Reclaiming Citizenship in the Post-Democratic Condition

This article reviews the central problematique of citizenship, arguing that the challenges imposed by neoliberal globalisation involve the loss of political, social and civil rights. By negating the mediations performed by citizenship between the people and the state, post-democracy renders citizenship meaningless. The article traces two main responses to this, a reactionary and a progressive one, none of which can address the problems of citizenship. The grains of a new response are found in three developments: a new ontology of the citizen, brought into being through digital acts; the existence of dual power, creating new forms of governance and social reproduction from below; and between these, the development of new procedures that directly engage with state power. Taken together, these considerations indicate a new possibility for the radicalisation of citizenship rather than a return to the former state of affairs

Multiculturalism online

This article is concerned with the politics of multiculturalism as encountered on the internet. Theoretically, it examines the different normative positions vis-à-vis multiculturalism in the works of Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, Jeremy Waldron and Nancy Fraser. Three main dilemmas emerge: essentialism or fluidity of identities; universalism or particularism; and recognition or redistribution. These are empirically examined subsequently through online portals developed by four minority communities in the UK. Eight portals, developed by black British, Indian/South Asian, Chinese and Muslim communities were analysed with a view to understanding how such dilemmas are understood in online environments, taken to represent a version of everyday political conduct. The analysis focused on addressees/interlocutors, communicative forms and users, indicating that all multicultural dilemmas are enacted online. Following an agonistic model of politics, the article suggests that multicultural politics should be understood as an open arena for the struggle between these dilemmas

Data, Power and Bias in Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to exacerbate societal bias and set back decades of advances in equal rights and civil liberty. Data used to train machine learning algorithms may capture social injustices, inequality or discriminatory attitudes that may be learned and perpetuated in society. Attempts to address this issue are rapidly emerging from different perspectives involving technical solutions, social justice and data governance measures. While each of these approaches are essential to the development of a comprehensive solution, often discourse associated with each seems disparate. This paper reviews ongoing work to ensure data justice, fairness and bias mitigation in AI systems from different domains exploring the interrelated dynamics of each and examining whether the inevitability of bias in AI training data may in fact be used for social good. We highlight the complexity associated with defining policies for dealing with bias. We also consider technical challenges in addressing issues of societal bias.Comment: 3 page

Hybrid Media and Political Trials: How legacy journalism perceives citizen journalism and social media in political trials - the case of #jobstownnotguilty

The relationship between Social Media and Legacy Media has been of much interest to scholars. This paper investigates an interesting, contentious and politicised court case where the heretofore monopoly of professional journalism, court reporting, was challenged by citizen journalists. The case concerned a 2014 sit down protest in Jobstown, Tallaght, a working-class suburb of Dublin, where a sitting Minister Joan Burton TD, was blocked in her car for several hours by local protesters. A number of protesters, many months after the incident, were arrested and charged with false imprisonment

Jornalismo Radical: Lições da Grécia

Focusing on the case of Greece, this chapter is tracing the contours of a new paradigm of radical journalism. We argue that this new paradigm is radical in five ways: in terms of its organization, in terms of the identities of its producers, in terms of its orientations vis-à-vis the political establishment and the society, in terms of its contents, and in terms of its relationship with readers and publics. Taken together these show a new radical role for journalism, focusing on addressing the present needs of a society in crisis. Journalism’s political role was far too long annexed to a Gramscian understanding of hegemony and the role of intellectuals who agitate and persuade. The rise of a new radical journalism in conditions of crisis signifies a more fundamental and 2016organic relationship of journalism to society that requires more than agit prop. Radical journalists are not seeking to lead or to agitate or to report disconnected from society. Rather, this journalism born of the crisis and operating as critique can be seen as a journalism of praxis or doing: this is why the emphasis is more on building or restoring social relationships, rather than in legitimising existing ones as in the case of liberal journalism. This shows a new avenue and political role for journalism, in which it becomes an integral part of society and in which it is firmly oriented towards social needs.Centrado no caso da Grécia, este texto vem traçar os contornos de um novo paradigma do jornalismo radical. Argumentamos que este novo paradigma é radical em cinco sentidos: em termos de sua organização, em termos de identidade de seus produtores, em termos de suas orientações face ao establishment político e à sociedade, em termos dos seus conteúdos, e em termos de sua relação com leitores e públicos. Tomados em conjunto, estes sentidos mostram um novo papel radical para o jornalismo, concentrado na abordagem das necessidades atuais de uma sociedade em crise. O papel político do jornalismo foi há muito tempo integrado numa compreensão gramsciana da hegemonia e no papel dos intelectuais que agitam e persuadem. O surgimento de um novo jornalismo radical em contexto de crise significa uma relação mais fundamental e orgânica do jornalismo com a sociedade, que requer mais do que agitação de suporte. Os jornalistas radicais não procuram liderar, agitar ou relatar desligados da sociedade. Em vez disso, este jornalismo nascido da crise e operando como crítica pode ser visto como um jornalismo de praxis ou de fazer: por isso, a ênfase é mais na construção ou restauração de relações sociais, em vez de ielegitimar as existentes como no caso do jornalismo liberal . Isso mostra um novo caminho e um papel político para o jornalismo, no qual ele se torna parte integrante da sociedade e em que está firmemente orientado para as necessidades sociais

