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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Building Quality? Migration, Suzhi, And Subaltern Masculinity In The Shanghai Construction Industry, Leif Johnson
Building Quality? Migration, Suzhi, And Subaltern Masculinity In The Shanghai Construction Industry, Leif Johnson
Theses and Dissertations--Geography
This doctoral dissertation providesa novel perspective on the everyday lives of construction workers in urban China, demonstrating the underpinnings of urban infrastructure and citizenship policy in affective and gendered relations surrounding the construction industry. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, China, this dissertation makes a series of three related arguments: First, focusing on the role that migrant labor plays in the construction of urban infrastructure in Shanghai, I argue that the physical existence of infrastructure itself is inextricably tied to systems that govern rural-urban migration across China. Second, building from the Chinese concept of suzhi as both …
The Use Of Distraction: Doomscrolling, Losing Time, And Digital Well-Being In Pandemic Space-Times, Jacob Saindon
The Use Of Distraction: Doomscrolling, Losing Time, And Digital Well-Being In Pandemic Space-Times, Jacob Saindon
Theses and Dissertations--Geography
In the space-times of the COVID-19 global health crisis, how have our relationships with smartphones changed? How do popular discourses designate mundane engagements with digital technologies as healthy or unhealthy, and how are these notions of wellness practiced? This thesis draws upon an online survey of smartphone users residing in Kentucky, and a review of marketing, journalistic, and academic literature to establish current understandings of ‘digital well-being’. The paper then analyzes interviews with Kentucky smartphone users who were asked to track their screen time for a one-week period. This project reveals normative conceptions of well-being and the role of smartphone …
Affect And Value In Critical Examinations Of The Production And ‘Prosumption’ Of Big Data, Daniel G. Cockayne
Affect And Value In Critical Examinations Of The Production And ‘Prosumption’ Of Big Data, Daniel G. Cockayne
Geography Faculty Publications
In this paper I explore the relationship between the production and the value of Big Data. In particular I examine the concept of social media ‘prosumption’—which has predominantly been theorized from a Marxist, political economic perspective—to consider what other forms of value Big Data have, imbricated with their often speculative economic value. I take the example of social media firms in their early stages of operation to suggest that, since these firms do not necessarily generate revenue, data collected through user contributions do not always realize economic value, at least in a Marxist sense, and that, in addition to their …
Straight Time And Scandal: Travesti Urban Politics In São Paulo, Brazil, Christine L. Woodward
Straight Time And Scandal: Travesti Urban Politics In São Paulo, Brazil, Christine L. Woodward
Theses and Dissertations--Geography
São Paulo, Brazil is currently pursuing a project of creative urbanism. Though city rhetoric insists this project is rooted in tolerance of sexual diversity, I suggest that city policy effectively perpetuates normative conceptions of family and respectability. Using data gathered through a series of qualitative interviews with transgender and travesti individuals living in São Paulo, I argue that the straight time of São Paulo’s creative urbanism generates exclusionary temporalities and spatialities in the city that render travestis out of time and out of place. Furthermore, I argue that travestis use their capacity to enact shame through scandals to generate temporalities …
A Children’S Geography Of Occupation: Imaginary, Emotional, And Everyday Spaces Of Palestinian Childhood, David J. Marshall
A Children’S Geography Of Occupation: Imaginary, Emotional, And Everyday Spaces Of Palestinian Childhood, David J. Marshall
Theses and Dissertations--Geography
This research examines the political geographies of Palestinian children, and the ways in which their everyday spaces and practices are shaped by broader social and political processes. This research begins with an investigation into the role of the child in the moral geopolitics of humanitarianism and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. From here, the research explores how the competing discourses of Palestinian nationalism and international humanitarianism, and the legacy of forced migration, have shaped the subjectivity of Palestinian children and the spaces of childhood in a West Bank refugee camp, from homes, to schools, streets, and youth centers. Finally, using participant observation, …
Biopolitics Of Bike-Commuting: Bike Lanes, Safety, And Social Justice, Samantha Z. Herr
Biopolitics Of Bike-Commuting: Bike Lanes, Safety, And Social Justice, Samantha Z. Herr
Theses and Dissertations--Geography
As cities have become increasingly motivated to be more sustainable, transport cycling has become integral in these plans. Boston is one such city enthusiastic about bicycle transportation. I take a socio-discursive approach to an investigation of transport cycling integration in Boston, MA. First, I explore the historical processes leading to the appearance of bike lanes on U.S. city streets. Next, I investigate how bike lanes are entwined in cycling safety—both in the discursive and embodied dimensions. What begins as a concern of the physical body leads to ideals of legitimacy and inclusivity, of which the bike lane has become a …