scholarly journals Algorithmic Logic in Digital Capitalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 203-222
Author(s):  
Jernej A. Prodnik
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
Analytic Framework ◽  
Social Form ◽  
Digital Capitalism ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Algorithmic Logic

This chapter details the key characteristics of algorithmic systems in their current hegemonic social form, which helps to shed a light on the reasons for their increasing social influence. These characteristics include: opacity/obfuscation, datafication, automation, and instrumental rationalisation. Because technologies are inevitably embedded in – and influenced by – the social context in which they develop, the author’s analysis considers these systems as a part of competitive and inherently unstable capitalist society, or to put it more narrowly, as a part of digital capitalism. This provides a critical analytic framework that points to the fact there is nothing ‘natural’ in these characteristics of algorithmic systems, while making it possible to delineate both the structural reasons for their development and their social consequences. On this basis it is claimed we can denote a specific algorithmic logic in digital capitalism that continuously reinforces itself.

A Qualitative Study on Friends and the Social Context of Sexual Victimization: Implications for Campus-Based Interventions

2020 ◽  
pp. 107780122095427
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Blayney ◽  
Tiffany Jenzer ◽  
Jennifer P. Read ◽  
Jennifer Livingston ◽  
Maria Testa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Potential Danger ◽  
The Social ◽  
Barriers To Implementation ◽  
College Drinkers

Sexual victimization (SV) risk can begin in social contexts, ones where friends are present, though it is unclear how friends might be integrated into SV prevention. Using focus groups, female college drinkers described (a) the role of friends in preventing SV, (b) the strategies friends use to reduce vulnerability, and (c) the barriers to implementation. Friends-based strategies (keeping tabs on one another, using signals to convey potential danger, interrupting escalating situations, taking responsibility for friends, relying on male friends) and barriers (intoxication, preoccupation, situation ambiguity, social consequences) were discussed. Interventions can draw on these strategies, but must address the critical barriers.

scholarly journals Prosocial Influence and Opportunistic Conformity in Adolescents and Young Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1585-1601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Chierchia ◽  
Blanca Piera Pi-Sunyer ◽  
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Social Decision ◽  
Charitable Donations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Value Of Money

Adolescence is associated with heightened social influence, especially from peers. This can lead to detrimental decision-making in domains such as risky behavior but may also raise opportunities for prosocial behavior. We used an incentivized charitable-donations task to investigate how people revise decisions after learning about the donations of others and how this is affected by age ( N = 220; age range = 11–35 years). Our results showed that the probability of social influence decreased with age within this age range. In addition, whereas previous research has suggested that adults are more likely to conform to the behavior of selfish others than to the behavior of prosocial others, here we observed no evidence of such an asymmetry in midadolescents. We discuss possible interpretations of these findings in relation to the social context of the task, the perceived value of money, and social decision-making across development.

The social context of the emergence, development and abandonment of the Varna cemetery, Bulgaria

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 159-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chapman ◽  
Tom Higham ◽  
Vladimir Slavchev ◽  
Bisserka Gaydarska ◽  
Noah Honch
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Copper Age ◽  
Early Start ◽  
Black Sea Coast ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ams Dating ◽  
Sea Coast ◽  
Ams Dates

In this article we outline some of the key characteristics of the social structure of the Climax Copper Age in the eastern Balkans and the contributions of the Varna cemetery to those developments. We continue by examining the implications of the new series of 21 AMS dates from the Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratory, which represent the first dates for the Varna Eneolithic cemetery on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Representing the first phase of the AMS dating project for the Varna I cemetery, these dates have been selected to provide a range of different grave locations, ranges of grave goods, and age/gender associations. We conclude by addressing the question of the unexpectedly early start of the cemetery, as well as its apparently short duration and relatively rapid demise.

Cognition On Tap

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
James Steinhoff
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technical Details ◽  
Algorithmic Bias ◽  
Development And Evolution ◽  
Do So

Abstract The thriving contemporary form of artificial intelligence (AI) called machine learning is often represented sensationally in popular media as a semi-mystical technology. Machine learning systems are frequently ascribed anthropomorphic capacities for learning, emoting and reasoning which, it is suggested, might lead to the alleviation of humanity’s woes. One critical reaction to such sensational proclamations has been to focus on the mundane reality of contemporary machine learning as mere inductive prediction based on statistical generalizations, albeit with surprisingly powerful abilities (Pasquinelli 2017). While the deflationist reaction is a necessary reply to sensationalist agitation, adequate comprehension of modern AI cannot be achieved while neglecting its material and social context. One does not have to subscribe wholeheartedly to the social construction of technology thesis1 to allow that the development and evolution of technologies are influenced by social factors. For AI, the most important aspect of the current social context is arguably capital, which increasingly dominates AI research and production. One former computer science professor describes a “giant sucking sound of [AI] academics going into industry” (Metz 2017). This paper introduces capital’s theory of AI as utility and initiates a discussion on its social consequences. First, I discuss utilities and their infrastructures and introduce a few critical thoughts on the topic. Second, I situate modern AI by way of a brief history. Third, I detail capital’s view of AI as a utility and the technical details underpinning it. Fourth, I sketch how AI as a utility frames a social problematic beyond the important issues of algorithmic bias and the automation of work. I do so by extrapolating from one consequence of AI as a utility which multiple capitalist firms predict: the curation of human subjectivities.

