επιχειρείται ο εντοπισμός των σημαντικότερων παραγόντων, που επηρέασαν τη δυναμική διαμόρφωση της κινεζικής ιδεολογίας, αλλά και η εξέταση των διαδοχικών μετατροπών της κινεζικής ιδεολογίας, που επηρέασαν ή/και καθόρισαν την πορεία της οικονομίας της χώρας τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες. Κατά την περίοδο των ραγδαίων αλλαγών που συνόδευσαν την έλευση του Deng Xiaoping στην εξουσία, το επίκεντρο του ενδιαφέροντος επικεντρώθηκε στο άνοιγμα, την ανασυγκρότηση, τον εκσυγχρονισμό και την ανάπτυξη της κινεζικής οικονομίας. Οι προσταγές της οικονομικής ανάπτυξης ανάγκασαν τον Deng να αναδιαμορφώσει και να προσαρμόσει την κομμουνιστική ιδεολογία του ΚΚΚ. Η περίοδος αυτή σημαδεύτηκε από μια «οικονομικοκεντρική» προσέγγιση που είχε τρεις διαστάσεις: άνοιγμα, ανασυγκρότηση και εκσυγχρονισμός, επιβάλλοντας τον «πραγματισμό» ως κεντρικό στοιχείο διαμόρφωσης της κινεζικής οικονομικής πολιτικής. Τα «κινεζικά χαρακτηριστικά» αποτέλεσαν τον πυρήνα, το βασικότερο στοιχείο της ιδιαιτερότητας του κινεζικού κομμουνισμού. Στη διάρκεια της θητείας του Jiang, η Κίνα εντάσσεται στο διεθνές οικονομικό πεδίο και καθίσταται επιτακτική και επιθυμητή η περεταίρω εξέλιξη των ιδεολογικών προτύπων. Οι ιδεολογικές συνεισφορές του Jiang υπέσκαψαν τα ταξικά του θεμέλια του ΚΚΚ και η διεύρυνση της βάσης του σήμαινε την απομάκρυνση από τον παραδοσιακό ρόλο του λενινιστικού τύπου Κόμματος εμπροσθοφυλακής. Η «Επιστημονική Προοπτική για την Ανάπτυξη» του Hu Jintao παρουσιάστηκε ως το επόμενο βήμα για την «κινεζοποίηση» της μαρξιστικής σκέψης. Η ηγεσία του Hu κλήθηκε τόσο πολιτικά, όσο και ρητορικά να επικεντρωθεί στην επιτακτικότητα επίλυσης των ανισοτήτων και στην οικοδόμηση μιας «Αρμονικής Σοσιαλιστικής Κοινωνίας». Ο Xi Jinping ανέλαβε απαιτητικό έργο: έπρεπε να οργανώσει εκ νέου σε κάθε επίπεδο τη χώρα, η οποία μόλις έβγαινε από την αστραπιαία και μονοδιάστατη κούρσα της στη μετά τον Deng εποχή. Η χρήση της ιδεολογίας από την κινεζική ηγεσία στον 21ο αιώνα έχει σημαντική οργανωτική χρησιμότητα. Για αυτό δεν παραβλέπεται στην εργασία το γεγονός ότι η ιδεολογία χρησιμοποιήθηκε τόσο ως εργαλείο στην υπηρεσία των πολιτικών βουλήσεων, όσο και ως εργαλείο νομιμοποίησης του Κόμματος, της κοινωνικής συνοχής, αλλά και της ενίσχυσης της διεθνούς επιρροής της χώρας.In this paper, a coherent presentation of the ideological changes recorded in China from the opening of the Chinese economy to capitalism (1978) until today is carried out. In contrast to the Maoist period (1949 – 1976) in which China was a highly ideological society, the period from 1978 onwards has often been characterized as 'post-communist' or 'post-ideological'. But can a characterization like this be accurate? The text attempts to identify the most critical factors that influenced the dynamic formation of Chinese ideology, but also to examine the successive transformations of Chinese ideology that influenced and/or determined the course of the country's economy in recent decades. During the period of rapid change that accompanied Deng Xiaoping's rise to power, the focus of interest was on the opening up, reconstruction, modernization and development of the Chinese economy. The imperative of economic development forced Deng to reshape and adapt the CCP's communist ideology. This period was marked by an "economy-centric" approach that had three dimensions: opening-up, reconstruction and modernization, imposing "pragmatism" as a central element in shaping Chinese economic policy. "Chinese characteristics" formed the core, the most basic aspect of the distinctiveness of Chinese communism. During Jiang's tenure, China joins the international economic field and further evolution of ideological standards becomes imperative and desirable. Jiang's ideological contributions undermined the CCP's class foundations, and broadening its base meant moving away from the traditional role of a Leninist-style Vanguard Party. Hu Jintao's "Scientific Outlook on Development" was presented as the next step in the "Sinicization" of Marxist thought. Hu's leadership was called upon both politically and rhetorically to focus on the imperative of resolving inequalities and building a "Harmonious Socialist Society". Xi Jinping undertook a demanding task: he had to reorganize the country at every level, which was just emerging from its extremely fast and one-dimensional race in the post-Deng era. The Chinese leadership's use of ideology in the 21st century has significant organizational utility. For this reason, we didn’t overlook in this paper the fact that ideology was and is used both as a tool in the service of political wills and as a tool for legitimizing the Party, for social cohesion, and for strengthening the international influence of the country

