Localising Global Norms: The Case of Family-Friendly Parliaments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Palmieri ◽  
Kerryn Baker
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Global Norms

Abstract In this article, we extend empirical understandings of feminist institutionalism by outlining a new methodological approach to the study of parliament as a gendered workplace. We argue that while a localised approach to studying institutional change allows a more nuanced appreciation of the role of local cultural context, internationalised norms can be an interesting starting point to work back from. A case study of the New Zealand parliament’s ‘family-friendly’ workplace practices illustrates this methodological approach. By tracing the establishment of family-friendly practices in this parliament, our study shines a light on the intractable nature of local institutional context in global norm diffusion and hints at the next phase of work required to further the agenda of transformational gender-sensitive parliaments.

Deepfaking Keanu: YouTube deepfakes, platform visual effects, and the complexity of reception

2021 ◽  
pp. 135485652110304
Author(s):  
Lisa Bode
Keyword(s):  
Film Studies ◽  
Media Theory ◽  
Digital Rhetoric ◽  
Visual Effects ◽  
After Effects ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Media Creation ◽  
Media Practices

On July 14, 2019, a 3-minute 36-second video titled “Keanu Reeves Stops A ROBBERY!” was released on YouTube visual effects (VFX) channel, Corridor. The video’s click-bait title ensured it was quickly shared by users across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Comments on the video suggest that the vast majority of viewers categorised it as fiction. What seemed less universally recognised, though, was that the performer in the clip was not Keanu Reeves himself. It was voice actor and stuntman Reuben Langdon, and his face was digitally replaced with that of Reeves, through the use of an AI generated deepfake, an open access application, Faceswap, and compositing in Adobe After Effects. This article uses Corridor’s deepfake Keanu video (hereafter shorted to CDFK) as a case study which allows the fleshing out of an, as yet, under-researched area of deepfakes: the role of framing contexts in shaping how viewers evaluate, categorise, make sense of and discuss these images. This research draws on visual effects scholarship, celebrity studies, cognitive film studies, social media theory, digital rhetoric, and discourse analysis. It is intended to serve as a starting point of a larger study that will eventually map types of online manipulated media creation on a continuum from the professional to the vernacular, across different platforms, and attending to their aesthetic, ethical, cultural and reception dimensions. The focus on context (platform, creator channel, and comments) also reveals the emergence of an industrial and aesthetic category of visual effects, which I call here “platform VFX,” a key term that provides us with more nuanced frames for illuminating and analysing a range of manipulated media practices as VFX software becomes ever more accessible and lends itself to more vernacular uses, such as we see with various face swap apps

scholarly journals Women, Water & Well-Being: A Case Study of ‘Kuttadampadam’ in Palakkad, Kerala

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
V Shinju ◽  
Aswathi Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Role Of Women

The natural resources are repository for the survival of all of us, so they must be used efficiently to meet the present needs while conserving them for future generations. An action to develop capacities from global to household levels for their sustainable management and regulation is required henceforth. Of these natural resources, water resources are most precious. If there is no water; there would be no life on earth. Since ‘water is the elixir of life’, water resource management has been considered as one of the most relevant areas of intervention. Understanding the gender dimensions of water resource management is a starting point for reversing the degradation of water resources. Women play an important role here since they have to access the water resources for almost all the activities on a daily basis. As the women are the strong social agents, effective and improved water preservation techniques could be achieved through their empowerment that may eventually lead to the well-being of the households in particular and of the community in general. Therefore, the major research question posed in this study is to analyze the role of women in the preservation and management of water, an inevitable, precious but diminishing natural resource. The study also intends to describe the relationship between the three ‘W's-Women, Water & Well-being. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are essential here as it is a contingent issue in the present scenario. Psychological dimensions were also explored since the issue is affecting the routine life of the community. The case study of women belonging to the Kuttadampadam region was done to explain the role of women in preserving water resources in the areas affecting severe water scarcity.

