Suchergebnisse

This article focuses on the development of consumer culture and specifically the notion of consumer freedom in the transitional society of Estonia. Drawing on the work of Zygmunt Bauman and Don Slater as well as the notion of 'transition culture' proposed by Michael Kennedy, it investigates the importance of western goods and western notions of consumer choice in anchoring emerging conceptions of individual freedom in post-socialist countries. This theme is explored through an analysis of a consumer item with a particularly high sign value in Estonia: the mobile phone. The analysis details the transformation discourses around freedom in print advertisements for mobile telephony from 1991-2001, demonstrating how over this period the meaning of freedom as a value shifted from political and economic conceptions to an individualized discourse of consumer choice emphasizing hedonism, self-expression and leisure.

Abstract
This essay argues for a definition of academic freedom that does not confuse it with what is considered to be a human right—the individual right to free speech. This is a freedom granted in principle by the state to scholars (usually within educational institutions: schools, colleges, and universities) because their critical activity has been considered vital to the public good and because it is a self-regulated activity committed to processes of relentless questioning that require disciplined forms of reading and reasoning. Neoliberal practices have undermined the basis for this classic definition of academic freedom. The essay explores the alternatives to state-ensured academic freedom that have emerged both within and outside the university, focusing particular attention on Turkey's Solidarity Academies. It concludes by insisting that the critical function of producing knowledge for the common good must be protected by nonstate actors if the state has broken the covenant upon which academic freedom once rested.

Ensuring that women are protected from sexual harassment at work, and preserving freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment, can be a tricky business

Recent years have seen a sequence of "moral panics" regarding accessibility of information on the internet and its exercise for criminal/harmful activity. Such problems and wider availability of internet raises the public policy concerns among governments over whether the internet should be regulated or not. Some believe it should not, considering that internet regulation will discourage what really internet is purported to encourage i.e. 'free flow of information'. They see internet regulation as a potential threat to the 'freedom of expression', which is possibly one of the most prominent aspects that are instrumental in the growth and popularity of this technology. On the other hand, the others who are against the free access of internet underscores the danger of problematic content and illegal activities on the internet. They claim that much of these activities and content are illegal in most jurisdictions. Adding to this, unrestricted right to freedom of speech and expression may possibly threaten other's rights. Thus many government organizations and internet users call for the regulation of internet. In this backdrop, paper revisits relevant literature and attempt to respond to the contentious problem of internet regulation. In this process, the paper also examines the experiences from several countries grappling with the problem of internet regulation. It concludes that any regulation on the internet has to be multi-faceted, culturally sensitive, and globally coordinated.

As the Internet becomes ubiquitous, there is widespread anxiety that it is either a source of moral corruption or a threat to business. This anxiety stems from the fact that the Internet calls the most restrictive aspects of legislation into question. Because the Internet is intrinsically orientated towards freedom, it should be championed, but there is a danger of celebrating new technology as an end in itself rather than the uses to which it can be put. Those commentators who most zealously promote the Internet are often as deluded as those who are afraid of it.

The process of awareness regarding woman's problems and demands has not achieved any significant progress, either on the cultural or on the social level.