The Social Context of Political Change: Durability, Volatility, and Social Influence

1983 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 929-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Robert Huckfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Individual Preference ◽  
Contextual Effects ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Contextual Influence ◽  
The Social

This article translates several explanations for contextual effects upon politics into mathematical, dynamic representations. These representations are used to consider several questions. Under what circumstances does the social context lead to durability and volatility in mass political preferences? Do different specifications of contextual influence lead to different conclusions regarding its dynamic consequences? Does the social context have different dynamic implications for individual preference and for the aggregate preferences of the population as a whole? These questions are not addressed by gathering and analyzing data, but rather by examining the deductive consequences of the various explanations for contextual influence.

scholarly journals On the effectiveness of multi-feature evacuation systems: an agent-based exploratory simulation study

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e531
Author(s):  
Kashif Zia ◽  
Umar Farooq ◽  
Muhammad Shafi ◽  
Alois Ferscha
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Evacuation Modeling ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Unified Modeling ◽  
Evacuation Strategy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Real Challenge

Evacuation modeling and simulation are usually used to explore different possibilities for evacuation, however, it is a real challenge to integrate different categories of characteristics in unified modeling space. In this paper, we propose an agent-based model of an evacuating crowd so that a comparative analysis of a different sets of parameters categorized as individual, social and technological aspects, is made possible. In particular, we focus on the question of rationality vs. emotionalism of individuals in a localized social context. In addition to that, we propose and model the concept of extended social influence, thereby embedding technological influence within the social influence, and analyze its impact on the efficiency of evacuation. NetLogo is used for simulating different variations in environments, evacuation strategies, and agents demographics. Simulation results revealed that there is no substantial advantage of informational overload on people, as this might work only in those situations, where there are fewer chances of herding. In more serious situations, people should be left alone to decide. They, however, could be trained in drills, to avoid panicking in such situations and concentrate on making their decisions solely based on the dynamics of their surroundings. It was also learned that distant connectivity has no apparent advantage and can be ruled out while designing an evacuation strategy based on these recommendations.

On the Interrelation of Production and Reproduction

Theoria ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (156) ◽  
pp. 52-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Smetona
Keyword(s):  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Feminist Critique ◽  
Limited Extent ◽  
Analytic Framework ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Social

Contemporary social and political theorists generally recognise that Marx and Engels’ critical analysis of capitalist society centres on the production of value through the production of things. However, what is often unrecognised in considerations of Marx and Engels is how their analysis is based on the interrelation of production and reproduction. Nevertheless, the implications of this interrelation for feminist critique are explored in the writings of Marx and Engels only tangentially. These implications are developed from Marx’s analysis by Leopoldina Fortunati and Silvia Federici into a singular synthesis of the Marxist and feminist modes of critique. This development deserves greater recognition, and this essay will seek to articulate how the social implications of this interrelation (1) are expressed to a limited extent in the classical texts of Marxism and (2) are developed by Fortunati and Federici into the analytic framework of social reproduction as the core of Marxist-feminist revolutionary struggle.

Expressive Law, Social Norms, and Social Groups

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (01) ◽  
pp. 60-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Nadler
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Group Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Independent Individual ◽  
Instrumental View ◽  
The Way

To understand how law works outside of sanctions or direct coercion, we must first appreciate that law does not generally influence individual behavior in a vacuum, devoid of social context. Instead, the way in which people interact with law is usually mediated by group life. In contrast to the instrumental view that assumes law operates on autonomous individuals by providing a set of incentives, the social groups view holds that a person's attitude and behavior regarding any given demand of law are generally products of the interaction of law, social influence, and motivational goals that are shaped by that person's commitments to specific in-groups. Law can work expressively, not so much by shaping independent individual attitudes as by shaping group values and norms, which in turn influence individual attitudes. In short, the way in which people interact with law is mediated by group life.

scholarly journals Employment transformation in digital capitalism: myths and realities of the social consequences of the global economy digitalization

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-110
Author(s):  
Anatoliy G. Arseienko
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Transition Economy ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Digital Capitalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

The article is devoted to the study of the social consequences of the employment transformation in the world of capital in the context of the modern expansion of global capitalism and the digitalization of the global economy. Particular attention is paid to proving the inconsistency of the current mythologization of the digital economy in order to cover up the anti-labor orientation of various forms of non-standard, informal employment, which has become widespread in all three worlds of the modern world-system within the framework of digital capitalism. At the center of the analysis of the digital economy impact on the workers socio-economic situation is the digitalization of the world of work and social and labor relations in the United States, that serve as a role model throughout the world, especially in the economically developed countries of the global North. The digitalization of labor in the Golden Billion countries, as well as in the Third World countries with a transition economy instead of the promised reduction of the contradictions between labor and capital led them to an even greater exacerbation and gave rise to a new type of social inequality digital inequality both inside all countries and between them. The author concludes that there has been a significant increase in the labor exploitation intensification as a result of the digital revolution and the need to search for and introduce new forms of world order under the slogan of the alterglobalists social movement People are higher than profits.

English in the real world: What classroom pedagogy has not taught

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Dat Bao
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Social Process ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Educational Implications ◽  
Unique Experience

Abstract This article narrates the experiences of eight Japanese individuals who travelled to Melbourne, Australia, not to study English in a formal classroom, but to activate their language skills in a genuine social context. Speakers were willing to take risk in the social process to acquire fluency and develop confidence. Based on data generated from two years' observation of and interviews with the participants, the author documented the pleasure and the challenges that occur in their unique experience. The project reveals a range of preferences, strategies and tension in the languageusing environment. Educational implications are drawn from several key characteristics of this self-motivated experiential model that may be absent in the current academic discourse in English-language teaching practice.

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