The History of Public Relations in Greece from 1950 to 1980: Professionalization of the “art”

The early development of public relations in Greece is explored through a focus on the period between 1950 and 1980. Specifically, the article considers the origins and early developments, important actors, international influences, professional bodies and the field of practice. It found that Greek business public relations was greatly influenced by American practices and through influential practitioners’ contact with the International Public Relations Association (IPRA)

System Orchestration Support for a Collaborative Blended Learning Flow

Portable and interactive technologies are changing the nature of collaborative learning practices and open up new possibilities for Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). Now, activities occurring in and beyond the classroom can be combined and integrated leading to a new type of complex collaborative blended learning scenarios. However, to organize and structure these scenarios is challenging and represent a workload for practitioners, which hinder the adoption of these technology-enhanced practices. As an approach to alleviate this workload, this paper proposes a proof of concept of a technological solution to overcome the limitations detected in an analysis of an actual collaborative blended learning experiment carried out in a previous study. The solution consists on a Unit of Learning suitable to be instantiated with IMS Learning Design and complemented by a GenericService Integration system. This chapter also discusses to which extent the proposed solution covers the limitations detected in the previous study and how useful could be for reducing the orchestration effort in future experiences.This work has been partially funded by the Project Learn3 (TIN2008- 05163/TSI) from the Plan Nacional I+D+I and "Investigación y Desarrollo de Tecnologías para el e-Learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” funded by the Madrid Regional Government under grant No. S2009/TIC-1650

Architecture design and evaluation for flexible support of collaboration through internet: technological and educational perspectives

The objective of this thesis is the design and evaluation of a proposed software architecture (MAPIS3 - Mediating Adaptation Patterns and Intelligent Systems) as a solution to the problem of flexible design and implementation of collaborative learning scenarios with computer support ("CSCL scenarios"). The aim of the thesis is that the architecture is based on accepted standards in the area of technology supported learning (such as IMS-LD web services) that enhance flexibility. The architecture was evaluated: a) from the technological viewpoint of developers, and b) from the pedagogical aspect of designers-teachers and learners. Technological evaluation focuses on data exchange and technological interconnection of tools used in CSCL scenarios. The pedagogical evaluation focuses on orchestration of tools and their integration into CSCL scenarios that require flexible design and more importantly execution.Στόχος της παρούσας διατριβής είναι η σχεδίαση και αξιολόγηση μιας προτεινόμενης αρχιτεκτονικής λογισμικού (MAPIS3 – Mediating Adaptation Patterns and Intelligent Systems) ως λύσης στο πρόβλημα του ευέλικτου σχεδιασμού και εκτέλεσης σεναρίων συνεργατικής μάθησης με υποστήριξη υπολογιστή («σενάρια ΣΜΥΥ»). Σκοπός της διατριβής είναι η αρχιτεκτονική να βασίζεται σε αποδεκτά πρότυπα στο χώρο της τεχνολογικά υποστηριζόμενης μάθησης (όπως είναι το IMS-LD) και υπηρεσιών δια-δικτύου (web services) που ενισχύουν την ευελιξία. Η αρχιτεκτονική αξιολογήθηκε: α) από τεχνολογικής πλευράς από προγραμματιστές-δημιουργούς (developers), και β) από παιδαγωγικής πλευράς από σχεδιαστές-εκπαιδευτικούς και εκπαιδευόμενους. Η τεχνολογική αξιολόγηση εστιάζει στο επίπεδο ανταλλαγής δεδομένων και τεχνολογικής διασύνδεσης εργαλείων που χρησιμοποιούνται σε σενάρια ΣΜΥΥ. Η παιδαγωγική αξιολόγηση επικεντρώνεται στην ενορχήστρωση εργαλείων και την ένταξη αυτών σε σενάρια ΣΜΥΥ που απαιτούν ευέλικτη σχεδίαση και κυρίως εκτέλεση

