This study explicates Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) as a textually mediated discursive management tool. EBT is the mandatory method for food benefits and replaces the previous food stamp coupons, but the broad reaching significance is that this program is just a developmental infrastructure. The goal of the U.S. Treasury is for all government transactions, approximately $2.5 trillion a year, to be electronically conducted (National Performance Review 1993). To initiate the process, they set the first target as the 126 government benefit programs, including Social Security, Social Security, Veteran's Administration, Student Loans, Medicaid, Medicaid, Unemployment, even tax refunds. The food stamp program (now called SNAP) was selected to develop the foundational architecture of EBT. It is the forerunner of things to come. With every transaction, EBT collects data not about shopping activities or food purchases, but social and life activities that are used to construct an institutional hyperreality. EBT is to create invisible access to and uninterrupted use of data as hypertext to manufacture and orchestrate a discursive hyperreality and ideologically imagined users. These data are a social hypertext (Smith 1990, 1999). They are connected and arranged, and applied in very specific ways to communicate, activate, and articulate social and institutional relationships. They are used to represent not the lived experience but the institutional view. While they have meaning and use in their original form, hypertexts take on new proportion and significance in terms of social relations. Using institutional ethnography, I begin with the standpoint of the lived experiences of people with disabilities using EBT as the point of entry, then follow EBT's workings to reveal how it is shaping social relations and hegemonic restructuring. Topics covered include disability, age, welfare, privatization, data mining, data warehousing, and socio-technical systems and products. They lead to findings I conceptualize as hyperveillance: the use of data not just for surveillance and control, but to reify social constructs and orchestrate ruling relations. Hyperveillance is how data as hypertext are institutionally managed to invisibly insert and mediate power, mediate interdependent discursive linkages, and orchestrate social relations on both and individual and class level. To achieve this, I analytically explicate a five step Hyperveillance Circuit in terms of a digital dialectic. It begins with the swipe of the EBT card that generates the data (i.e., hypertext) and follows it through collection, analysis, ideological assemblage, and finally, its use to construct events in the institutional lens to reify hyperreality and sociological constructs. Along the hyperveillance circuit, I make analytical departure that informs broader social relations and hegemonic restructuring. This includes analytic indulgence to the fact that data as hypertext are mined, warehoused, and cross-matched with up to 2000 additional databases, and shared with other institutions and agencies for a virtually endless array of applications. At this point, I examine the implications of the ubiquitous and atemporal aspects of these practices of hyperveillance to include how they are changing social relations and how they contemporize foundational sociological concepts, especially objectification, interaction, and reification. Another analytical direction inculpates a hyperveillance industry: the government pays private companies to use the hypertext to manufacture socio-technical products that reify institutional ideology, then the companies further their profits and power by selling the products back to the government. These finding lead me to offer a Dynamic Model of Institutionalization as a research tool to explicate other digital discourses and socio-technical processes. It consists of three primary components - a target population, a dialectic of hypertext, and a legislated policy; ideology is used to unify and operationalize discursive workings. Throughout my work, the supporting analytical framework is digital discourse consisting of hypertext and what I conceptualize as hyperveillance. My research on EBT shows how hyperveillance is weaving itself into our social fabric as a way of life, and into ruling relations as an `improved' discursive approach. EBT has been uncontested and unrecognized as a discursive management tool and insertion of social and ruling relations. My research changes that, but what remains unanswered is the extent to which EBT, digital discourse, will ultimately change our social structure.

No description available.

