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There has been a long - standing argument on whether or not companies should be socially responsible. This is so because the primary objective of every company is to maximize profit for its shareholders, corporate social responsibility is therefore seen as a distraction. According to the leading proponent of this view Milton Friedman, 'the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits'i, but does society today stand to maximally benefit if the only concern of companies is to make a profit? Supporters of this view posit that companies involvement in projects not directly aimed at maximizing profit for its shareholders like corporate philanthropy and community development are unnecessary. They insist that issues like these should be left to the government and charities. On the contrary, society's present expectation of business covers a lot more than profit maximization; companies' involvement in corporate social responsibility is therefore the only way these expectations could be harnessed. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not only about philanthropy as some think, it involves the myriad ways firms integrate social, environmental and economic concerns into the day to day running of their companies. This essay stresses the need for companies' involvement in corporate social responsibility; it seeks to show that a socially responsible company does not only bring environmental and social benefits to the society at large, but also attracts financial benefits for the company involved. It goes further to suggest strategies that could be used to make companies more responsive to social needs than they presently are. The first chapter answers the question, what is corporate social responsibility? Many people and organizations have attempted defining this concept, but more often than not their views do not entirely reflect what corporate social responsibility is about because of the wide spectrum of issues it covers. To some people, corporate social responsibility is all about corporate philanthropy, to others it is more encompassing than that and is closely linked with principles of sustainable development. Although people look at CSR from different perspectives, what is generally agreed by all advocates of corporate social responsibility is that the management of companies should not only consider the interests of shareholders when running the company, but should take into account the welfare of other company stakeholders. Sustainable Development is defined by the United Nations Brundland Commission as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.ii The fact that CSR is voluntary leaves companies with discretion to be socially responsible or not. It is the voluntary nature of CSR that makes some people view CSR as basically corporate philanthropy. Those who see CSR as broader than philanthropy and linked with the principles of sustainable development argue that while philanthropy is absolutely discretionary,CSR is sustainable. While philanthropy involves how companies' profits are spent on deserving causes, CSR is concerned with how these profits are made in the first place. Proponents of CSR as an intrinsic part of sustainable development further argue that it is only when social accountability becomes an integral part of corporate conduct rather than a philanthropic add on, that the economic development of the private sector will move forward within an acceptable framework of public purposeiii This is my preferred notion of corporate social responsibility. Chapter one outlines the various definitions of corporate social responsibility. It looks at the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate governance and also gives an overview of the background influences of CSR. Chapter two examines the criticisms of corporate social responsibility and counters them. Chapter three presents the business case for corporate social responsibility; it seeks to show that socially responsible companies are not disadvantaged but enjoy numerous financial benefits. Chapter four suggests strategies that could be used to make companies more responsive to societal needs. Flowing from the fact that CSR is voluntary and some companies remain unresponsive to societal needs, regulation of aspects of CSR that cannot be left at the mercy of companies remains a way socially irresponsible companies would be compelled to comply. This chapter presents the arguments for and against legislation of CSR and suggests a balanced regulatory approach to corporate social responsibility.

Personas have become an important tool for Human-Computer Interaction professionals. However, they are not immune to limitations and critique, including stereotyping. We suggest that while some of the criticisms to personas are important, the use of personas is open to them in part because of an unquestioned focus on explicating user needs and goals in traditional persona research and creation. This focus, while helping designers, obscures some other potentially relevant aspects. In particular, when the goal of the product or software being designed is associated with social and political goals rather than with bringing a product to the market, it may be relevant to focus personas on political aspirations, social values and the will or capacity of personas to take action. We argue that it is possible when producing personas (and associated scenarios) to partially move away from representing needs and embrace personas which more explicitly represent political or social beliefs and values. We also suggest that a phenomenographic approach to user data analysis is one way to achieve this. We provide empirical evidence for our position from two large-scale European projects, the first one in the area of Social Innovation and the second in the area of eParticipation.

