Hardware – Hintergründe zum Gerätekauf an Bildungsinstitutionen: Öffentliche Beschaffung für nachhaltige Verbesserungen fairer Produktionsbedingungen durch Monitoring

Wenn von Medienbildung bzw. Digitaler Grundbildung oder Digitaler Schule die Rede ist, ist eine Auseinandersetzung mit den Produktionsbedingungen digitaler Endgeräte unumgänglich. Dies betrifft nicht zuletzt die „Geräteinitiative“ als Teil des 8-Punkte-Plans für die Digitalisierung der österreichischen Schulen durch das BMBWF. Hier eröffnen sich – gerade für Bildungsinstitutionen, die sich dem UNESCO-Weltzukunftsvertrag Agenda 2030 verpflichten, zu denen das Ziel menschenwürdige Arbeit für alle zählt – vielfältige Aspekte, auf die der folgende Beitrag aufmerksam machen möchte

After the Foxconn suicides in China: a roundtable on labor, the state and civil society in global electronics

We seek to tackle myriad problems of a global production system in which China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of consumer electronics products. Dying for an iPhone simultaneously addresses the challenges facing Chinese workers while locating them within the global economy through an assessment of the relationship between Foxconn (the largest electronics manufacturer) and Apple (one of the richest corporations). Eight researchers from Asia, Europe and North America discuss two main questions: How do tech behemoths and the Chinese state shape labor relations in transnational manufacturing? What roles can workers, public sector buyers, non-governmental organizations and consumers play in holding multinational corporations and states accountable for human rights violations and assuring the protection of worker interests? We also reflect on the possibility that national governments, the electronics industry and civil society groups can collaborate to contribute to improved labor rights in China and the world

Social climates in community groups: Toward a taxonomy

While community groups have often helped people cope with stress, little empirical research has been available to guide their use in prevention or treatment. To partly fill this gap, an empirical taxonomy of community groups was derived from ratings of 41 randomly selected groups on 35 dimensions of Group Structure, function, and Membership Characteristics. Cluster analysis defined five types. By comparison with other associations, Self-Interest (e.g., liberation and minority) groups rated lower in regulations and had members who were newer to the community. Self-Help groups were highly regulated settings providing support, integration, and developmental aids. Their members had few social relations apart from the family. Social Communion groups rated high on the provision of support for members often living without family. Civic Development groups rated highest on dimensions emphasizing personal development for persons with external sources of support and status. Finally, Recreation groups were casual and briefly attended groups. Their members were younger and less often married than those in other associations. Strategies for group referrals may be implied.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44299/1/10597_2004_Article_BF00835723.pd

