Media and Mapping Practices in the Middle East and North Africa

Media and Mapping Practices in the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Alena Strohmaier
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-02-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9048541506

A few months into the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (2009-2001), the promises of social media, including its ability to influence a participatory governance model, grassroots civic engagement, new social dynamics, inclusive societies and new opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs, became more evident than ever. Simultaneously, cartography received new considerable interest as it merged with social media platforms. In an attempt to rearticulate the relationship between media and mapping practices, whilst also addressing new and social media, this interdisciplinary book abides by one relatively clear point: space is a media product. The overall focus of this book is accordingly not so much on the role of new technologies and social networks as it is on how media and mapping practices expand the very notion of cultural engagement, political activism, popular protest and social participation.

Uncommon Grounds

Uncommon Grounds
Author: Anthony Downey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2014-09-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0857724266

In this groundbreaking book, a range of internationally renowned and emerging academics, writers, artists, curators, activists and filmmakers critically reflect on the ways in which visual culture has appropriated and developed new media across North Africa and the Middle East. Examining the opportunities presented by the real-time generation of new, relatively unregulated content online, Uncommon Grounds evaluates the prominent role that new media has come to play in artistic practices - and social movements - in the Arab world today. Analysing alternative forms of creating, broadcasting, publishing, distributing and consuming digital images, this book also enquires into a broader global concern: does new media offer a 'democratisation' of - and a productive engagement with - visual culture, or merely capitalise upon the effect of immediacy at the expense of depth?Featuring full-colour artists' inserts, this is the first book to extensively explore the degree to which the grassroots popularity of Twitter and Facebook has been co-opted into mainstream media, institutional and curatorial characterisations of 'revolution' - and whether artists should be wary of perpetuating the rhetoric and spectacle surrounding political events. In the process, Uncommon Grounds reveals how contemporary art practices actively negotiate present-day notions of community-based activism, artistic agency and political engagement.

A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa

A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Joel Beinin
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2020-12-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1503614484

This book offers the first critical engagement with the political economy of the Middle East and North Africa. Challenging conventional wisdom on the origins and contemporary dynamics of capitalism in the region, these cutting-edge essays demonstrate how critical political economy can illuminate both historical and contemporary dynamics of the region and contribute to wider political economy debates from the vantage point of the Middle East. Leading scholars, representing several disciplines, contribute both thematic and country-specific analyses. Their writings critically examine major issues in political economy—notably, the mutual constitution of states, markets, and classes; the co-constitution of class, race, gender, and other forms of identity; varying modes of capital accumulation and the legal, political, and cultural forms of their regulation; relations among local, national, and global forms of capital, class, and culture; technopolitics; the role of war in the constitution of states and classes; and practices and cultures of domination and resistance. Visit politicaleconomyproject.org for additional media and learning resources.

From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0

From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0
Author: Allam Hamdan
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1022
Release: 2023-07-31
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3031283147

This book aims at bringing together global researchers to generate thought on how this transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 could make a difference to the globe for larger good. The collaboration and interaction between man and machine has given rise to Industry 5.0. With the prime objective of Industry 5.0 to create a benefit for the human beings while tapping on to the advantage of Industry 4.0, in no case, does it replace what has already been achieved. In fact, it brings to light what can be done in order to make life better. While Industry 4.0 offered extraordinary technological advancement, Industry 5.0 reasons out that technology alone is not sufficient to answer everything or provide a solution, but it is an amalgamation of both machine and human interaction to create that difference. In fact, with the impact of widespread digitalization that has led to dehumanization of the industrial makeup, the interest of global researchers has increased toward mapping how the human creativity and brainpower can be reconciled with the intelligent systems that can enhance process efficiency. Industry 5.0 has touched upon some of those key domains which are of much concern and debate globally including resilience (both business and cyber), environment and sustainability, diversity and inclusion, values and ethics, vision and purpose, circular economy, understanding the human–machine collaboration and the ‘human-touch’ in the production process. This transition that has taken place in moving from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 has essentially created a need to pay cognizance to the role of ‘human’ in the process which creates an enhanced focus toward the right kind of skills and competencies, identification of training and developmental needs, talent acquisition and management, safety and wellbeing, future of work as well as hybrid working models. Undeniably, the pace with which Industry 4.0 has been accelerating has bypassed the first three industrial revolutions, which is definitely a consequence of the fast introduction of new and cutting-edge technologies. While organizations are already in analyzing the context, mapping this transition and the flow of activities from Industry 4.0 to 5.0 is gaining attention as Industry 4.0 lacked personalization and customization. This co-existence of man and machine creates a pathway for newer prospects and opportunities to emerge and expand possibilities of personalization with the empowerment of ‘human’ in the production process. This lays the foundation for this book. This book adopts a forward-looking approach by bringing in research and contributions that facilitate in mapping the consereasons, consequences and solutions for ‘man+machine’ across industries. This book serves as a guide not just to academia but also to the industry to adopt suitable strategies that offer insights into global best practices as well as the innovations in the domain.