Locative Media and Identity

The role of location-based social networks (LBSNs) on identity is a relatively unexplored area within the growing cannon of work on locative media. Following an exegesis of Giddens’s argument that narrative biographical accounts are critical in self-identity in the modern age and Foucault’s technologies of the self, this article positions LBSN, and in particular Foursquare, as a contributor to self-identity in users’ lives. A close reading of ethnographic and interview data from Foursquare users reveals that in the context of the presentation, maintenance, and reflection upon self-identity, LBSN use can play an integral role in the self-identity of its users. The contribution of LBSN to indicators of user lifestyle, the intentional sharing of particular locations, and user recollection of events and locations are the key features of how LBSNs provide conduits to self-identity. The degree of usage in everyday life is identified as critical in the positioning of LBSN as a key contributor to identity narratives. With the integration of LBSN features into more mainstream social media platforms, this contribution to self-identity in the social media age is resilient to the demise of stand-alone LBSN application

The affective and political economy of hate journalism: Toxic masculinity, misogynism and homophobia in Greek extreme right-wing media

Το άρθρο επικεντρώνεται στην ελληνική ακροδεξιά εφημερίδα Μακελειό και στοχεύει να καταγράψει και να αναλύσει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο αυτή παράγει και διαδίδει αρνητικά συναισθήματα όπως το μίσος. Υποστηρίζουμε ότι το Μακελειό, που αποτελεί ένα επιτυχημένο Μέσο, κατάφερε να επιβιώσει και μάλιστα να ευδοκιμήσει στο ελληνικό επικοινωνιακό τοπίο καθρεφτίζοντας, αναπαράγοντας και ενισχύοντας τις μισογυνικές και ομοφοβικές αξίες της συντηρητικής Ελλάδας. Δεν είναι τυχαίο ότι αυτού του είδους η δημοσιογραφία άνθισε κατά τη διάρκεια της κρίσης που έπληξε σοβαρά την Ελλάδα, καθιστώντας την αβεβαιότητα ως τη νέα κανονικότητα σε όλες τις πτυχές της ζωής. Αυτό το πλαίσιο λειτούργησε ως καταλύτης, που οδήγησε σε μια ευρύτερη χρήση των συναισθημάτων στη δημοσιογραφική πρακτική ως μέσο αντιμετώπισης και διαχείρισης της βαθιάς αβεβαιότητας. Ασκώντας αυτού του είδους τη «δημοσιογραφία μίσους», το Μακελειό δημιουργεί μια ιδιαίτερη σχέση με τους αναγνώστες του, οι οποίοι αναγνωρίζουν τη δική τους γλώσσα, τις σκέψεις και τις ηθικές αξίες στις σελίδες του. Εντέλει, το Μακελειό κινητοποιεί το μίσος προς τις γυναίκες και τους ομοφυλόφιλους για να προσελκύσει το κοινό του, το οποίο, με τη σειρά του, υποστηρίζει αυτού του είδους τη δημοσιογραφία καταναλώνοντάς την.   This article focuses on the Greek far-right newspaper Makeleio and aims to record and analyze the way it produces and circulates negative emotions such as hate. We argue that Makeleio which constitutes a successful endeavor has managed to survive and even thrive in Greece’s media landscape by mirroring, reproducing, and reinforcing the misogynist and homophobic values of conservative Greece. It is no coincidence that this kind of journalism flourished during the crisis that hit severely Greece creating uncertainty as the new normal across all aspects of life. This context functioned as a catalyst leading to a wider use of emotions in journalistic practice as a means to address and manage the profound uncertainty. By practicing this kind of ‘hate journalism’, Makeleio creates a special relationship with its readers, who recognize their own language, thoughts, and moral values in its pages.  Ultimately, Makeleio mobilizes hate towards women and homosexuals to attract its audience who in their turn support this kind of journalism by consuming it. &nbsp

Closing the gap: Leveraging data for seamless integration between pre-award and post-award in public procurement

Public Procurement Procedures are crucial to economies globally, especially in the European Union. These procedures include different phases, actors, processes, business documents, and information assets that must be arranged across several architectural layers of a pan-European public procurement ecosystem. Orchestrating the aforementioned aspects in complex real-world situations often hinders pan-European public interoperability and efficiency Standardization and stakeholder participation vary in the pre and post award phases. This paper aims to create a holistic and interoperable architecture towards Pan-European Procurement following the principles of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF). Emphasis is placed on establishing a clear “data- handshake” in the transition from pre-award to post-award. To accomplish this, a systematic literature review and analysis of eProcurement’s common challenges are synthesized. Based on these challenges, fitting solution components are identified and mapped from both rigorous literature and relevant standardization projects. The different solution components are then combined towards a reference architecture that addresses the identified challenges. Finally, the research puts forward a core public procurement dataset to further support interoperability and data governance throughout the entirety of eProcurement procedures

Documentários Radicais, Crise Neoliberal e Pós-democracia

Este artigo trata da mudança do papel da mídia e do jornalismo em um contexto pós-democrático. Centrando-se no caso dos documentários radicais na Grécia, o texto examina as maneiras pelas quais a política neoliberal de austeridade tem contribuído para uma mudança rumo a uma política pós-democrática onde as decisões são tomadas em outros locais e o papel do governo nacional é o de reforçar tais políticas. Neste contexto, perguntamos qual é o papel da mídia e do jornalismo e se eles não podem mais agir como cães de guarda. Examinando os documentários radicais como parte de um campo mais amplo de mídia radical na Grécia, mostramos como eles inauguram uma economia política diferente, para além da mercantilização de conteúdos e da informação, operando para o benefício social em vez do lucro. Além disso, ao documentar a crise, dando voz aos afetados e í queles que planejam um futuro além da crise, esses documentários são parte de uma mudança rumo a modelos mais colaborativos de organização social, e um movimento para construção de uma economia social. Seu papel específico se encontra em ajudar a restaurar o corpo social e contribuir para o processo de se tornar comum, onde a solidariedade e a confiança social são recuperadas