Imaginations of post-suburbia: Suburban change and imaginative practices in Auckland, New Zealand

Urban Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 1042-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Johnson ◽  
Tom Baker ◽  
Francis L Collins
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
And Function

Imaginative practices are central to ongoing transformations in the form and function of suburbia. In recent years, urban scholars have focused increasing attention on the concept and process of ‘post-suburbanisation’ to understand contemporary suburbs, yet imaginaries and imaginative practices have been largely absent in their analyses. This paper examines the role of imaginative practices in post-suburban change. Through a case study of Auckland, New Zealand, the paper examines three key domains of imaginative practice – visions, problems and trajectories – implicated in the production of post-suburbia. It argues that understandings of post-suburbanisation will be enhanced by an appreciation of both the material and imaginative dimensions of suburban transformation.

What Role Place and Localness in the Design of Sustainable Buildings?

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Dick Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Domestic Architecture ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Joint Paper ◽  
Sustainable Buildings ◽  
The Road ◽  
On The Road

Is “the new modernism” in domestic architecture—sometimes called “internationalism”—a useful step on the road toward sustainable buildings? Mindless recreations of traditional forms from other times and places are no better, as many writers have noted, but any building's natural and cultural context must play a fundamental role in the design, materials selection, and even the detailing, if sustainability is to be more readily achieved. The role of place-based planning has been well researched and reported (Clarke 2006; Mant 1998, 2000; NSW Department of Urban Affairs and Planning 2001). Less well understood is the role of “localness” in building design. This informs the overall form of buildings, and their detailing, as well as their technical functionality. A local understanding stems from a sense of materials, climate, and indigenous or local culture, and informs the design process at every level. In this article, the position of internationalist domestic architecture (espoused in glossy architecture publications) is criticised, drawing also on previous research (a case study of the outcomes of a place-based planning instrument, by the author, and a joint paper on locality-based design written jointly with Trevor King). The internationalist design approach is shown not to provide culturally appropriate or technically sustainable buildings.

scholarly journals New directions in New Zealand local government

2010 ◽  
pp. 158-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter McKinlay
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Business Community ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Starting Point

The purpose of this paper is to provide a ‘work in progress’ report on some initiatives emerging from local government practice in New Zealand which should help us consider how we think about the role of local government in a world which is undergoing dramatic change. The starting point is work which the writer undertook with the support of Local Government New Zealand (the national association) and a number of New Zealand councils considering the ‘proper role’ of local government. The context is an ongoing public debate driven substantially by the New Zealand business community from a perspective that this ‘proper role’ should be restricted to the delivery of local public goods, narrowly defined. This has included argument that local governments themselves should be structured substantially to promote the efficient delivery of services generally within the now well understood prescriptions of the ‘new public management’. One implication which the business sector in particular drew in looking at the workings of local government was that there should be economies of scale through further amalgamation of councils (the local government sector having been through a major amalgamation process in 1989 which eliminated a large number of special purpose authorities and reduced the number of territorial local authorities from more than 200 to 73). Debate continues, with the latest manifestation being the National Party led government's proposals for the restructuring of local government within the Auckland region, New Zealand's major metropolitan area. The initiatives discussed in this paper are partly a response, but more significantly a result of selected local authorities reflecting on the nature of their role, and the opportunities for being proactive in using their statutory privileges in ways that could produce benefits for their communities without any associated increase in the cost of local government itself.

Exploring Guanxi in a Cross-Cultural Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
_ _
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Employment Relationships

Abstract Using a case study of recently arrived Cantonese-speaking migrants, this article examines the role of guanxi in shaping Chinese newcomers’ economic activities and opportunities in South Africa. In Johannesburg, Cantonese-speaking migrants tend to be employed in restaurant and fahfee (gambling) sectors, which are partially inherited from the early generations of South African Chinese. Through narratives and stories, this article reveals that Cantonese newcomers often strengthen personal and employment relationships through the practice of guanxi, but that doing so can also constrain their employment decisions. Moreover, the ambiguous boundary between the act of bribery and the practice of guanxi may facilitate Chinese participation but can also result in the victimization of the newcomers.

