Accidental cosmopolitanism: connectivity, insistence and cultural experience

Processes of globalisation are often associated with a burgeoning consciousness of interconnectedness and interdependence between people in the majority and minority worlds. Areas of everyday life, such as consumption and travel, are held to be increasingly informed by the realisation that micro-practices implicate the person in relation to global Others. It is argued that rhetorical ideas of global awareness - as well as the theoretical assumptions that underpin them - depend heavily on rationalist notions of an unfurling consciousness, and inadequately consider the ambivalences engendered by informational overload, non-linear processes and the unintended consequences of globally significant actions. Thus prevalent ideas of acting ethically in globalised societies are not based on considerations of how people may construct the ‘globe’ as a shifting, imagined and incoherent context. The thesis proposes a new understanding of the idea of imaginative geography to conceptualise the ways in which living in interdependence involves a constant tension between implication and understanding. This is exemplified by the ways in which contemporary tourism - for political, cultural and environmental reasons - has become an experience of accidental cosmopolitanism for many; the experience of becoming unavoidably aware of one’s interconnections in a context where leisure normally guarantees insulation from them. As a case study the thesis analyses the construction of the Caribbean as a particular type of touristic space embedded in western images of the non-modem paradise. Field work in St Lucia reveals a fine-grained picture of the ambiguous ways in which touristic images are mediated, re-accented or contested, and how fantasy spaces can never be insulated from wider socio-political dynamics. It concludes by examining the import of these theoretical innovations and the fieldwork observation for discussions of globalisation and non-formal education

Exclusion through Openness? : A Tentative Anatomy of the Ritual of ‘Migration Debates’

This article examines ‘migration debates’ in Europe as mediated political rituals. It argues that the consistent meta-commentary within such debates-never regarded as sufficiently ‘open’ or ‘honest’ – can be taken as a starting point for exploring the simultaneous trace and disavowal of race and racializing discourses in public debate. It examines the disjuncture between the normative expectations of democratic deliberation and decision-making present in migration debates, and the ways in which migration stands for the transformation of the political conditions on which such normative eexpectations depend. Under these conditions, ‘debate’ must be approached as having ritual forms of value, and these forms of value are explored in a case study of a short-lived ‘burka debate’ in Ireland in late 2011

Exclusion through Openness? : A Tentative Anatomy of the Ritual of ‘Migration Debates’

This article examines ‘migration debates’ in Europe as mediated political rituals. It argues that the consistent meta-commentary within such debates-never regarded as sufficiently ‘open’ or ‘honest’ – can be taken as a starting point for exploring the simultaneous trace and disavowal of race and racializing discourses in public debate. It examines the disjuncture between the normative expectations of democratic deliberation and decision-making present in migration debates, and the ways in which migration stands for the transformation of the political conditions on which such normative eexpectations depend. Under these conditions, ‘debate’ must be approached as having ritual forms of value, and these forms of value are explored in a case study of a short-lived ‘burka debate’ in Ireland in late 2011

Media transnationalism in Ireland: an examination of Polish media practices

A divergent range of Polish-language and Polish-oriented media has developed in Ireland since May 2004. These media, and the practices that produce and engage with them, cannot adequately be analysed within conventional categories such as ‘ethnic minority media’. Drawing on qualitative work conducted with Polish journalists and media workers, this article examines Polish media as an emerging transnational field, shaped by a reflexive awareness of the extent of transnational media flows within Polish social networks. It suggests that this field can be approached, and further research based, on concepts of immanent transnationalism, multi-modal address and multicultural reflexivity. Given the incipient condition of transnational media research in Ireland, the article draws on current debates in diasporic and transnational media research to argue that future research should transcend the reductive tendencies of ‘methodological multiculturalism’, and attend to the ways in which transnational practices negotiate situated political discourses concerning migration

Electronic signatures for copyright in the UK: a solution to the "holy grail" of document delivery

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to show that an electronic signature for copyright can be achieved in the UK.Design/methodology/approach - The article outlines, as a case study, the drivers for change that influenced the revisiting of the issue of electronic signatures for copyright by the University of Plymouth (UoP), how that signature has been achieved, and how the process has improved the document delivery service through the establishment of an electronic "request-to-delivery" service.Findings - The article finds that significant improvements in the ability of document delivery services to provide a fast and efficient service, with regard to the delivery of article copy requests, can be made through the utilisation of modern computing technology, current UK legislation, and the alternative delivery methods offered by suppliers, particularly the British Library. Practical implications - This article demonstrates that an electronic signature is achievable and that significant improvements can be made in document delivery services as a result, both in terms of request turn around times and in the ability to offer the same standard of service to all users, regardless of their current geographic location.Originality/value - Aside from a brief mention in an article published in 2004 by Stephen Prowse, no UK library has openly admitted to using electronic signatures for copyright. This is the first article to describe one University's systems architecture and processes that have enabled an electronic signature for copyright to be achieved and presents evidence that the time spent investigating and delivering an electronic request-to-delivery service has a real value - a substantial improvement in document delivery to all users, regardless of where they are based

Lancashire to Lahore - Exhibition 1

An international exchange of original postcard artworks between communities in Lancashire, UK, and Lahore, Pakistan

Cultivating Habitats of Meaning: Broadcasting, Participation and Interculturalism

At the time of writing, buenas vistas of the digital landscape are far fewer than when this publication was first conceived. The last year (2002) has witnessed high profile European digital failures, a fraught domestic franchising process and a serious financial crisis at RTE. These factors, combined with the as yet ambiguous direction of postelection policy, conspire to make the future of digital terrestrial television very uncertain. More broadly, reports from Ireland1 and abroad suggest that there is still a significant battle for the ‘hearts and minds’ of potential digital converts. At least partially this involves convincing people that proposed analogue switch-offs are somehow in their best interests, and not heavy-handed (and failing) attempts at technological determinism. Nevertheless, the uncertain appeal and future of a service that may not be able to offer anything more than a diet of re-runs and interactive shopping for abcrunchers creates at least a usable vacuum. It provides a space to focus and regroup energies around the key values and debates on the philosophy and practice of public service, at a time when the concept of public in Ireland contains recurrent and emergent complexities