Mapping the Super‐Whale: Towards a Mobile Ethnography of Situated Globalities

Abstract

In empirical discussion on global connections, frequent allusions are made to Michael Burawoy’s ‘global’ and George Marcus’ ‘multi‐sited’ ethnographies. While both have inspired transnational fieldwork, neither methodological approach has sufficiently analysed the local‐global dichotomy embedded at their core. Drawing on actor‐network theory (ANT), this article suggests an alternative framework for mobile ethnography, better suited to a social world conceived in network‐relational terms. Employing metaphors of mobility, scale‐making, and cartography, an empirically driven approach to situated and plural ‘globalities’ is outlined. These claims are developed drawing on the author’s inquiries into Japanese whaling practices, showing how ‘ethno‐socio‐cartography’ can contribute to the mapping of global‐scale micro‐cosmoses.     

A Community of Strangers? Mobile Media,Art, Tactility and Urban Encounters with the Other

Abstract

This article is concerned with detailing key instances where mobile media (especially mobile gaming and mobile media art) have been used to make connections with relative and complete strangers. The article is divided into three parts. The first examines two key examples of past experimental design that explicitly explored questions of mobility and difference. The second section details more contemporary experimental engagements with mobile technologies that seek to perform urban encounters with ‘the Other’. The third and final part of the article reads both sets of experimental work through the lens of (poststructuralist) philosophical engagements with the concepts of community and difference.     

Jack’d,a Mobile Social Networking Application: A Site of Exclusion Within a Site of Inclusion

User-generated smartphone applications have created a new level of virtual connectivity for gay males, one in which users can create profiles and meet other users as nearby or as far away as possible. For those within close proximity, the other users can be considered their “virtual neighbors.” Although the applications are theoretically designed to be places of inclusion and not exclusion, where any gay male with economic means can download an application, many profiles have been created that exclude other users. Through an examination of profiles on one such application, Jack’d, exclusion is found in the way users celebrate and reinforce ideas of traditional masculinity and denigrate and reinforce stereotypic ideas of femininity embodied by some gay men. Jack’d, and other user-generated smartphone applications, can be read as virtual neighborhoods where one is excluded based on their gender performance.     

Neo‐Nomadism: A Theory of Post‐Identitarian Mobility in the Global Age

This article focuses on a theoretical discussion about the interrelations between global hypermobility and subjectivity formation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among expatriates that circulate through global circuits of countercultural lifestyle, the study initially evinces the cultural and conceptual significance of global nomadism. It then detects conceptual limitations for the investigation of fluidic and metamorphic formations in global studies. Through a dialogue between the anthropology of nomadism and philosophy of nomadology, the article then seeks to integrate tropes of fluidity, rootlessness and aesthetic reflexivity into an ideal‐type of postidentitarian mobility (neo‐nomadism), a device for investigating the cultural effects of hypermobility on self, identity and sociality. It includes methodological notes on nomadic ethnography. The article concludes that the neo‐nomad is both a phenomenon and a concept that allows us to rethink models of subjectivity formation in globalization.     

Travel and the ‘Freedom of Movement’: Racialised Encounters and Experiences Amongst Ethnic Minority Tourists in the EU

This paper presents a conceptual‐based discussion dealing with social and geo‐political concerns associated with the tourism experiences and travel encounters of ethnic minority citizens living in member‐states of the European Union (EU). Although EU legislation emphasises that its citizens have freedom of movement throughout member‐states, the prevalence of racialised situations transpiring within, across and beyond EU borders suggests that this commitment is socio‐politically ambiguous. The popular hysteria that has developed towards increased immigration from non‐EU countries extends to those minorities who have legal status of entry, residency and/or citizenship – as they too are visibly different from Europe's white majorities. The paper thus reflects on ways in which the 11 September 2001 attacks in America have had a detrimental impact on people's tourism and travel experiences, particularly in instances where individuals have been treated with high levels of suspicion from institutional bodies and ethnic (white) majorities. The work firmly emphasises that racial prejudice, institutional racism and xeno‐racist practices restrict ethnic minority citizens from appreciating cosmopolitan‐based tourism experiences and engaging in congenial exchanges with other European cultures and societies. One of the main contentions asserts that racialised movements limit ethnic minority citizens from achieving full rights to social and (multi)cultural forms of citizenship. The conclusion suggests ways in which researchers ought to respond to the study of tourism and racism within the EU.     

