Could the Internet Defetishise the Commodity?

10.1068/d275t ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Miller
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Commodity Chains ◽  
Current Interest ◽  
The Third ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
And Control

This paper is in three parts. In the first I summarise and argue for the continued importance of the critique associated with the fetishism of the commodity. In the second part I report on an ethnographic study of the Internet and the lessons learned for how it could most effectively be used. In the third part I present the outline of a programme for inclusion within the school geography curriculum to use the Internet to educate children in their responsibilities as consumers. This consists of following three products, all of which are personalised to the children as end consumers. Using the Internet they would follow all stages of production, distribution, transportation, and the combination of elements that constitute the commodity. All such processes are seen through the labour of those involved. The result may not fully defetishise the commodity in respect to wider issues of power and control, but it might turn the current interest in commodity chains into an attempt to transform the consciousness of consumers for the benefit of producers.

E-Commerce as Knowledge Management

2011 ◽  
pp. 2768-2787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel McLean ◽  
Nigel M. Blackie
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Social ◽  
Business To Consumer ◽  
Commercial Organizations ◽  
And Control

This chapter constructs the concept of e-commerce as knowledge management. The socially constructed approach to knowledge management is adopted. Through qualitative research, rooted in the Social Constructionist-Critical Theory paradigm, the chapter examines how consumers use the Internet in commercially related activity. Through semi-structured interviews with consumers three main themes are identified and explored (interaction with commercial organizations, consumer-to-consumer interaction, power and control in business-to-consumer interaction). The chapter concludes that the Internet facilitates the construction and sharing of knowledge amongst consumers, but appears to strengthen barriers and boundaries between consumers and companies. An illustration of how companies could effectively utilize the Internet to communicate with customers is offered in an analysis of a discussion forum.

Soft Photochemical Actuation Systems: Tuning Performance Through Solvent Selection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. M. Dicker ◽  
Anna B. Baker ◽  
Ian P. Bond ◽  
Charl F. J. Faul ◽  
Jonathan M. Rossiter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Cycle Life ◽  
Activation Time ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Great Hope ◽  
Relative Activation ◽  
Smart Machines ◽  
Actuation Systems ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

Photochemical actuation systems, those that employ coupled photo-stimuli and chemical reactions to power and control mechanical motion, have the potential to combine the benefits of precise light driven control with chemical energy storage. Furthermore, these systems are inherently soft, making them ideal for use in the emerging field of soft robotics. However, such systems have received comparatively little attention, perhaps due to the poor cycle life and limited activation time of past systems. Here we address these two challenges by switching from the technique of past systems, that of aqueous photoacid solutions and pH-responsive hydrogel actuators, to one employing organic solvents instead. While this switch of solvents successfully eliminates cycle life constraints and allows for tuning of the activation recovery time it also shifts the relative activation point of the hydrogel actuator in such a way that actuation is no longer observed. Several options for addressing this are discussed, with the prospect of using the lessons learned within to make a more informed selection of a different photoacid compound considered the most feasible. While the exploration of photochemical actuation systems is still in a nascent stage, we have great hope for such systems to form the basis of future smart machines with unique functionality.

E-Commerce as Knowledge Management

2011 ◽  
pp. 1618-1637
Author(s):  
Rachel McLean ◽  
Nigel M. Blackie
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Social ◽  
Business To Consumer ◽  
Commercial Organizations ◽  
And Control

This chapter constructs the concept of e-commerce as knowledge management. The socially constructed approach to knowledge management is adopted. Through qualitative research, rooted in the Social Constructionist-Critical Theory paradigm, the chapter examines how consumers use the Internet in commercially related activity. Through semi-structured interviews with consumers three main themes are identified and explored (interaction with commercial organizations, consumer-to-consumer interaction, power and control in business-to-consumer interaction). The chapter concludes that the Internet facilitates the construction and sharing of knowledge amongst consumers, but appears to strengthen barriers and boundaries between consumers and companies. An illustration of how companies could effectively utilize the Internet to communicate with customers is offered in an analysis of a discussion forum.

scholarly journals Co-design of avatars to embody auditory hallucinations of patients with schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo S. García ◽  
Patricia Fernández-Sotos ◽  
Miguel A. Vicente-Querol ◽  
Roberto Sánchez-Reolid ◽  
Roberto Rodriguez-Jimenez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Hallucination ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Auditory Hallucinations ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Hearing Voices ◽  
Psychotherapeutic Interventions ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Technological Tool ◽  
And Control

AbstractAuditory hallucinations are common and distressing symptoms of the schizophrenia disease. It is commonly treated with pharmacological approaches but, unfortunately, such an approach is not effective in all patients. In the cases in which the use of antipsychotic drugs is not possible or not recommended, psychotherapeutic interventions are used to help patients gain power and control against hearing voices. Recently, virtual reality technologies have been incorporated to this type of therapies. A virtual representation of their voice (avatar) is created in a controlled computer-based environment, and the patient is encouraged to confront it. Unfortunately, the software tools used in these therapies are not described in depth and, even more important, to the best of our knowledge, their usability, utility and intention to use by therapists, and patients have not been evaluated enough. The involvement of end users in the software development is beneficial in obtaining useful and usable tools. Hence, the two contributions of this paper are (1) the description of an avatar creation system and the main technical details of the configuration of auditory hallucination avatars, and (2) its evaluation from both the therapists’ and the patients’ viewpoints. The evaluation does not only focus on usability, but also assesses the acceptance of the technology as an important indicator of the future use of a new technological tool. Moreover, the most important results, the lessons learned and the main limitations of our study are discussed.

