Critical Social Inclusion as an alternative to integration discourses in Finnish and Canadian Integration Education Programs

This article represents a synopsis of research find-ings obtained during multiple case study field-work in Finland and Canada (2015-2017) exam-ining implementations of critical social inclusion in integration educations, specifically Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) and Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC). Anti-oppressive methodologies (AOP), as well as perspectives inte-grated from Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) and Critical Migration Studies (CMS) with their ideals of challenging structural racism and working for social change inform critical social inclusion as well as the study’s research design. The empirical findings show that social inclusion within SFI and LINC programs was tangled, episodic, and far from straightforward. Its implementation de-pended upon a number of enabling and disabling factors such as the role ascribed to language ac-quisition and critical citizenship perspectives in curricula, interrogations of civic integrationism and institutional whiteness within programs, as well as the prevailing political climates outside of the classroom. A pivotal conclusion is that if crit-ical perspectives of social inclusion are to become a lived reality for all program participants, then majorities must also be subjected to integration regimes.Peer reviewe

Games and Realism

Source at https://eolt.org/articles/games-and-realism.This entry offers an overview over applications of the the concept of realism in game studies. After a general description of the term, I move on to an aesthetic notion of realism before I direct attention to its use in videogames research. I show that realism in game studies is about more than photorealist representation of surface phenomena and that it also needs to account for players’ perceptions

Toward a Diagnostics of the Present: Popular Culture, Post-Apocalyptic Macro-Dystopia, and the Petrification of Politics

According to Fredric Jameson (2016: 1), “we have seen a marked diminution in the production of new utopias over the last decades (along with an overwhelming increase in all manner of conceivable dystopias, most of which look monotonously alike)”. This assessment is seconed by Jürgen Habermas (2019 [1985]: 161) who draws attention to the problematic consequences of such a lack of utopian thinking. He writes that “when the utopian oases dry up, we are left with a desert of banalities and cluelessness”.i The present chapter addresses how a dominance of dystopian narratives in contemporary popular culture together with a lack of utopian alternatives reflects a petrification of politics that reifies a received status-quo rather than enabling necessary changes. Ultimately, I argue our utopian potentials are wasted in hyper-commercialized technological hypes rather than allowing them to foment political mobilisation

Promises, pitfalls and potentials of immersive journalism

When moving the discussion from VR-based interactive fiction to non-fiction genres such as immersive journalism, several issues of critical concern come to the fore: 1) How can the informants (or, indeed, the objects) of the immersive experiences implied by 360-degree journalism be adequately protected and how can they be properly included in the projects realized in their life worlds? 2) Which implicit understandings of realism are underlying the wide-spread presumption of VR-promoters to be able to offer unmitigated access to the lives of others? 3) Is the triggering of emotional reactions really a task for journalists, and if yes, what are the wider implications of this for the journalistic profession? And finally, 4) how can audiences be sufficiently made aware of the manipulative nature, constructed frames, and potentially disturbing effects of the simulations they are immersed in? This chapter will unpack these questions, which continue to haunt current attempts to realize the potentials of immersive journalism. The chapter proposes how a genuinely ethical immersive journalism might look like, and how the identified severe ethical and epistemological problems can be addressed in a productive and progressive manner

Manufacturing Monsters Across Media and Genres: Towards an Interdisciplinary and Multi-Dimensional Research Agenda on the Cultural Construction of the Other

This theoretical chapter offers an integrated interdisciplinary model for the study of mediated cultural communication. Firstly, I describe the model and acknowledge preceding approaches that focused on similar issues. I show the intrinsic connections between aesthetic form, production, reception and reproduction, and argue for the necessity of studying all these components together to gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex issues at hand. Secondly, I introduce philosophical underpinnings of an integrated interdisciplinary approach, highlight a series of methods applicable to each component, and argue for the importance of corelating data across alleged disciplinary divides. Finally, the chapter postulates the importance of such a comprehensive approach for a better understanding of, and resistance to, processes and practices of othering across media and genres

ASSIMILATION VS. INCLUSION: An Anti-Oppressive Perspective On The Experiences Of Participants In Integration Educations