The underlying question of this collection of essays focuses on the very core of our democratic culture. It asks how one can actively take part in its political, legal, educational, informational, social, cultural and economic mechanisms. Advanced technologies have given rise to a vast array of tools enabling a culture of participation. New forms of civic engagement have emerged, as well as a new conceptualization of active citizenship. These developments encouraged the authors of this collection to address legal, social, political, philosophical, and media aspects of the emancipatory potentia

"Le mouvement de numérisation à l'oeuvre depuis une trentaine d'années gagne aujourd'hui des pans de plus en plus étendus de la réalité via l'extension des capteurs et des objets connectés. Dorénavant, les flux de data témoignent de la quasi-intégralité des phénomènes, s'érigeant comme l'instance primordiale de l'intelligibilité du réel. Une connaissance sans cesse approfondie s'instaure, orientant en retour les décisions individuelles et collectives au prisme d'algorithmes visant les plus hautes optimisation, fluidification et sécurisation des existences et des sociétés. Les technologies informationnelles imposent un mode de rationalité fondé sur la définition chiffrée de toute situation et sur une maîtrise indéfiniment accrue du cours des choses. Une raison numérique établie sur l'appréhension et l'évaluation en temps réel des faits ordonne désormais les pratiques du commerce, de l'enseignement, de la médecine, les rapports aux autres, à soi-même, à la ville, à l'habitat... Ce livre examine, en s'appuyant sur une foultitude d'exemples, la quantification et la marchandisation intégrales de la vie qui s'instituent, soutenues par l'industrie du traitement des données, aujourd'hui dotée d'un pouvoir qui perturbe nombre d'acquis démocratiques fondamentaux. Avec une rare lucidité et une écriture d'une précision clinique, Éric Sadin dévoile les impensés, analyse les processus en cours, dresse une cartographie détaillée des forces à l'oeuvre... Observations et réflexions qui dessinent une nouvelle condition humaine, et en appellent à la politisation des enjeux induits par la puissance toujours plus totalisante détenue par les systèmes computationnels."--

"This book introduces and develops the concept of geomedia studies as the name of a particular subfield of communication geography. Despite the accelerating societal relevance of 'geomedia' technologies for the production of various spaces, mobilities, and power-relations, and the unquestionable emergence of a vibrant research field that deals with questions pertaining to such topics, the term geomedia studies remains surprisingly unestablished. By addressing imperative questions about the implications of geomedia technologies for organizations, social groups and individuals (e.g. businesses profiting from geo-surveillance, refugees or migrants moving across national borders, or artists claiming their rights to public space) the book also aims to contribute to ongoing academic and societal debates in our increasingly mediatized world."--Provided by publisher

In the second of this three-volume series, the authors expand on the theory and practice of systems psychodynamics - which integrates psychoanalytic thinking, open systems theory and complexity theory - in its applications to consultancy work in organisations and wider social contexts.

