1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910140408503321

Autore

Lummerding Susanne <1961->

Titolo

Agency @? : Cyber-Diskurse, Subjektkonstituierung und Handlungsfähigkeit im Feld des Politischen / / Susanne Lummerding

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Wien, Austria : , : Böhlau, , c2005

©2005

ISBN

3205773276

9783205773276

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (320 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Classificazione

19.63

Disciplina

303.48/33

Soggetti

Computers and civilization

Cyberspace - Social aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Tedesco

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages [279]-307) and index.

Sommario/riassunto

Considering the abundant promises and euphoric expectations (as well as apocalyptic visions of technology) that still dominate discourses on media and technology my analysis focuses on their cultural and social condition, the specific moment of their emergence, their continuous persistence, their socio-symbolic function, and their implications for social contexts of thought and perception and for hegemonic relations. The techno-deterministic notion of a ‚paradigm change', the proclamation of a ‚radically new' definition of the subject and the idea of a technically conditioned abolition of traditional dichotomies is in fact contrasted by a striking adherence to conventional and dichotome models of thought and of representation, and to the idea of an autonomous and technologically perfectionable subject. My analysis will on the one hand focus on the function of exaggerated visions of technological development (predicating a dissolution of space, time, matter and identity) and the function of ideas of ‚alternative', ‚virtual' ‚spaces' for establishing specific notions of ‚society' - indicating a specific relation of phantasm and symptom as I will show. On the other hand I will develop the definition of a political subject - not conceived as a sovereign actor, nor as an arbitrary variety, but rather as



constituted on the basis of a structural impossibility inherent in language and which alone can be, due to this very impossibility or antagonism a subject of the political. In the course of this argument the notion of sexual difference will be critically revised. Furthermore I will develop a definition of agency adequate to provide the grounds and the argumentative tools for the contestability of cultural and social constructs. My emphasis will be on the interdependencies of these questions and I will base my arguments on a notion of Cyberspace that defines it as a socio-symbolic construct comprising both technical implementations as well as the respective discourses and which continuously has to be negotiated. My approach combines structural psychoanalytical theory, hegemony studies, art theory, film theory, media studies, gender studies and cultural studies. As a transdisciplinary critical theory of representation and considering its statement of problems, as well as its focus, it differs from predominant approaches to current developments of technology to create perspectives on current technological dispositives and media constellations beyond prevalent techno-euphoric or pessimistic views.

2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910782956503321

Titolo

Morphology, shape and phylogeny / / edited by Norman MacLeod, Peter L. Forey

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Taylor & Francis, , 2002

ISBN

0-429-21744-7

1-134-55052-9

1-280-05253-8

9786610052530

0-203-16517-9

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (319 p.)

Collana

The Systematics Association special volume series ; ; 64

Altri autori (Persone)

ForeyPeter L

MacLeodNorman <1953->

Disciplina

571.3

Soggetti

Morphology

Phylogeny

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia



Note generali

This book arises from a symposium held at the University of Glasgow in August 1999.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Book Cover; Title; Contents; List of contributors; Preface; Introduction: morphology, shape, and phylogenetics; Homology, characters and continuous variables; Quantitative characters, phylogenies, and morphometrics; Scaling, polymorphism and cladistic analysis; Overlapping variables in botanical systematics; Comparability, morphometrics and phylogenetic systematics; Phylogenetic signals in morphometric data; Creases as morphometric characters; Geometric morphometrics and phylogeny; A parametric bootstrap approach to the detection of phylogenetic signals  in landmark data

Phylogenetic tests for differences in shape and the importance of  divergence times: Eldredge's enigma exploredAncestral states and evolutionary rates of continuous characters; Modelling the evolution of continuously varying characters on  phylogenetic trees: the case of Hominid cranial capacity; Summary; Index; Systematics Association Publications

Sommario/riassunto

Generally, biologists and mathematicians who study the shape and form of organisms have largely been working in isolation from those who work on evolutionary relationships through the analysis of common characteristics. Increasingly however, dialogue between the two communities is beginning to develop - but other than a handful of journal papers, there has been no formal, published discussion on this subject. This timely book summarises the interdisciplinary work that has taken place to date and will stimulate additional research into these topics. Any scientist working on evolutionary relatio