Navigating the technology-media-movements complex

Abstract

In this article we develop the notion of the technology-media-movements complex (TMMC) as a field-definition statement for ongoing inquiry into the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in social and political movements. We consider the definitions and boundaries of the TMMC, arguing particularly for a historically rooted conception of technological development that allows better integration of the different intellectual traditions that are currently focused on the same set of empirical phenomena. We then delineate two recurrent debates in the literature highlighting their contributions to emerging knowledge. The first debate concerns the divide between scholars who privilege media technologies, and see them as driving forces of movement dynamics, and those who privilege media practices over affordances. The second debate broadly opposes theorists who believe in the emancipatory potential of ICTs and those who highlight the ways they are used to repress social movements and grassroots mobilization. By mapping positions in these debates to the TMMC we identify and provide direction to three broad research areas which demand further consideration: (i) questions of power and agency in social movements; (ii) the relationships between, on the one hand, social movements and technology and media as politics (i.e. cyberpolitics and technopolitics), and on the other, the quotidian and ubiquitous use of digital tools in a digital age; and (iii) the significance of digital divides that cut across and beyond social movements, particularly in the way such divisions may overlay existing power relations in movements. In conclusion, we delineate six challenges for profitable further research on the TMMC.     

In search of African history: the re-appropriation of photographic archives by contemporary visual artists

The digital revolution has fundamentally changed our relationship to archives, by accelerating their “dusting off” and their re-appropriation, particularly in the art world. This article will show the ways in which some contemporary visual artists use new digital technologies to provide new ways of storing, reading and retrieving contemporary African history. Such artists do so by revisiting diverse forms of archives that are mainly photographic, and which were produced during the colonial and independence eras.     

Digital media,subcultural activity and youth participation: the cases of protest rap and graffiti in Portugal

Over the last decade, we have witnessed the emergence of an academic debate surrounding the relationship between youth and the ‘new media’, with a particular emphasis on the social uses of different digital technologies within the sphere of youth activity. A specific area of research has been dedicated to studying the use of digital media in the context of the so-called youth subcultures. With this article we expect to contribute to this ongoing debate, by examining the problem through an analysis of two interconnected case studies: protest rap and illegal graffiti. Both cases may be defined as subcultures, insofar as they are characterized as alternative, subterranean, and to a certain extent, subversive movements. The empirical ground for this discussion is based on several investigations, with a qualitative basis, carried out by the authors in the course of over a decade in Portugal. This extended time frame allowed ample access to a diversified and matured analytical material and enabled a better perspective of the developments and the mutations involving the appropriation of the digital media. Our researches have shown that digital media and technologies have been gradually integrated in these urban youth subcultures, accomplishing several strategic roles.     

Affective networks: how WeChat enhances Tencent’s digital business governance

An emerging body of literature has revealed that social media enhance digital business governance to facilitate Internet companies in generating profit throughout regulating the everyday lives of users. However, although existing debates are often contextualized in the West, little attention has been paid to China, where social media are widely used. To fill this knowledge gap, this article investigates the digital business governance practiced by Chinese Internet companies such as Tencent. Specifically, I employ an affective lens to analyze how WeChat, the most popular social media application launched by Tencent, allows this Internet company to influence users for its own business purposes. Chinese college students, which constitute a representative group of young people, were early adopters of WeChat, and they have led the trend of social media use in China. Based on a yearlong netnographic study of Chinese college students, the results reveal that the affective design of WeChat captured their attention and influenced their everyday practices. These results provide insight into how digital business governance operates in the Chinese context, in which authoritarianism and capitalism work closely together.     

数字阅读泛化对大学生学习能力影响分析

随着时代的进步，科技日新月异地发展以及网络的普及化，我们迎来了全新的数字化时代，人们的工作学习生活已经网络化了。阅读作为人们获取知识最基本的手段，强烈地受到了网络新媒体的冲击。在高校中，数字阅读已经成为大学生获取信息、进行交流的主要方式，并呈现出泛化的倾向，这也冲击着大学生的学习能力。文章在观察大学生数字化阅读现状的基础上，分析其利与弊，积极探讨如何更好地利用微信、微博、QQ等信息传播手段，规避弊端，提升学习效果，增强理性阅读能力，丰富自身知识结构。     

论著作权客体的演变

著作权客体及其演变是著作权理论和著作权法律制度的重要问题之一。各国著作权法律制度的历史发展表明，著作权法所规定的著作权客体保护范围经历了由小到大的演变过程，而且作品成为受著作权法保护的客体所要求的构成要件呈减少趋势。经济社会的发展，特别是科学技术的发展导致了著作权立法的变化、作品载体的变化以及作品创作方式和表现形式的变化。这些变化是著作权客体保护范围不断扩大的原因。研究著作权客体演变的规律及其原因有益于丰富著作权理论和完善著作权法律制度。     

iConstruct: virtual disabilities in online settings

The present study focused on cultural constructions of disability in virtual settings, examining specifically how cultural constructions of disability were mediated through the use of online technology. This was accomplished by identifying and analyzing Greek Cypriot online news media articles and online readers’ posts in response to these articles. Findings indicated that disability in these online settings mainly reproduced traditional models of disability, with the charity model being more prevalent. However, there were instances in which dominant discourses of disability were ruptured through the introduction of counter-narratives in users’ posts which echoed the human rights model of disability. Implications for the fields of media, education and disability studies are discussed in relation to the possibility of using digital media to contribute to the challenge of critical media literacy to address issues of diversity and disability.     

试论民族地区数字图书馆建设的意义

数字图书馆是信息时代的产物,是图书馆发展历史上的一次深刻革命。数字图书馆不仅代表着图书馆发展的最新方向,而且为文献信息的开发与利用提供了新的机遇。民族地区的数字图书馆建设是民族地区全面建设小康社会、适应信息社会以及进一步开发民族文化资源的迫切需要。     

数字营销传播背景下的新型社会形态研究

随着数字营销传播的发展,社会形态发生了巨大的改变.数字营销传播的载体改变了传统的生活方式,让消费和传播变得更加精准,各种各样私人化的定制服务满足了人们个性化的需求.这种新型的营销传播方式让消费者在市场中占据了主导位置.数字技术在改变生活方式的同时,也改变着人们的认知系统和价值观念.经过数字营销传播的洗礼,社会结构重新部落化,沟通变得更加平等.行业之间开始融合,不同领域的行业边界变得模糊不清.以往的营销传播理念已无法满足当今大变革时代的需求,新型社会形态需要全新的营销传播理论与之相对应.     

电子证据概念与审查认定规则的构建研究

电子证据在中国被确立为一种独立证据类型,具有在范畴以及审查认定标准与规则等方面加以特殊研究的必要性。电子证据就其范畴而言,应定义为“以电子形式存储或传输的、用于证明案件事实的数据或信息”,包含“数据、电子、证据”三个要素;就其独立性及其范围而言,区别于书证和物证,但是与证明案件事实的视听资料证据存在交叉,现有立法将交叉部分纳入到电子证据的规制框架之下,这意味着其取证、保存、出示、审查及认定都将适用电子证据的相关规定。电子证据在物理形式与采集技术上的独特性,导致对传统证据相关规则的极大挑战,在真实性审查和认定规则特殊构建方面要求尤为突出。目前国际上对于电子证据真实性审查的规则呈现出两种发展态势：形式审查的门槛在不断降低;这种降低依赖于证据调查活动规范程度的不断提升,即实质审查层面真实性的提升。中国可以借鉴国际经验,确立和完善关于电子证据实质审查和形式审查两个方面的规则。