Engineers and work in global design networks of the semiconductor industry

The dissertation focuses on the semiconductor industry to analyze the current state of the international division of labor and its impact on the engineering labor process. Three extensive case studies on design centers of semiconductor companies located in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are used to bridge two major gaps in the current academic debate. While the discussion on the development of the international division of labor in manufacturing has already moved towards a more sophisticated perspective that acknowledges a multi-centric structure of international division of labor, on the level of engineering work the hierarchic dichotomy of center and periphery still prevails. Analyzing both location and upgrading processes as well as the labor process the study is able to challenge this perspective. With the focus on CEE the dissertation re-focuses the analysis on a region hitherto not very prominent in research on the international division of labor and the electronics industry. The semiconductor industry with its decade long history of internationalization of both production and product development allows the analysis to focus on local upgrading and control in the labor process that are already stabilized and not anymore distorted by adjustment dynamics of initial phases of internationalization. The study is organized in two major parts representing its two levels of perspective - industry and work. First, the industry perspective with the development of global networks of production and development is used to analyze the industry organization and geographic scope of the developing international division of labor. The Global Production Network approach with its upgrading perspective is combined with research on locational decisions of R&D operations, innovation dynamics and work categories to sketch the shifts in the electronics and semiconductor industry. The study is able to show how a network based industry organization is developing, that is however increasingly driving processes of vertical integration through triangular restructuring. Based on data from field research in CEE in three extensive case studies the focus is put on the upgrading process of chip design centers in global networks of production and development. Using work categories to assess both local upgrading as well as location within global design networks the study is able to show how peripheral operation are able to develop into relatively central design centers. The most important result of the study is its account on processes of integration, through which locally integrated product development teams emerge that comprise of almost all necessary functions for product development. With this the often perpetuated idea of an increasingly modularized and internationalized engineering work is challenged. Simultaneously, a new phase in the process of internationalization is described that is characterized by increased localization, while the integration into and reliance on global networks is growing. Second, the study analyzes the engineering labor process within global networks of production and design of the electronics industry. The Labor Process Theory (especially Friedman's approach) is used to analyze the control in the engineering labor process in chip design centers in CEE. Its main argument is that the labor process in peripheral product design locations in CEE has developed considerably with regards to levels of autonomy in work tasks organization and control structure. The labor process in these formerly peripheral design centers has developed towards a project organization where managerial strategies tend towards responsible autonomy. However, a layered structure of control strategies is used by management, where forms of direct control often undergird strategies of responsible autonomy. The ability to develop an efficient labor process organization is dependent on the ability to reduce the international interface contacts towards the beginning and the end of development projects. This is directly linked to the process of local integration, or functional upgrading, through which the technical and managerial capabilities that are necessary for such a work organization are developed locally. This is the point where the international division of labor and the labor process organization need to be developed in unison through company strategy. However, local worker struggle, mostly through resistance by individual engineers, has also decisive effects on the development of the labor process. Additionally, local factors such as the labor market are central to the analysis advancing a more dialectical perspective on the relations between global and local levels of internationalization. The analysis shows how integrated forms of international division of labor are increasingly developing.Anhand einer Untersuchung der Halbleiterindustrie, analysiert die Dissertation den aktuellen Zustand der internationalen Arbeitsteilung und deren Einfluss auf den Arbeitsprozess von Ingenieuren. Drei große Fallstudien von Halbleiterentwicklungszentren in Mittel- und Osteuropa (MOE) bilden die Grundlage der Studie, die versucht zwei große Leerstellen in der akademischen Debatte zu beseitigen. Während sich bei der Analyse der Internationalisierung der Produktion bereits eine differenzierende Perspektive durchgesetzt hat, herrscht bei der Ingenieurarbeit die hierarchische Dichotomie von Zentrum und Peripherie weiterhin vor. Durch die Integration sowohl von lokalen Charakteristika und Upgradingprozessen als auch vom Arbeitsprozess ist die Studie in der Lage diese Perspektive in Frage zu stellen. Mit dem Fokus auf MOE wird die Perspektive erweitert durch eine Region, die bisher keine wichtige Rolle bei Untersuchungen zur Elektronikindustrie spielte. Mit ihrer jahrzehntelangen Geschichte der Internationalisierung - von Produktion und Entwicklung -, erlaubt die Halbleiterindustrie eine Analyse lokaler Upgradingprozesse und der Kontrolle im Arbeitsprozess in bereits stabilen Situationen, die nicht mehr durch Anpassungen der Anfangsphasen der Internationalisierung verzerrt werden. Entlang dieser zwei Ebenen - Industrie und Arbeit - ist die Studie ist in zwei große Teile unterteilt. Erstes, wird auf der Industrieebene, mit Perspektive auf globale Netzwerke der Produktion und Entwicklung, die Industrieorganisation und der geographische Rahmen der internationalen Arbeitsteilung untersucht. Der Global Production Network Ansatz, mit seiner Upgradingperspektive, wird verbunden mit Forschungsansätzen zu Ansiedlungsentscheidungen bei Entwicklungszentren, Innovationsdynamiken und Arbeitskategorien, um so ein detailliertes Bild der Verschiebungen in Halbleiterbranche zeichnen zu können. Der Studie gelingt es zu zeigen, wie sich eine netzwerkbasierte Industrieorganisation entwickelt, die gleichzeitig Prozesse vertikaler Integration, im Rahmen triangularer Restrukturierung, befördert. Gestützt auf die Feldforschung in MOE werden in drei Fallstudien Upgradingprozesse in Halbleiterentwicklungszentren untersucht. Mit Hilfe von Arbeitskategorien werden sowohl lokales Upgrading als auch die Positionen in globalen Entwicklungsnetzwerken bestimmt. Dabei kann die Studie zeigen, wie periphere Standorte sich zu relativ zentralen Entwicklungszentren entwickeln kînnen. Das wichtigste Ergebnis der Studie ist die Darstellung von Integrationsprozessen, die zu lokal integrierten Produktentwicklungsteams führen. Diese vereinen fast alle notwendigen Funktionen zur Produktentwicklung. Damit wird die oft vorgebrachte Idee der zunehmend modularisierten und internationalisierten Ingenieurarbeit in Frage gestellt. Gleichzeitig wird damit eine neue Phase der Internationalisierung beschrieben, die durch eine wachsende Lokalisierung charakterisiert wird, während die Integration in und die Abhängigkeit von globalen Netzwerken wächst. Zweitens, untersucht die Studie den Arbeitsprozess von Ingenieuren innerhalb globaler Netzwerke der Produktion und Entwicklung. Die Arbeitsprozesstheorie (insb. Friedmans Ansatz) wird genutzt, um die Kontrollmechanismen zu untersuchen die Ingenieurarbeit in Halbleiterentwicklungszentren in MOE charakterisieren. Die Hauptthese dabei ist, dass der Arbeitsprozess der Ingenieure in MOE sich beträchtlich entwickelt hat, in Bezug auf Autonomiegrade in der Arbeitsorganisation und der Kontrollstruktur. Der Arbeitsprozess in diesen ehem. peripheren Entwicklungszentren hat sich in Richtung einer Projektorganisation entwickelt bei der Managementstrategien der verantwortungsvoller Autonomie genutzt werden. Gleichzeitig werden auch Formen direkter Kontrolle Strategien zur Absicherung der verantwortungsvollen Autonomie genutzt, was in einer stark zusammengesetzten Kontrollstrategie resultiert. Die Fähigkeit eine effiziente Organisation des Arbeitsprozesses zu entwickeln hängt ab von der Reduktion internationaler Schnittstellen. Dies ist direkt verbunden mit dem Prozess der lokalen Integration, d.h. des funktionalen Upgradings. Hier ist der Punkt an dem die internationale Arbeitsteilung und der Arbeitsprozessorganisation durch Unternehmensstrategien im Gleichklang entwickelt werden müssen. Dies geschieht jedoch nicht automatisch. Widerstand der Beschäftigten, meisten in individualisierter Form, hat entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Entwicklung des Arbeitsprozesses. Zusätzlich spielen lokale Faktoren wie der Arbeitsmarkt eine zentrale Rolle, und machen so eine stärker dialektische Analyse der Beziehung zwischen globaler und lokaler Ebenen der Internationalisierung notwendig. Die Studie zeigt wie lokal integrierte Formen der internationalen Arbeitsteilung sich zunehmend entwickeln

