Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity

The globalized new economy is bound up with transformations of language and identity in many different ways (cf., e.g. Bauman 1997; Castells 2000; Giddens 1990). These include emerging tensions between State-based and corporate identities and language practices, between local, national and supra-national identities and language practices, and between hybridity and uniformity. Ethnolinguistic minorities provide a particularly revealing window into these processes. In this paper, I explore ways in which the globalized new economy has resulted in the commodification of language and identity, sometimes separately, sometimes together. The paper is based on recent ethnographic, sociolinguistic research in francophone areas of Canada.     

The new economy: a cultural history

Abstract In this article I look at some cultural aspects of the economic frenzy of the 1990s, a period often labelled ‘the new economy’. The focus is on the ways in which processes of culturalization became an important part of production, in such fields as e‐commerce and ‘the experience economy’. How was culture packaged and marketed in new ways, for example in the production of symbols, images, auras, experiences and events? I explore how the technologies of imagineering, performance, styling and design came to play important roles in this process. Other important traits of this development are discussed in a comparison with earlier examples of the emergence of ‘new economies’: the aesthetics and practices of speed, the cult of creativity, ‘the catwalk economy’ and the importance of public display and performance, as well as the importance of ‘newness’.     

New tech,old exploitation: Gig economy,algorithmic control and migrant labour

Digital platforms are the newest technological wave that is reshaping and reconfiguring the economic and labour landscape. Digital platforms often known as the gig economy are increasingly adopting app-based models to connect consumers with workers to complete their on-demand tasks. However, on-demand platforms continue to rely on the unequal division of labour and the precarious nature of the work to create labour markets that can respond accordingly to the increase in service provision. This review highlights two main themes that have emerged within the on-demand gig economy in the current literature—mythical autonomy and algorithmic control and misclassification of labour and the complexity of migrant workers in navigating this space. Finally, this review calls for further research into the inside/outside dichotomy of migrant labour within the gig economy and their experiences of labour exploitation through app-based digital platforms.     

HR软件推荐

已经举办两届的“e-HR在中国”峰会及展览会显示,从招聘到绩效考核.各种软件在人力资源管理中发挥着重要作用,把人力资源部门从烦琐的事务性工作中解放出来,让人力资源管理能与企业的战略发展保持更密切的联系。     

Accountability: New challenges,new forms

Abstract

The general call for more accountability, affecting all western institutions, has reached the communication professionals as well. How can they cope with this new challenge? The danger is that they focus mainly on outcomes, so on performative accountability, whereas decisional accountability, meaning that they are able to explain why they made particular decisions in the process of communication should be a prerequisite, also for quality in performative accountability. Both types of accountability have to go together. The relation with planning approaches is discussed and the ways decisional accountability can be achieved: by ongoing education, internal deliberation or (and this is stressed) external deliberation and examination by external experts.     

The mixed economy, the neoliberal challenge, and the negotiated economy

In recent years the ideal of the mixed economy has been challenged by neoliberal theories. This article reviews the debate. A better definition of the concept is presented and used to clarify what is at stake in the debate.