The Technologisation of the Social

The Technologisation of the Social
Author: Paul O'Connor
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2021-12-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000517985

In an era of digital revolution, artificial intelligence, big data and augmented reality, technology has shifted from being a tool of communication to a primary medium of experience and sociality. Some of the most basic human capacities are increasingly being outsourced to machines and we increasingly experience and interpret the world through digital interfaces, with machines becoming ever more ‘social’ beings. Social interaction and human perception are being reshaped in unprecedented ways. This book explores this technologisation of the social and the attendant penetration of permanent liminality into those aspects of the lifeworld where individuals had previously sought some kind of stability and meaning. Through a historical and anthropological examination of this phenomenon, it problematises the underlying logic of limitless technological expansion and our increasing inability to imagine either ourselves or our world in other than technological terms. Drawing on a variety of concepts from political anthropology, including liminality, the trickster, imitation, schismogenesis, participation, and the void, it interrogates the contemporary technological revolution in a manner that will be of interest to sociologists, social and anthropological theorists and scholars of science and technology studies with interests in the digital transformation of social life.

Innovation in Social Services

Innovation in Social Services
Author: Andreas Langer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2019-08-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3658051760

Across Europe, there is an intense search for new and sustainable approaches to providing welfare. Demographic change, new social risks and other factors call for new ideas to maintain and enhance the performance and quality of social services and to enable the participation of all citizens in an inclusive society. Against this background, and based on the findings of the EU research platform INNOSERV and empirically obtained research results from text and video material, this book provides insights into current approaches and practices to improve and transform social services.

Somatechnics

Somatechnics
Author: Samantha Murray
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2016-04-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317052757

Somatechnics highlights the reciprocal bond between the sôma and the techné of 'the body' and the techniques in which bodies are formed and transformed as crafted responses to the world around us. Structured around the themes of the governance of social bodies, the gendering of sexed bodies and the techniques associated with the formation of the self, Somatechnics presents a groundbreaking study of body modification. Its contributions to the work of Spinoza, Nietzsche, Merleau-Ponty, Deluze and Guattari make it a must read for scholars of sociology, cultural and queer studies and philosophy.

The Routledge International Handbook of Digital Social Work

The Routledge International Handbook of Digital Social Work
Author: Antonio López Peláez
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 462
Release: 2023-06-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000878686

This handbook provides an authoritative and cutting-edge overview of current research and trends related to the emerging field of digital technology and social work. This book is divided into six sections: Reframing Social Work in a Digital Society Shaping a Science of Social Work in the Digital Society Digital Social Work in Practice The Ethics of Digital Social Work Digital Social Work and the Digitalization of Welfare Institutions: Opportunities, Challenges and Country Cases Digital Social Work: Future Challenges, Directions and Transformations This book, comprised of 40 specially commissioned chapters, explores the main intersections between social work theory and practice in an increasingly digitized world. Bringing a critical focus to how social work as a profession is adapting exponentially to embrace the benefits of technology, it gives specific consideration to the digitalization of the social work profession, including the ways in which social workers are using different forms of technology to provide effective services and innovative practice responses. With chapters on big data, digital archiving, e-citizenship and inclusion, gerontechnology, children and technology, and data ethics, this book will be of interest to all social work scholars, students and professionals as well as those working in science and technology studies more broadly.

Texts and Practices

Texts and Practices
Author: Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1134808194

Text and Practices provides an essential introduction to the theory and practice of Critical Discourse Analysis. Using insights from this challenging new method of linguiistic analysis, the contributors to this text reveal the ways in whcih language can be used as a means of social control. The essays in Text and Practices: * demonstrate how critical discourse analysis can be applied to a variety of written and spoken texts * deconstruct data from a range of contexts, countries and spheres * expose hidden patterns of discrimination and inequalities of power Texts and Practices, which includes specially commissioned papers from a range of distinguished authors, provides a state-of-the-art introduction to critical discourse analysis. As such it represents an important contribution to this developing field and an essential text for all advanced students of language, media and cultural studies.

