Meeting in the Global Workplace: Air Travel,Telepresence and the Body

Abstract

In the highly connected and globalised corporate workplace, face-to-face communication is persisting and expanding, despite significant advances and investments in telecommunication. Drawing on interviews with 34 employees from an Australian company trying to reduce air travel associated with business meetings, this paper reveals how telepresence facilitates distinctly different practices of meeting and collaborating to those enabled by face-to-face encounters. The analysis draws attention to the essential role of the body in the practices of virtual and in-person business meetings. During in-person meetings the body’s physical presence conveys meanings of respect and value, provides sensorial competency and gestures, and enables physical mobility as it carries people between and within different material environments. The paper concludes by identifying some possibilities for telepresence meetings to replicate and replace in-person meetings as a normal and effective way of collaborating in the global workplace.     

Family involved or left behind in migration? A family-centred perspective towards Estonia-Finland cross-border commuting

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to find out how the active cross-border mobility of one family member changes the communication patterns inside the family and how it impacts those who stay behind. Concentrating on the case study of Estonian men working in Finland, this paper examines how families are maintaining relationships with people close to them and what kind of new practices are created to overcome the geographical distance. The importance of both active real-life and mediated communication, media usage, and social-media practices, but also new travelling practices are stressed. The perspectives of both the mobile members of the family and those who stay behind are covered with a focus on how all family members are involved in the migration processes. The fieldwork demonstrates that the mobility of one member of the family can influence the partner and children to take a more active position in maintaining communication during the period of working abroad. Through media usage and international visits, the partner and children gain a special kind of transnational lifestyle.     

Driving,Communicating and Working: Understanding the Work-related Communication Behaviours of Business Travellers on Work-related Car Journeys

Abstract

Despite an increasing number of workers requiring to travel extensively in carrying out their work, there are significant gaps in knowledge related to how business travellers make use of journey time. This paper addresses this gap in knowledge by examining the journey-time behaviours of business people travelling by car on work-related journeys. One of the central focuses of the paper is on the extent to which business travellers use mobile communication technologies and the extent to which they experience a pressure to remain in ‘perpetual contact’ with colleagues and clients while travelling.     

追求绝对自由:犯罪发生和发展的重要根源

自由有绝对性的一面,但自由的绝对性和绝对自由不是一回事。现实存在的自由都是相对的。追求绝对自由是造成犯罪发生和发展的一个重要根源,因为它将导致否认平等、蔑视秩序、拒绝规范,实际是行为上的随心所欲,意味着对他人自由的威胁和侵害。     

The Ethical and Clinical Implications of Utilizing Cybercommunication in Face-to-Face Therapy

Information and communication technology has created a new way for individuals to communicate and has entered a number of professional practices, including clinical social work. This article explores the potential ethical and clinical implications when cybercommunication is used in conjunction with traditional face-to-face clinical social work practice. Specific challenges addressed include confidentiality, professional boundaries, effective and competent practice, and unanticipated contact. The authors discuss how information and communication technology is emerging as an inevitable component of the therapeutic exchange, influencing in-person social work practice and the ways that practitioners interact with their clients.     

Meeting at the Thin Places: Synchronicities in Clinical Practice

Unusual events, beyond mere coincidences, may occur during the course of psychotherapy. Yet, clinical training often does not prepare therapists how to understand and potentially engage with these encounters. The aim of this report is to explore the emergence of synchronistic events in therapy, while providing two clinical case composites to illustrate the author’s central points. Drawing on the Celtic concept of “thin places,” a new understanding of synchronicities and the therapeutic relationship is offered.     

Deciding to Institutionalize: Caregiving Crisis,Intergenerational Communication,and Uncertainty Management for Elders and Their Children in Shanghai

This phenomenological study integrated crisis theory, social identity theory, and uncertainty management theory to conceptualize the decision-making process around institutionalization among nursing home residents and their children in Shanghai. I conducted face-to-face, semistructured interviews with 12 dyads of matched elders and their children (N = 24). The findings suggest that caregiving crises triggered intergenerational communication about caregiving alternatives and new arrangements, although each generation had different stances and motivations. Children finalized the decision by helping their parents to manage the uncertainties pertaining to institutionalization. This study sheds light on caregiving decision-making dynamics for the increasing aging population across cultures.     

汉代北边“亡人”:民族立场与文化表现

对于"越塞"的"亡人"予以"逐捕搜索",曾经是汉代长城体系戍守部队的防务内容之一。有汉王朝官员明确指出,当时长城防卫系统的作用"非独为匈奴而已"。论者分析"亡出"、"亡出塞"、"亡走北出"者主要有三种身份:一是往者从军没不还者贫困子孙;二是边人奴婢愁苦者;三是盗贼群辈犯法者。战争中的"亡降"者也是特殊的"亡人"。汉代"亡人"的民族意识并不十分鲜明,在民族关系中不持极端的态度,而取宽和倾向。他们的生产和生活,对于农耕文明与游牧文明的交融,发生了积极的作用。其突出表现,与活动于中原的"胡巫"、"胡骑"在神学职任和军事技能方面的作用类似,即将汉地较为先进的物质文化和生产方式传播到了匈奴地区。漠北匈奴文化遗存中可以更多地看到汉"亡人"的文化创造。     

跨文化交际的新视角:四国一地文化价值调查

采用托尔夫曼和豪威尔的文化价值量表对中国、美国、土耳其、阿曼和澳门的750个样本进行了文化价值取向调查。数据分析主要结果显示,大陆中国人的文化价值取向为"个人主义"。而在全部样本中,阿曼人的"集体主义"价值观最强。在"权力距离"这一变量上,美国人的数值最低,大陆中国人的数值最高。"社会男性化程度"最高的国家是阿曼,最低的是美国。从"不确定性回避"来看,美国人的分值最低,大陆澳门中国人和阿曼人的分值最高。本次研究的总体结果与霍夫斯塔德的理论预设是一致的,但也发现了一些文化价值偏移的现象。     

二十世纪末两性关系的悲歌——论《更多的人死于心碎》的主题意蕴

享乐主义的消费文化刺激现代人的欲望膨胀,两性关系体现为欲望主体与欲望客体的交替轮换.性成为消费社会的核心.古典的爱情在瞬息万变的物质文明中消解.性革命和女权主义运动促成性别意识变革,家的圣坛摇摇欲坠.