The role of character in talent identification and development in New Zealand rugby union

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-418
Author(s):  
Ryan Rosevear ◽  
Tania Cassidy
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Rugby Union ◽  
Talent Identification ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
A Value ◽  
Universal Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Development Manager

The purpose of the study was to gain understanding of how character is understood in the New Zealand Rugby (NZR) ecology and how the Player Development Manager (PDM) in one Provincial Union (PU) negotiates, constructs and operationalizes interpretations of character within talent identification and development practices. The study design was informed by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model of development and the methodology was case study. The participant in the study was the PDM who worked for one provincial rugby union and NZR. Data was gained using; interviews, document analysis and observations. An iterative strategy was employed when adopting the deductive and inductive analysis. The study found that across the NZR ecology there was no universal definition of character, or set of criteria used to assess players’ character. Within the NZR macrosystem there were formal policies that explicitly identified character as a value to be assessed. Yet, implicit understandings and assessment of character also existed. The PDM working in a microsystem constructed his understanding and assessment of character based on his experiences working with, and for, NZR (macrosystem) and the PU (exosystem) respectively, as well as drawing on his personal value set. The findings of this study are significant not only for rugby, in New Zealand and elsewhere, but they are relevant and topical for any selector, recruitment agent or coach who implicitly and explicitly (de)selects participants based on character.

scholarly journals Further refinement of the Corbelling Theory for the equilibrium analysis of corbelled domes

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
Aguinaldo Fraddosio ◽  
Nicola Lepore ◽  
Mario Daniele Piccioni
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Equilibrium Analysis ◽  
Structural Safety ◽  
Structural Behavior ◽  
Thick Shell ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Load Conditions

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present a further development of the Corbelling Theory [1] for assessing the structural safety of “false domes” constructions like Trulli, and more generally for corbelled domes. In particular, it is well-known that a corbelled dome of a Trullo is a layered thick shell and that only the thin inner layer (candela) has a structural role. The proposed procedure extends the capabilities of the approach proposed in [2] to more general load conditions, including the infill. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is discussed through the analysis of a paradigmatic case study of a Trullo located in Alberobello. Since the geometry of the construction plays a fundamental role in the structural behavior, the starting point of the analysis was an accurate 3D-laser scanner survey of the dome. The obtained results give some interesting insights about the role of the infill load on the equilibrium of such kind of corbelled domes.

State-Owned Enterprises

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Roper ◽  
Michèle Schoenberger-Orgad
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Corporate Ownership ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
The World

This article seeks to broaden the parameters of the research into and discourse of CSR, which, by definition, has focused on corporations, but has neglected the role of governments as corporate owners. Greater awareness and transparency of corporate ownership should open up discussions of accountability, especially as citizens are arguably the principal shareholders of government-owned companies. These are issues of potential concern to organizational communication scholars. The article first examines the nature and genesis of government-owned corporations, particularly in the New Zealand context, which very much follows the pattern of similar corporations around the world. A case study follows, with extant literature of CSR, legitimacy, and the conventionally regarded relative roles of state and the economy drawn upon to inform discussion of the broader ramifications of the case for other organizational contexts.

Assessing the economic value of New Zealand design

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
Anna Brown ◽  
Simon Mark ◽  
Margaret Maile Petty
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Government Investment ◽  
Role Of Government

This article examines the challenges and complexities of assessing the value of design in contemporary economies, looking at New Zealand as a case study. Analysing the findings and recommendations of the first assessment of the economic value of design in New Zealand, published in 2017, this article seeks to bring greater clarity and understanding of the role of government and industry in a national design policy and ecosystem. Examining the performance and characteristics of New Zealand’s design ecosystem and the unique characteristics of its design in the context of other countries with well-established design policies, this article argues that the adoption of a nationally coordinated approach to design education and innovation provides widespread benefits. Through the analysis of the 2017 assessment, this article offers insights into viable methodologies for the scholarly study of the value of design. The study concludes by critiquing government investment in design, emphasizing the importance of design to innovation and the performance of companies.

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