scholarly journals Writing Back by The Other: Breaking from The Hegemony Imposed

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Shreya Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
The Third ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Masses ◽  
And Control

One’s first language is said to play a key role in the maintenance of one’s cultural and ethnic identity. We express our folktales, myths, proverbs and the very history of our culture and heritage in the language. It could have perhaps also been one of the reasons that the imperial powers tried to hallmark the native languages with their own and employ the use of language as a key tool to impose their power and control over the colonised. There seemed two ways for the natives to fight back- one being of rejection and the other of subversion. Then of course there was the third option-to write back in the language of the Coloniser with the motive to reach out and appeal to the masses across the globe about their plight. The challenge, however, was to keep their essence, their identity alive in the language of majority.

scholarly journals The Third Modulation: Foucault, Security and Population

2018 ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Richard Togman
Keyword(s):  
Government Control ◽  
Disciplinary Power ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
The Third ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control ◽  
Modern Era

Evolving as Foucault’s third modulation of power, security power marks a radical departure from previous eras of sovereign and disciplinary power. Dramatically decentering the individual, altering the means by which government acts and shifting from a static to a dynamic conception of temporal activity, an understanding of Foucauldian security power provides a number of critical insights into modern governance. This paper seeks to explain and analyze Foucault’s conceptualization of security power as the new language of governance and apply it in relation to the pervasive phenomena of government attempts to control fertility. Using the cases of inter-war France and post-colonial India, the theorization of security power will be grounded in the realities of natalist policy demonstrating the universality of the exercise of security power and its applicability to numerous contexts and settings. The concretization of theory in case study not only illuminates the workings of a new model of power but highlights the difficulty of resisting this novel type of government control. Understanding power to understand modes of resistance is central to the Foucauldian method, and drawing from Foucault’s newly translated lectures, this paper will bring to light a fascinating mode of analysis which helps illuminate the evolving nature of power and control in the modern era.

scholarly journals Contributions to the development of search and rescue mobile robots

2021 ◽  
Vol 343 ◽  
pp. 08016
Author(s):  
Marton Gyarmati ◽  
Mihai Olimpiu Tătar ◽  
Francisc Kadar
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
The Third ◽  
Locomotion System ◽  
Physical Experiments ◽  
Hybrid Locomotion ◽  
And Control

In this paper the authors present contributions to the development of search and rescue mobile robots. The first part of the paper describes the characteristics of search and rescue field. In the second part the authors presented the development and construction of an experimental prototype focusing on the locomotion systems for the search and rescue field and the results of the physical experiments done and the design and development of a proposed search and rescue mobile robot based on the lessons learned from the experiments. The third part contains the operation and control of the robot. The fourth section presents the simulation of the hybrid locomotion system of the proposed search and rescue mobile robot. The last part of the paper contains the development directions and conclusions.

E-Commerce as Knowledge Management

2005 ◽  
pp. 69-92
Author(s):  
Rachel McLean ◽  
Nigel M. Blackie
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
The Social ◽  
Business To Consumer ◽  
Commercial Organizations ◽  
And Control

This chapter constructs the concept of e-commerce as knowledge management. The socially constructed approach to knowledge management is adopted. Through qualitative research, rooted in the Social Constructionist-Critical Theory paradigm, the chapter examines how consumers use the Internet in commercially related activity. Through semi-structured interviews with consumers three main themes are identified and explored (interaction with commercial organizations, consumer-to-consumer interaction, power and control in business-to-consumer interaction). The chapter concludes that the Internet facilitates the construction and sharing of knowledge amongst consumers, but appears to strengthen barriers and boundaries between consumers and companies. An illustration of how companies could effectively utilize the Internet to communicate with customers is offered in an analysis of a discussion forum.

Political economy of Nollywood: A literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 247-262
Author(s):  
Ezinne M. Ezepue
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Nigerian Film ◽  
And Control

Political economy studies control and survival in social life. It is simply defined as the study of production and exchange and how these activities relate with the state and its laws. It is interested in how politics interacts with economics. Extensive essays and texts on the political economy of the film industry in general, and of Hollywood in particular abound. Such studies on Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, remains scarce. But in recent times, authors, both indigenous and foreign, are beginning to give increased attention to the struggle for power and control within the industry. This study is interested in how economic activities in Nollywood interact with the law and government. It searches existent scholarship to interrogate what has been discussed on aspects of the political economy of the industry. It discusses these studies under production, distribution and consumption. It reviews other important industry matters like policies, interrogating briefly the place of MOPICON in the political economy of Nollywood. This review forms an important document for research on Nollywood, to curb and forestall consistent repetition of studies within Nollywood scholarship.

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