Post‐colonial Pakistani Mobilities: the Embodiment of the ‘Myth of Return’ in Tourism

This paper examines post‐migration mobilities of a Pakistani diaspora (Luton, UK) by identifying the embodiment of the ‘myth of return’ in tourism participation to the homeland, Pakistan. The interpretive ethnographic accounts re‐consider the ‘myth of return’ concerning the emigration and immigration nexus. The continuation of traditions such as duties and obligations transmitted through the myth in tourism are analysed. The paper argues that the ‘myth’ is imperative to understanding the meanings the Pakistani community attaches to tourism motivations. The conclusion argues that the ties between post‐colonial diasporas and the homelands can be explained through post‐migration tourism mobilities.     

Individual Differences in Social Comparison and its Consequences for Life Satisfaction: Introducing a Short Scale of the Iowa–Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure

Research in social psychology has shown individual variation in the tendency to compare one’s own opinions and abilities with those of other people, raising the question of whether social comparisons are psychological dispositions. To test the empirical validity of this proposition, Gibbons and Buunk (1999) created an instrument, the Iowa–Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM), that measures the tendency to engage in social comparison and captures central aspects of the self and the other. This paper analyzes the reliability and validity of the INCOM scale for the German population and discusses potentials for shortening the instrument for continued use in large-scale population surveys. Interdependencies between psychological and structural characteristics are investigated and consequences for life satisfaction discussed. The results show evidence that individuals systematically vary in their orientation towards social comparison.     

More than Mobile: Migration and Mobility Impacts from the ‘Technologies of Change’ for Aboriginal Communities in the Remote Northern Territory of Australia

Changes in the patterns of quotidian physical mobility of the population are at the very centre of transformations in contemporary urban life. The city of Santiago, Chile is no exception to this trend. But these changes do not affect the whole population in the same way. This paper is based on a case study of a low‐income population group and how their situation of social exclusion interferes with their patterns of everyday mobility. In order to do so we describe in‐depth their everyday mobility in two central interrelated aspects: where and how these individuals travel during workdays and weekends. We conclude that in contemporary Santiago the low degrees of motility of low income population constitute one of the main ways in which contemporary social exclusion is enacted in everyday practice.     

Mobile Air Monitoring: Measuring Change in Air Quality in the City of Hamilton, 2005–2010

This paper examines the change in air pollutant concentrations between 2005 and 2010 occurring in the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. After analysis of stationary air pollutant concentration data, we analyze mobile air pollutant concentration data. Air pollutants included in the analysis are CO, PM_2.5, SO₂, NO, NO₂, and NO_X. Stationary monitoring indicates a continuous reduction in air pollutant concentrations. Stationary monitors only cover a small spatial extent of Hamilton. Mobile monitoring of air pollutant concentrations, averaged over census tract boundaries, indicates both improvement and decline in air quality. These improvements and declines in air quality are spatially clustered throughout Hamilton. Mobile data indicated significant decline in median pollutant concentration for CO, SO₂, PM_2.5, and NO₂; but significant increase for NO and NO_X. Air quality change in Hamilton is spatially heterogeneous, and is not captured based on the current stationary monitoring network. Coupling of mobile and stationary air pollutant concentration monitoring provides a more accurate spatial assessment of local air quality.     