Studiens avsikt har varit att studera en ny, indirekt, inriktning av forskningsfältet upplevelseekonomi (experience economy) som inte tidigare behandlats, till skillnad från fältets klassiska, direkta inriktning. Studien har avgränsats mot dokusåpor, då det idag kan anses vara en del av den “nya”, indirekta upplevelseekonomin i dagens post-moderna samhälle. Fältet har tidigare avsett ett direkt värdeskapande som kommit till följd av produkter och tjänster, men idag avser upplevelser även indirekta sinnesintryck som skapas av andra, exempelvis genom att titta på dokusåpor där vi upplever genom att titta på deltagarnas känslor och miljöer. Studien har försökt att studera hur denna indirekta inriktning kan påverka vår uppfattning av äkthet, det vill säga verklighets-uppfattning, när det gäller att särskilja simulationer från verklighet, även kallat hyperverklighet. Vidare har studien avsett att undersöka millennier, (de som är födda mellan år 2000 och 2010, och har haft tillgång till teknik och sociala medier allt sedan uppväxten), och hur deras uppfattningar och känslor kring kärleksrelationer påverkats av de sinnesintrycken från dokusåpornas innehåll som många gånger fokuserar på drama för att skapa underhållning (exempelvis Paradise Hotel, Love Island, Bonde söker fru, Middag med mitt ex etc.). Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen från studien är att millenniers uppfattning av kärleksrelationen kan påverkas till följd av de sinnesintryck som uppkommer vid konsumtion av dokusåpor. Studien tyder också på att tillit och externa faktorer som ekonomi och politik idag spelar lika stor roll, om inte större roll, i kärleksrelationer, än kärleken i sig. / The purpose with this study has been to examine a new, indirect alignment in the field of experience economy. The field has not previously been studied, unlike the more classical, direct approach of the field. The study has been delimited, and thus only reviews the recent phenomenon, reality shows - a phenomenon which in recent times has seemed to increase significantly and is an example of the “new”, indirect experience economy in today’s postmodern society. Previously, the field of research put its main focus on the development of products and services, but as for today experiences are created in new ways, by a different kind of stimuli. such as sensory expressions given by other people in our surroundings. The study examines how this indirect alignment can affect our perception of what is fake and what is original (authenticity), also called hyperreality. Furthermore, the study reviews how millennials’ (those who were born between 2000 – 2010, and furthermore have had access to the digital technology and social media all their life) feelings and perceptions of relationships (of love) are influenced by the consumption of reality shows whose content mostly depicts drama (for example Paradise Hotel, Love Island, Bonde söker fru and Middag med mitt ex). The main conclusion of this study is that millennials’ expectations of relationships (of love) can be affected by the sensory impressions received from other people or from the experiences received by consuming reality shows in a frequent manner. The study also indicates that trust and other external factors, such as economics or politics, as for today play a bigger role in the development of long-lasting relationships (of love). Love (expressed in feelings) itself tends to be secondary and not nearly as important.

The thesis Photography and fashion: formation of Empty Image explores the phenomenon of fashion photography as it appears in lifestyle magazines. The hypothesis of this study is that the current fashion photography uses creative painting techniques, which denies the key idea about photography - that photography mirrors reality - but in the same time photography recipients are expected to believe this idea. This leads us to the assumption that fashion misuses photography. Fashion Photography, by constant repetition and displaying identical objects that in reality don't exist, which only refer to an indefinite referent gives rise to an empty image with no meaning. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This thesis explores the renewal process within the Moderate Party from a postmodern perspective, focusing on epideictic rhetoric and theories of pseudo-events. By analyzing the party's strategic repositioning and communication methods, the study examines how the Moderates reshaped their public image and relationship with the electorate. Utilizing examples from political statements and internal documents, the thesis demonstrates how staged events and media appearances were used to direct public discourse. It also highlights how this renewal work contributed to shaping the party's identity and strategy in an era characterized by the increasing significance of media and image-focused political communication. This study thereby contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature of contemporary political communication and its effects on democratic processes and political engagement.

No description available.