Wherever we turn, we see diverse things scaled for us, from cities to economies, from history to love. We know scale by many names and through many familiar antinomies: local and global, micro and macro events. Even the most critical among us often proceed with our analysis as if such scales were the ready-made platforms of social life, rather than asking how, why, and to what effect are scalar distinctions forged in the first place. How do scalar distinctions help actors and analysts alike make sense of and navigate their social worlds? What do these distinctions reveal and what do they conceal? How are scales construed and what effects do they have on the way those who abide by them think and act? This pathbreaking volume attends to the practical labor of scale-making and the communicative practices this labor requires. From an ethnographic perspective, the authors demonstrate that scale is practice and process before it becomes product, whether in the work of projecting the commons, claiming access to the big picture, or scaling the seriousness of a crime. "How shall we fathom the world, bringing its varied scales into analytic perspective? The authors collected in this bold and subtle volume slow down the question, arguing that 'scale' is made, not born, and that 'perspectives' are semiotic accomplishments and not stable points of anchor." -STEFAN HELMREICH, Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology, MIT "Scale will be a fundamental book for thinking about scalar processes... It's engaging, readable chapters offer a range of theoretical considerations of how scales arise and work in a variety of social settings." -ROBERT OPPENHEIM, author of Kyongju Things: Assembling Place "This highly original volume sheds new light on language and scale... The authors show how the scalar aspects of language and the linguistic dimensions of scale work together to produce the social logic of extent." -ARJUN APPADURAI, Paulette Goddard Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, New York University "This groundbreaking collection of essays by leading linguistic anthropologists demonstrates the vital contribution of semiotics to the ongoing multidisciplinary theorizing of scale and scale-making." -MIYAKO INOUE, author of Vicarious Language: Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Japan E. SUMMERSON CARR is Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago. MICHAEL LEMPERT is Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- An Overview of the Book -- Feminist Scrutiny of Digital Cultures -- A Note on Methodology -- Organisation of the Book -- References -- Chapter 2: Social Transformation and Digital Cultures in the Post-Reform Era -- Introduction -- The Market-Oriented Reform of Chinese Society -- Improvements and Inequalities -- The Post-Reform Social Stratification -- An Overview of Internet Use in Contemporary China -- The Apolitical Dimension of Chinese Digital Cultures -- The CCP's Political Control Over the Internet -- Participatory Social Media and the Digital Public Sphere -- Chinese Internet Users' Digital Civic Engagement -- Towards an Exploration of the Gender-Politics Axis -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3: The Gendered Nature of China's Digital Public Sphere -- Introduction -- A Feminist Cultural Studies Perspective -- The Revival of Patriarchal Values -- The Past and the Present of Chinese Women's Socio-Political Status -- The Post-Reform Heteronormative Turn of Chinese Womanhood -- The Ambivalent Gender Power Relations -- The Shaping of Contemporary Heteronormative Chinese Manhood -- The Masculine Crisis -- Approaches to Patriarchal Values in Chinese Digital Cultures -- A Techno-Feminist Analysis -- The Limits of Gender -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4: Pseudo-Feminism and Chinese Digital Influencers -- Introduction -- Conceptualising Pseudo-Feminism -- Pseudo-Feminism in Post-Reform China -- Case Studies: Mimeng and Ayawawa -- Targeting Female Chinese Internet Users in Practice -- Promoting a Contemporary Chinese Male Ideal -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 5: Debates between Women and Men on Gender Issues -- Introduction -- The Confusion Created by Pseudo-Feminism -- Digital Nationalism and Gender-Issue Debates.

"Shaping Science draws on a decade of immersive ethnography with NASA's robotic spacecraft teams to create a comparative account of two great space missions of the early 2000s. Although these missions appear to involve robotic explorers gathering data autonomously in the far reaches of the solar system, teams of scientists and engineers control them in detail, remotely from earth. By examining the two teams' formal organizational structures and informal work practices in the day to day process of mission planning, Janet Vertesi reveals just how deeply entangled the teams' production of knowledge about other worlds is with the local organizational considerations and practices of producing social order in their labs. This book admirably demonstrates the significant conclusion that the social organization of a scientific team affects the scientific practices and results of that team"--

Scholars are well-aware that the smartphone is much more than just a mobile telephone. A plethora of applications have been developed to run on smartphones, covering just about every aspect of human life. What is distinctive about the fact that these apps run on smartphones (as opposed to other kinds of devices) is that the smartphone makes them mobile (the apps travel with the user) and locative (the apps know the location of the user). As a result, smartphone applications that take full advantage of these characteristics have the ability to bring users together in real space and real time. The key to the success of such "netware" apps is their generation and retention of social graphs that connect their users both socially and physically. Netware apps like ride hailing that are built around mobility and location have the potential to dramatically restructure economic and social life by reconfiguring their users' experiences of the physical and temporal world. We use ride hailing as a case study to illustrate how the new social geographies generated by mobile netware apps interact with physical geography to generate a new sense of space that can only be mapped by the companies that "own" our social graphs.