“Hope in a hashtag”: the discursive activism of #WhyIStayed

Hashtag feminism, or feminist activism that unfolds through Twitter hashtags, has become a powerful tactic for fighting gender inequities around the world. Feminist media research, however, has yet to grasp the implications of this new form and social movement research has yet to model the conditions under which activists successfully mobilize online. This article builds on research regarding the potential and limitations of hashtag feminism to consider a question that remains understudied: what is the process through which a feminist hashtag develops into a highly visible protest? Through a case study of #WhyIStayed, which arose in response to a 2014 NFL domestic violence controversy, I frame hashtag feminism as an extension of the movement’s historically rooted discursive tactics. Hashtag feminism’s narrative form implies that the conditions for a successful online feminist protest parallel the elements of an effective dramatic performance. Using data collected from Twitter and news media, I identify the dramatic elements that propelled #WhyIStayed tweets from online personal expressions to online collective action.     

Application of the “Benefit-Of-the-Doubt” Approach for the Construction of a Digital Access Indicator: A Revaluation of the “Digital Access Index”

The use of composite indicators as a tool for ranking and making decisions is ever increasing in a world marked by the inequalities and competition in all domains. However, the dependence of countries ranking on the weighing scheme used to aggregate individual indices or sub-indicators, most of the time set by experts/stakeholders may weaken the credibility of composite indicators. One method which is able to overcome these limits is the “Data Envelopment Analysis” approach, particularly named “Benefit-Of-the-Doubt” in the context of composite indicators’ construction. We propose a revaluation of the Digital Access Index given that Information technology is the most important factor driving improvement in a wide array of areas critical for the quality of life for individuals as well as societies. We have shown that this method is more suitable for identifying trends and drawing attention to particular issues and also for setting policy priorities. In fact, the weights of the individual indices, used to compute the composite indicators are based on the data itself and are proper for the country under consideration. These weights contain adequate information in order to help policy-makers to better understand the nature of the new innovation economy and the types of public policies needed to drive innovation, productivity and broad-based prosperity for its citizens.     

Voluntary Pensions Development and the Adequacy of the Mandatory Pension System: Is There a Trade-Off?

Social Indicators Research - The policy-makers’ efforts to increase the role of voluntary pension systems observed in many countries reflect a more general tendency, which is the...     

Age patterns of mortality for older women: An analysis using the age‐specific rate of mortality change with age

The age‐specific rate of mortality change with age, defined by k(x) = d Inμ(x)/dx, where μ(x) is the age‐specific death rate at exact age x, is estimated for middle and old ages in ten selected populations that are considered to have relatively accurate age data. For females in each of the study populations, k(x) follows a bell‐shaped curve that usually peaks around age 75. In some of the populations, the age pattern of k(x) for males is confounded with substantial cohort variations, which seem to reflect long‐term impacts of their World War I experiences.

Among the mathematical models proposed by Gompertz, Makeham, Perks and Beard, only the Perks model is consistent with the bell‐shaped pattern of k(x). It is shown that, if the risk of death for every individual follows the Makeham equation and if the individual frailty is gamma‐distributed, then the age‐specific death rate follows the Perks equation.     

The effect of women’s participation in the labour market on the postponement of first childbirth: a comparison of Italy and Hungary

This paper analyses the effect of increasing female participation in the labour market on the transition to first childbirth. Regional perspectives are considered to help us understand how postponement behaviour is changing over time and at different paces in each region. The analysis is based on the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey of Italy and Hungary. We use a multilevel event history random intercept model to examine the effect of individuals’ positions in the labour market on the transition to motherhood, controlling for differences in macrolevel factors related to regional backgrounds in the two countries. The regional data for Italy came from the Italian National Statistical Institute, and for Hungary from our imputation developed from the time series available at the national and the regional levels (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, KSH). The postponement of first childbirth is strongly linked to the increasing involvement of women in paid work, but with opposite effects in the two countries. Even if we control for changes in women’s levels of education over time and for shifts in women’s aspirations and levels of attainment in the labour market, we find that being employed remains a risk factor for the postponement of the first birth among Italian women, and a strong protective factor among Hungarian women. At the contextual level, the variables that take into account the regional socio-economic changes provides evidence of important effects on individual behaviour among Italian women, and of only minor effects among Hungarian women. All of the regional breakdowns in both Italy and Hungary show that the postponement of motherhood goes hand-in-hand with the acceptance of deep cultural and socio-economic changes.     