Language, Technology, Humanities in Society 5.0

Language, Technology, Humanities in Society 5.0
Author: Maria Banaś
Publisher: V&R Unipress
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2024-11-18
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 3847017632

The fusion of technologies blurring distinctions between the physical, digital, and biological worlds has become a significant hallmark of the fourth industrial revolution. One answer to shaping the future in the age of the digital revolution is the concept of Society 5.0.; a super-smart society aims to create an efficient reality, regardless of region, age, gender, language, or other factors. The contributors ask about the place for human beings (exclusion or inclusion) and the communication of natural languages in a reality dominated by big data, artificial intelligence, and robotics. They intend to look at selected problems like humanities vs. technology, new perspectives in education and communication, digital and technological revolution. Thus, contributors' considerations capture philosophical reflection, sociological analysis, discourse and corpus analysis, translatology, business, academic, as well as educational insights into the future of traditional studies.

New Media and the Mediatisation of Religion

New Media and the Mediatisation of Religion
Author: Gabriel Faimau
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2018-10-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1527517888

New media, including digital and social media, play a central role in producing and reproducing socio-cultural and religious practices. Its presence has not only resulted in changes to the ways in which religious beliefs are practiced, but has also altered the way religious meanings are expressed. How has new media technology informed and influenced religious engagement and participation? In what ways has new media technology enabled religious groups to practice and preach their religious beliefs to a broader audience? To what extent has the emergence of social media and social networking sites shaped religious discourses and religious practices? This volume offers a unique, Africa-centred perspective in response to these questions. While presenting new scholarly developments in the fields of media, religion and culture in Africa, this book also provides empirical and theoretical insights into the intersection between new media and religion.

Body Technologies in the Greco-Roman World

Body Technologies in the Greco-Roman World
Author: Maria Gerolemou
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2023-11-16
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1835536433

A collection of papers that introduces the notion of the technosoma (techno body) into discussions on the representations of the body in classical antiquity. By applying the category of the technosoma to the ‘natural’ body, this volume explicitly narrows down the discussion of the technical and the natural to the physiological body. In doing so, the present collection focuses on body technologies in the specific form of beautification and body enhancement techniques, as well as medical and surgical treatments. The volume elucidates two main points. Firstly, ancient techno bodies show that the categories of gender and sexuality are at the core of the intersection of the natural and the technical, and intersect with notions of race, age, speciesism, class and education, and dis/ability. Secondly, the collection argues that new body technologies have in fact a very ancient history that can help to address the challenges of contemporary technological innovation. To this end, the volume showcases the intersection of ‘natural’ bodies with technology, gender, sexuality and reproduction. On the one hand, techno bodies tend to align with normative ideas about gender, and sexuality. On the other hand, body modification and/or enhancement techniques work hand in hand with economic and political power and knowledge, thus they often produce techno bodies that are shaped according to individual needs, i.e. according to a certain lifestyle. Consequently, techno bodies threaten to alter traditional ideas of masculinity, femininity, male and female sexuality and beauty.

Encyclopedia of International Sports Studies

Encyclopedia of International Sports Studies
Author: Roger Bartlett
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 1564
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1135223874

Now available in paperback, the Encyclopedia of International Sports Studies is the most authoritative and comprehensive single-volume reference work ever published on sport. With over one million words of text arranged into more than 1000 entries and articles, it covers the full range of sub-disciplines within sports studies; including scientific, social scientific and medical approaches. The encyclopedia is alphabetically organized and consists of: principal articles covering key disciplinary areas, such as sports economics and sports history large topical entries on central subjects such as resistance training and the diagnosis of sports injuries smaller topical entries on subjects such as cross training and projectile motion short overviews of other important terms and concepts, from metabolism and motivation to muscle tension-length relationship. With over 150 contributing authors from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong and continental Europe, the Encyclopedia of International Sports Studies is an unparalleled work of sports scholarship. Accessibly written, facts-fronted and including full cross-referencing and guides to further reading throughout, this is an essential addition to the bookshelf of any student, researcher, teacher or professional working in sport.

GenEthics

GenEthics
Author: Kurt Bayertz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 1994
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 9780521416931

An analysis of the ethical controversies surrounding technological intervention in human reproduction.