This paper analyzes the blurred boundaries between human and artificial intelligence in Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. A postmodern theoretical and critical approach that employs Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of simulacra and hyperreality and Jaques Derrida’s deconstructive theory provides the conceptual framework for the analysis. The primary focus is on the main character, Rick Deckard, as he grapples with identity, ethics, and the very nature of humanity in a world where androids are indistinguishable from humans. The essay identifies two focus points in the novel. The first analyzes and deconstructs the real versus artificial (human/android) dichotomy in the book and shows how isreconstructs the essence of identity and reality. The second focus point is the novel’s portrayal of empathy, supposedly a defining human trait and yet one mimicked by androids so well that it is practically useless as a criterion for distinguishing androids from humans. The conclusion drawn by this analysis is that Rick Deckard and the characters he meets may indeed illustrate Baudrillard’s hyperreality, depicting a world where humans are willfully stunting their own emotions and autonomy, lost in the false reality that society has constructed. Furthermore, the ethical dilemmas raised by playing God with life, even if it is artificial, align with Derrida’s deconstructive views of how non-binary all life is. This is especially seen in the contrasting depictions of Rachael (android) and Resch (human). Derrida’s views on humanity’s dissimulation of the cruelty of its exploitations, justified by humanity’s own parameters for what is deemed right and wrong, is also seen in Deckard’s moral struggles and the cruelty androids must endure as described by Rachael. This is lastly compared and contrasted with the contemporary development of AI and its potential dangers, shedding light on ethical considerations. While the AI available to us today is far from the kind of artificial intelligence Dick presents in the form of androids, it is, perhaps, not too soon for us to begin considering the moral and ethical implications now so that should the day come, we will be ready and avoid the crisis humanity has fallen into in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Šis tarpdisciplininis magistro darbas yra konceptuali galios ir realybės (tam tikra prasme ir autentiškumo) studija. Viena nuo kitos sunkiai atsiejamos pastarosios sąvokos yra analizuojamos per tris plačius teorinius pjūvius – hiperrealybę, orientalizmą bei šiuos procesus katalizuojančią ir iš dalies logistinę funkciją atliekančią antrąją modernybę. Galios ir realybės santykis darbe analizuojamas ne tiek per fizinį silpnesniojo pavergimą, kiek mėginimus modifikuoti tikrovę bei vaizdinių pagalba kurti hiperrealybę, subordinuotą galios subjekto interesams. Atvejo studijai pasirinkta galios implikuota Jungtinių Arabų Emyratų (JAE) hiperrealybė bei sąlygas jos atsiradimui paklojusi antroji modernybė. Atlikta empirinė ir teorinė analizė atskleidžia, jog įspūdingi Emyratų kultūros objektai, iliustruojami leksinėmis hiperbolėmis ir kvapą gniaužiančiais vaizdais, tėra simuliakras, neatspindintis tikrovės ar vietos kultūros, bet siekiantis pačią tikrovę pakeisti. Be to, JAE yra naujos rūšies simuliakras, kurio esminiu požymiu galima laikyti vertybiškai svetimos kultūros perėmimą bei pavertimą „sava“, siekiant simbolinio pripažinimo. Šio Emyratų, kaip globalaus pasaulio galios centro, pripažinimo, kuris yra ir šalies modernizacijos katalizatorius, ir nedemokratinio valdančiojo režimo legitimacijos įrankis, siekiama drastiškai aukojant autentiškumą bei kuriant „faraoniškus“ kultūros projektus, kurie šiame darbe laikomi kultūros utopija. Be to, autentiškumo ignoravimas ir Oriento (JAE)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This interdisciplinary Master thesis is a conceptual investigation of power and reality (in a sense of authenticity as well). The following concepts which are hardly distinguishable from each other are analyzed via three theoretical layers – hyperreality, orientalism and the late modernity which works both as a catalyst for these processes and as a logistical tool. The relation between power and reality is revealed not through physical subjugation of the weaker but rather through the attempts to modify reality and with the help of images to create hyperreality that is subordinated to self-interests of the mighty. As the case study the power implicated hyperreality of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the second modernity that conditioned it has been chosen. Empirical and theoretical analysis reveals that spectacular Emirati cultural objects, illustrated by lexical hyperboles and breath-taking images merely is a simulacra that does not reflect reality or local culture but seeks to alter that reality. Furthermore UAE is a new kind of simulacra characterized by accepting and transforming into “their own” the foreign culture that is alien to the one found within local cultural context in order to obtain symbolic recognition. The symbolic recognition of Emirati as one of the hubs of global power is both the catalyst of Emirati modernization and the instrument of legitimacy of the ruling elite. This recognition is pursued by ‘pharaonic’ cultural objects (cultural utopia) and... [to full text]

This study is a practice-led research that visually examines how the sense of self and identity are experienced within the complexity and multiplicity of selves in a technologically saturated culture. This dissertation, “Deconstructing consciousness in contemporary hyperreality: The multiphrenic self and identity”, is the theoretical component of this research which underpins and discusses the visual works that comprise of three multimedia installations that focus on images of the fractured self, the re-imagining of faces behind facial recognition programmes, and the embodiment of space and aesthetic significance within re-appropriation of images within social media platforms. The practical component falls within multi-media art often associated with video art and installation art within contemporary art. By recognising postmodern identity theories, this study investigates the postmodern subject’s concept of self and identity formation within a world that is influenced by the constant glare of technology and viral1 media exposure. How the development and proliferation of technology in the contemporary world, shapes one’s sense of self and identity. The fragmented postmodern subject exists within this context of “viral media” that describes the endless parasitism and dominance of media, where information is perpetuated as part of representation. Due to the perpetual state of virtual re-invention of the “self” within this realm, a digital footprint of identity and traces of personal information are available to others publicly and globally. This context generates a fractured postmodern self that globally exists within a perpetual sense of the present. This research visually and theoretically reflects on the concepts of postmodern schizophrenia and the multiphrenic self, in relation to identity and how participation on social media platforms can enhance a feeling of fragmented self. To address the main argument, it is the contention of the research to deliberate that identity formation is continually and compulsively shaped and reshaped through adapting to specific social environments. The study further argues that the multitude of digital networks (and the everyday practices occurring within and between them) form a different kind of platform and space that affects identity formation. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology

Submitted by Odilio Hilario Moreira Júnior (odilio@espm.br) on 2016-11-28T18:58:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Oziel Gheirart.pdf: 4330648 bytes, checksum: 63196fb5ab7ffe84c9d660614e37b122 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Odilio Hilario Moreira Júnior (odilio@espm.br) on 2016-11-28T18:59:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Oziel Gheirart.pdf: 4330648 bytes, checksum: 63196fb5ab7ffe84c9d660614e37b122 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Cristina Bonfim Aquarone (deborabonfim@espm.br) on 2016-11-28T19:02:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Oziel Gheirart.pdf: 4330648 bytes, checksum: 63196fb5ab7ffe84c9d660614e37b122 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-28T19:03:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oziel Gheirart.pdf: 4330648 bytes, checksum: 63196fb5ab7ffe84c9d660614e37b122 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-25 / The digital project has been implemented in the Post-Modernity as something discontinuously decisive. With the help of the mediatic polyphony, which promotes this transposition to the imateriality, the subject disconnect to invisible fields. The reality is violently altered by virtuality. Life becomes eternal and present through new spacial categories, time and speed. The old model of the subject shatters when it is confronted to a new mobile culture, which starts getting a form. The experience is brutally altered in its re-enchantment, in the process of estheticizing life, in the inverted logic of consume and is reflected in the constitution of culture. The latter needs new forms to inteerpret the new reality. Thus, the concretion of exteriority and of the ephemeral become autonomous in a still misty horizon. In a world whose mark is the ephemeral, how can one still think of an individual who can still feel enchantment for society? How can the perspective of the human being as a transforming-agent be possible in a society dominated by individualism, the lack of social compromise and even eye-to-eye contact among people? The routine of our "modern times" has been devoured by the technological voracity and by the ferocity of capital. Those seem to divide and make any chance of re-grouping, of fellowship, of "alive and kicking" humanity, of utopia. Thus, what intertwines the actions is an uncanny feeling, a unquietness. How can the subject be thought amongst that all? Such reflexions have emerged in this work, which aims to not only a diagnostic of our present situation - a world in which so many technological communication resources make us go beyond our real condition to escape from our own reality - but also to new possibilities. / O projeto digital foi implementado na pós-modernidade como algo descontinuamente decisivo. Com a ajuda da polifonia midiática, que promove essa transposição para a imaterialidade, o sujeito se descola para as terras invisíveis. Com a virtualidade, altera-se violentamente o real – a vida se eterniza e presentifica pelas novas categorias de espaço, tempo e velocidade. O modelo antigo de sujeito se estilhaça, frente a uma nova cultura móvel que vai se incorporando. A experiência se altera brutalmente no seu reencanto, na estetização da vida, na lógica invertida do consumo e reflete na constituição da cultura – que necessita de novas formas para interpretar esse novo real. Com isso, a concretização da exterioridade e da eferemidade se autonomizam, num horizonte ainda nebuloso. Num mundo em que o efêmero é uma marca, como pensar num individuo que possa ainda se reencantar pela sociedade? Numa sociedade em que o individualismo, a falta de compromisso social e até mesmo de contato “olho no olho” entre as pessoas predomina, como ainda ter perspectivas com o ser humano enquanto agente de transformação? O cotidiano dos nossos “tempos modernos” foi devorado pela voracidade tecnológica e pela ferocidade do capital que divide e parece tornar impossível qualquer chance de re-aglutinamento, de companheirismo, de humanidade “ao vivo e em cores”, de utopia. Então, o que permeia as ações é um desconforto, um desassossego. Como pensar o sujeito em meio a tudo isso? São reflexões como essas que são suscitadas por esse trabalho, que, mais que busca fazer um diagnóstico sobre a situação como nos encontramos hoje – num mundo em que tantos recursos comunicacionais e tecnológicos nos fazem mais extrapolar nossa condição real para fugir da nossa própria realidade –, indica novas possibilidades.