A comparative biomechanical study for complex tibial plateau fractures: Nailing and compression bolts versus modern and traditional plating

Aim To compare the biomechanical properties of a newly proposed technique, utilizing intramedullary nailing and compression bolts, for the osteosynthesis of intra-articular proximal tibial fractures with meta-diaphyseal comminution, with modern and conventional plating techniques. Methods Fifteen left tibia 4th generation composite Sawbones models (in 3 groups of 5 for each technique) with identically reproduced type VI Schatzker tibial plateau fractures, including meta-diaphyseal dissociation, were used. Three different techniques of osteosynthesis were tested: (a) a new technique that combines intramedullary nailing and compression bolts, (b) internal fixation with a single lateral locking plate and (c) internal fixation with dual buttress plating technique. The model-device constructs were successively subjected to 500 N, 1000 N and 1500 N load levels with five cycles applied at each level on both articular compartments and a final load cycle to failure. Four parameters were recorded for each technique: the average reversible or irreversible displacement in vertical subsidence, the horizontal diastasis of the intra-articular fracture, the average passive construct stiffness and the load to failure. Results The new intramedullary nailing technique provided rigid intra-articular osteosynthesis being statistically similar to dual buttress plating for subsidence at medium and higher load levels. At the same time the proposed technique provided statistically equivalent stiffness values to the single lateral locking plate incarnating the rational of biologic fixation. Average load to failure was 1611 N for single lateral locking plates, 2197 N for intramedullary nailing and 4579 N for dual buttress plating. The single lateral locking plate technique had the worse results in interfragmentary displacement while dual buttress plating was superior in stiffness from the other 2 techniques. The mode of failure differed between techniques, with collapse of medial plateau occurring exclusively in the single lateral locking plates group. Conclusion The proposed new technique of intramedullary nailing and compression bolts demonstrates a flexural behaviour similar to single lateral locking plates, which complies with the terms and benefits of biological fixation, while at the same time maintains a rigid intra-articular stability similar to the stiff dual buttressing plating technique. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Ibigkas! 2.0: Directions for the Design of an Adaptive Mobile-Assisted Language Learning App

Ibigkas! is a team-based mobile-assisted language learning application that provides students with English language practice. Working collaboratively rather than competitively, players must find the rhyme, synonym, or antonym of a given target word among different lists of words on their mobile phones. At this time, Ibigkas! is not adaptive. In order to anticipate the needs of an adaptive version of the game, we conducted a workshop in which students and teachers from the target demographic played the game and then participated in focus group discussions. Based on their feedback, we conclude that an adaptive version of the game should include metacognitive support and a scoring system that enables monitoring of individual performance based on individual mistakes or non-response. Tracking of individual performance will enable us to build in other articulated student and teacher preferences such as levelling up, rankings, adaptive difficulty level adjustment, and personalized post-game support

Towards a standard-based open data ecosystem: analysis of DCAT-AP use at national and European level

In Europe, an open government data ecosystem is being developed. This ecosystem is implemented using various technologies and platforms. In fact, the use of a common metadata standard for describing datasets and open data portals, i.e., the DCAT-AP specification, appears as the lingua franca that connects an, otherwise, fragmented environment. In this context, the standard-based consolidation of open data promotes the subsidiarity principle, allowing open data portal owners to choose platforms and internal representations based on their specific requirements. However, the portal owners must provide an export with DCAT-AP compliant metadata about the dataset they store. In this paper we provide a detailed study of how the DCAT-AP specification is used in practice, both at the national and the European level. Consequently, we also identify issues, challenges, and opportunities for improvements that can be used as input for the next revision cycle of the standard. Essentially, our goal is to contribute towards the enrichment of a growing and promising European open data ecosystem