Problem spotting in human-machine interaction

In human-human communication, dialogue participants are con-tinuously sending and receiving signals on the status of the inform-ation being exchanged. We claim that if spoken dialogue systems were able to detect such cues and change their strategy accordingly, the interaction between user and systemwould improve. Therefore, the goals of the present study are as follows: (i) to find out which positive and negative cues people actually use in human-machine interaction in response to explicit and implicit verification questions and (ii) to see which (combinations of) cues have the best predictive potential for spotting the presence or absence of problems. It was found that subjects systematically use negative/marked cues (more words, marked word order, more repetitions and corrections, less new information etc.) when there are communication problems. Using precision and recall matrices it was found that various combinations of cues are accurate problem spotters. This kind of information may turn out to be highly relevant for spoken dia-logue systems, e.g., by providing quantitative criteria for changing the dialogue strategy or speech recognition engine

Performing prison:Power, agency and co-governance in Nicaraguan prisons

This thesis seeks to understand the powers and public secrecy involved in Nicaraguan prison governance. It builds on debates surrounding (hybrid) governance in Latin America and the anthropology of the state, as well as a multi-sited ethnography of the Nicaraguan carceral universe. My participation in the prison environment as the assistant facilitator of a prison theater project allowed me to conduct research with those who the state seeks to govern and control (that is, convicted prisoners and former prisoners), following them through their prison time (and into their post-release lives) over the course of 31 months between 2009 and 2016. This ethnographic engagement allowed me to observe how the (dis)ordering practices that permeate prison life implied a collusion between authorities and prisoners to manage both prison’s legal and extralegal dimensions. As these governance arrangements involved both prisoners and authorities in the ordering of prison, and a sharing of power, which moreover appeared to shape a dependence on one another for the maintenance of such arrangements, I termed them co-governance arrangements. In order to fully understand what is at stake in the emergence and maintenance of co-governance arrangements, this research tries to understand the mutuality, collusion, and embeddedness of these arrangements within the larger logics of state governance. That is, within the process of the consolidation of a “hybrid state” (in this case, a Sandinista state) in which politics, policing, and governance are entangled and arranged in what prisoners colloquially refer to as el Sistema (the System)

Carceral citizenship in post-protest Nicaragua: Political imprisonment and civil death

This paper demonstrates how the extension and intensification of penal power across Nicaragua following the 2018 protests has produced particular experiences of carceral citizenship. In order to fully understand these experiences, it is necessary to take into account that states can enforce carceral citizenship (and its restrictions, benefits, and duties) not only legally, but also extralegally. As such, I examine the tenets of carceral citizenship in relation to the country’s hybrid carceral system, conceptualizing how such citizenship may be produced and policed. Following from this, I elicit how political prisoners are acted upon by (para)state actors and excluded from prison’s co-governance arrangements, which pushes some of them to engage in (dis)organizing practices of their own. Following them into their post-release lives, I examine the tight ‘transcarceral grip’ they are subjected to. This produces a state of de facto civil disenfranchisement, understood by excarcelados as “civil death.” In spite of their predicament, however, released political prisoners continue to organize in the face of the Sistema and the violations it has committed (and continues to commit). Resumen: Encarcelamiento político reduz en Nicaragua: Ciudadanía carcelaria conflictiva Este artículo demuestra cómo la extensión e intensificación del poder penal en Nicaragua tras las protestas de 2018 ha producido experiencias particulares de ciudadanía carcelaria. A fin de comprender plenamente estas experiencias, es necesario tener en cuenta que los estados pueden hacer cumplir la ciudadanía carcelaria (y sus restricciones, beneficios y deberes) no sólo legal, sino también extralegalmente. Por ello, examino los principios de la ciudadanía carcelaria en relación con el sistema carcelario híbrido del país, conceptualizando cómo se puede producir y vigilar dicha ciudadanía. A partir de ahí, explico cómo los actores (para)estatales actúan sobre los presos políticos y los excluyen de los acuerdos de cogobierno de las prisiones, lo que empuja a algunos de ellos a participar en sus propias prácticas de (des)organización. Siguiéndoles en su vida posterior a la puesta en libertad, examino el estrecho “control transcarcelario” al que están sometidos. Esto produce un estado de privación de derechos civiles de facto, entendido por los excarcelados como “muerte civil”. Sin embargo, a pesar de su difícil situación, los presos políticos excarcelados siguen organizándose frente al Sistema y las violaciones que ha cometido (y sigue cometiendo)