Re-Configurations

Re-Configurations
Author: Rachid Ouaissa
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2020-10-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3658311606

This edited volume is an open access title and assembles both the historical consciousness and transformation of the MENA region in various disciplinary and topical facets. At the same time, it aims to go beyond the MENA region, contributing to critical debates on area studies while pointing out transregional and cultural references in a broad and comparative manner.

Constructions of Media Authorship

Constructions of Media Authorship
Author: Christiane Heibach
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2020-11-23
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 3110679698

The author is dead, long live the author! This paradox has shaped discussions on authorship since at least the 1960s, when the dominant notion of the individual author-genius was first critically questioned. The ongoing discussion has mainly focused on literature and the arts, but has ignored nearly any artistic practice beyond these two fields. “Constructions of Media Authorship” aims to fill this gap: the volume’s interdisciplinary contributions reflect historical and current artistic practices within various media and attempt to grasp them from different perspectives. The first part sheds a new light on different artistic and design practices and questions the still dominant view on the individual identifiable author. The second part discusses creative practices in literature, emphasizing the interrelation of aesthetic discourses and media practices. The third part investigates authoring in audiovisual media, especially film and TV, while the final part turns to electronic and digital media and their collective creativity and hybrid mediality. The volume is also an attempt to develop new methodological approaches, focusing on the interplay between various human and non-human actors in different media constellations.

Media and Peace in the Middle East

Media and Peace in the Middle East
Author: Giuliana Tiripelli
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2016-04-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137504013

In exploring the dynamics and narratives of peace in journalism, this book explains the media's impact on the transformation of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. It discusses the perspectives of peace activists who have been involved in grassroots action since the first Intifada, and examines how their relation with the mainstream media has evolved over time. It compares these views with those of professional journalists who have been covering the conflict, and their sense of the difficulties inherent in practicing a different kind of journalism. The interviews included in this study contribute towards the model of Peace Journalism, with a view to facilitating its successful application to this conflict. Highlighting both the obstacles and opportunities associated with this endeavour, Tiripelli offers suggestions for the strategic application of this model.

Social Media Images and Conflicts

Social Media Images and Conflicts
Author: Mette Mortensen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2022-11-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000729109

This collection considers how digital images and social media reconfigure the way conflicts are played out, represented and perceived around the globe. Devoted to developing original theoretical frameworks and empirical insights, the volume addresses the role of user images and social media in relation to urgent subjects such as public opinion and emotion, solidarity, evidence and verification, censorship and fake news, which are all central to the ways current conflicts are represented and unfold. Essays include a unique range of case studies from different regional and political contexts (Middle East, Europe, Asia, North America) and in connection with different conflict types (war, terror, riots, everyday resistance, etc.). They also consider performative genres such as memes, selfies and appropriations as well as images conforming to the realism and authenticity of conventional photojournalism. In this way, the collection responds to the challenges of swiftly evolving image genres as well as to the continually shifting policies and algorithms of commercial digital platforms. Together, the essays offer innovative theories and exemplary case studies as a resource for teaching and research in media, journalism and communication programmes. It is also relevant to students, teachers and researchers within sociology, political science, anthropology and related fields.