Expanding the common good

Design for the Common Good is a network of networks formed in accordance with the principles of design for the common good. Also, the design work that the platform disseminates and promotes uses methods, processes and practices that are consistent with design for the common good. Structural and systemic barriers are identified that must be overcome in order to make Design for the Common Good sufficiently inclusive, global and accessible. Global opportunities and threats relating to the environment, economy, technology and social progress contain both the problem and solution. Digital advances have the potential to overcome previously insurmountable economic, environmental, social and technological challenges, both to the creation of the platform and the activities of the actors in its networks. However, this must be balanced by a recognition that collaborative community design stems from potent local group actions and that ethical physical and inter-personal experience is fundamental to these endeavours

What constitutes the best sex life for gay and bisexual men? Implications for HIV prevention.

BACKGROUND: While a large body of research has sought to understand HIV transmission risk behaviours among gay men, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), less attention has been paid to the wider sexual health and well-being of this population. While some community-based organisations aim to support a more holistic sense of sexual well-being there is little evidence to draw on to inform their interventions. The current study sought to explore gay and bisexual men's conceptions of what constitutes the 'best sex'. METHOD: The EMIS survey of 2010 recruited more than 180,000 respondents from 38 European countries to complete an online questionnaire about sexual health and behaviour. The 12,942 English language, UK-based responses to the open ended question, "What's your idea of the best sex life?" were subjected to a detailed content analysis. A framework was devised to reflect and describe the key themes emerging from the data, which was then used to code all responses to one (or more) of these themes. Further statistical analysis sought to establish if and how responses differed according to key demographic variables. RESULTS: Eight themes emerged that capture the diversity of gay and bisexual men's sexual desires. Most common among responses was a desire for sex within committed relationships, followed by a desire for sex which is emotionally or psychologically connected. Men also expressed a desire for volume and variety in their sexual lives, and for sex that is free from physical, social or psychological harm. Comparative analysis identified that older men were less likely to idealise a relationship or emotional connection, but were more likely to specify the sexual acts or behaviours they wished to engage in. CONCLUSIONS: Attending to what men value or aspire to can help ensure interventions are engaging and meaningful to the target population. HIV prevention interventions need to attend to the broad range of sexual desires held by gay and bisexual men in delivery of holistic sexual health promotion that can help them to have the best sex with the least harm