This chapter explores how an anti-oppressive practice (AOP) perspective can inform contested understandings of social inclusion within the LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) integration program at NorQuest College in Edmonton, Canada. Based on research findings obtained during case study fieldwork, it examines how inclusion is negotiated by program participants and juxtaposes this with anti-oppressive practice principles. In so doing, it offers valuable perspectives for critical and anti-racist discourses in adult education. The data for this studies includes in-depth individual interviews with LINC teachers, administrators and counsellors, group interviews with students and 1.5 months of participant observation. Interview transcripts and observation logs were analysed using inductive content analysis. The empirical findings illustrate the need for educational providers seeking to implement policies of inclusion to transcend their institutional boundaries by adopting structural, cross-sectorial and distinctly political responses. These include creating more egalitarian educational partnerships with all stakeholders comprising teachers, students and community organisations involved in LINC. Responses further entail re-examining institutional procedures, curricular mandates, as well as promoting public education programs and collective political mobilisation to address the structural factors circumscribing the lives of migrant students. A complementary finding in furthering inclusion suggests that components of social criticism and critical citizenship focusing on students’ own experiences should become more entrenched within NorQuest’s integration educations.Peer reviewe

The politics of sweatshop labour

This paper provides a political account of sweatshop labour by highlighting the role of political actorsin establishing and sustaining exploitative working conditions in global sweatshops. In academicdebates on sweatshop labour, the focus has been mostly on the responsibility of business or consumers(cf. Arnold & Bowie, 2007; Meyers, 2007; Zoller, 2015), although there are some authors who dealwith the role of trade unions and civil society (cf. Kabeer, 2000). To provide a broader picture, I drawon the differentiation between extractive and inclusive institutions made by development economistsAcemoglu and Robinson (2013) and apply this account to the sweatshop issue. I argue that sweatshopsare a political rather than an economic problem, and substantiate my claim by drawing on the Chinesehousehold registration system hukou, and the political background conditions in Bangladesh.Este artigo oferece uma interpretação política das condições laborais degradantes ao sublinhar o papeldos atores políticos no estabelecimento e manutenção das relações de exploração laboral nas empresasdo mundo inteiro. Nos debates académicos acerca do trabalho em condições degradantes, o foco temestado essencialmente na responsabilidade das empresas ou dos consumidores (cf. Arnold & Bowie,2007;, Meyers, 2007; Zoller, 2015), ainda que haja alguns autores que abordam o papel dos sindicatose da sociedade civil (cf. Kabeer, 2000). De modo a oferecer uma imagem mais ampla, toma-se deempréstimo a distinção, estabelecida pelos economistas Acemoglu e Robinson (2003), entreinstituições extractivas e inclusivas e aplico esta ferramenta interpretativa ao tópico das condiçõeslaborais degradantes. Argumenta-se que estas condições são mais um problema político do queeconómico, e procura-se fundar esta alegação numa exposição do sistema hukou chinês de registo dedomicílio bem como nas condições contextuais políticas existentes no Bangladesh

Sustainability: Critical Reflections on an Apparently Common-Sensical Term

In March 20223, the sixth synthesis report penned by the International Panel of Climate Change (Lee et al. 2023) was released. As earlier, the assessments are dire reading and yet again witness of trends going into the wrong direction on almost all important accounts; increase in CO2 emissions, underperforming attempts at cutbacks, rising temperatures on a global scale, missed targets, unpaid compensations, and more. Key politicians and decision-makers from Biden and Xi to Lula and Lagarde publicly lament lack of progress and issue new promises to implement decisive steps to change course. The numbers are clear. Apparently, we have to do something. We have to act, and act now, before it is too late. There is no second Earth – or, as the likes of Bezos and Musk would put it, at least not for all of us. So, what are we waiting for

Life Is Bleak (in Particular for Women Who Exert Power and Try to Change the World): The Poetics and Politics of Life Is Strange

Published version available at: http://gamestudies.org/1903/articles/waszkiewiczpotzschThe present paper conducts a critical analysis of the poetics, psychology, and politics of Dontnod’s choice-based and story-driven adventure game Life Is Strange (2015). The reading is based on extended periods of play by three different players that were followed by discussions and analyses. The article centres upon the narrative development and framing of the two lead characters that is assessed through the lens of Aristotelian poetics and psychology of trauma. Adjusting focus from poetics and psychology to politics, we then argue for an expansion of the notion of catharsis beyond diegetic frames, thus asserting a political relevance of games and play. The article criticizes Life Is Strange for reducing the agency and influence of strong female and queer protagonists by reverting to worn conventions in the last two episodes of the 5-part series, thus ultimately subverting its significant potential for political critique. The article is open access and can be read here: http://gamestudies.org/1903/articles/waszkiewiczpotzsc