The Set Point Theory of Well-Being Has Serious Flaws: On the Eve of a Scientific Revolution?

Set-point theory is the main research paradigm in the field of subjective well-being (SWB). It has been extended and refined for 30 years to take in new results. The central plank of the theory is that adult set-points do not change, except temporarily in the face of major life events. There was always some ‘discordant data’, including evidence that some events are so tragic (e.g. the death of one’s child) that people never regain their set-point. It was possible to dismiss these events as ‘exceptions’ and maintain the theory. However, several new findings are emerging, which cannot be dismissed as ‘exceptions’ and which appear to require substantial revisions or replacement of set-point theory. Many of these findings are based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP 1984-), which provides the longest available time series on life satisfaction. Despite its centrality, the concept of the set-point is often not precisely defined. In this paper three alternative working definitions are offered. Depending on which definition is used, it is found that over 20 years 14–30% of German panel members recorded large and apparently permanent changes in their set-points. Changes of this magnitude are not compatible with set-point theory as currently understood. The challenge for SWB researchers now is to develop a theory which can account for change as well as stability.     

Mumbling Beauty: Louise Bourgeois—portraits of the artist as a much older woman

Abstract

This article examines how Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) plays with different modes of self-presentation in Mumbling Beauty (2015), a photo book consisting of 81 photographs of the artist taken in the final years of her life by Alex Van Gelder. I start by outlining connections and divergences between these self-presentations and interpretations of Bourgeois’ late style. As the portraits make the artist hypervisible as a much older vulnerable woman, I ask how Mumbling Beauty can resist abjection. I will argue that strategies of performance, masquerade, and displacement, in combination with playful interactions with mirror surfaces and images, and flirtations with photography’s death drive, enable these portraits to diversify notions of self and beauty. Furthermore, through the concepts of the ethical stare and the holding gaze, I interpret the relational, intercorporeal, and affective potential of this particular photographic practice. To conclude, I speculate on how these particular portraits of the artist as a much older woman can be inspirational in terms of conceptualizing creative skills that even people who are not professional artists may need in their quest for meaning in later life beyond hegemonic discourses of “successful” and “healthy” ageing.     

Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Did the Promise of Enlightenment Come True?

In the eighteenth century ‘Enlightened’ thinkers challenged the belief that happiness exists only in Heaven. They claimed that happiness is possible in earthly life and foresaw that greater happiness would be achieved using reason. Did this promise of greater happiness come true? Several scholars doubt that we have become any happier and some claim that happiness has declined. These critical claims are tested using the time trend data available in the World Database of Happiness, which cover the period 1950–2010 and involve 1531 data points in 67 nations yielding 199 time-series ranging for 10 to more than 40 years. The analysis reveals that happiness has risen in most nations. The average yearly rise in the 67 nations was +0.012 on scale 0–10, which equals a rise of one full point every 83 years. At this rate happiness must have improved by more than two points over the past two centuries and, together with increasing longevity, this denotes an unprecedented rise in happy life years.     

Macro‐demographic effects of the transition to adulthood: Multistate stable population theory and an application to Italy

We exploit a multistate generalisation of a classical, one‐sex, stable population model to evaluate structural and long‐term effects of changes in the attainment of adulthood. The demographic framework that inspired this paper is provided by Italy, where a strong delay in the transition to adulthood and union formation has been observed over the last several decades. Italy has also experienced very low fertility levels, and the subsequent ageing problems have become of primary concern. We first discuss a theoretical framework based on the model developed by Inaba (1995) and then include the process of transition to adulthood. We consider explicitly some specifications of the general model, and we present two distinct empirical applications, one using macrosimulation and the other one using a linear approximation. Our principal aim is to evaluate the impact of the delay in the attainment of adulthood on reproduction and on the age structure of the population.     

External Information Model in a Compositional Perspective: Evaluation of Campania Adolescents’ Preferences in the Allocation of Leisure-Time

Social Indicators Research - The study of preferences of leisure-time activities provides important information on the characteristics and inclinations of specific demographics. Modeling these data...