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Understanding Manitoba Inuit’s Social Programs Utilization and Needs: Methodological Innovations
No full textManitoba is home to approximately 1,500 Inuit, and sees 16,000 consults yearly from the Kivalliq region of Nunavut to access services. The purpose of our study was to develop detailed profiles of Inuit accessing services in Manitoba, by using administrative data routinely collected by Manitoban agencies, to support the development of Inuit-centric services. This study was conducted in partnership with the Manitoba Inuit Association, and Inuit Elders from Nunavut and Manitoba. Findings shows that the Inuit community living in Manitoba is fairly stable, with only approximately 5 percent of Inuit moving in and out of Manitoba on any given year. Inuit settle primarily in Winnipeg, and a significant proportion depend on social programs such as Income Assistance and housing support. A significant number of Inuit children have contact with the Child Welfare System. Our results support the need for more Inuit-centric programming, including family support and language programs
Street Situation: Conceptualization and Measurement Methods in the City of Buenos Aires
No full textArgentina does not have a single, consistent definition of life on the streets that is accepted and applied throughout the country and covers people living on the streets. Likewise, there is no statistical metric to measure the scope of the problem. In the case of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the counts carried out by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires are the only indication of the numerical magnitude of the problem, but the data obtained do not correspond to the proportion of the problem. As a result, there are strong controversies between the official figures and those estimated by civil society organizations.
This article aims to show how the delimitation of an operational conceptual category has strong implications for the numerical estimation of the number and characteristics of people living on the streets. Firstly, a brief review is made of international experiences involving the development of tools that provide both a clear and consistent definition and inadequate framework for collecting reliable data on the problem. Then, in the context of Argentina, we characterize the two forms most commonly used to indicate life on the streets in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires: ‘without a home’ and ‘street situation. ’Finally, under the selected categories, the methodologies used to establish the numerical magnitude of the problem are described and compared. In this sense, a comparison is made between the official counts of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires and the Popular Census of Homeless People carried out by civil society organizations in accordance with current legislation.
Argentina no cuenta con una definición única y constante sobre la vida en las calles que se acepte y se aplique en el territorio nacional y que abarque a las personas que se encuentran viviendo en la calle. De igual manera, tampoco existe una delimitación estadística que dimensione el alcance de la problemática. En el caso de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, los conteos llevados a cabo por el Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires son el único indicio de la magnitud numérica del problema, pero los datos obtenidos no se corresponden con la proporción del problema. A partir de ello existen fuertes controversias entre las cifras oficiales y las estimadas por las organizaciones de la sociedad civil. Este artículo se propone mostrar cómo la delimitación de una categoría conceptual operativa conlleva fuertes implicancias en la estimación numérica sobre la cantidad y las características de personas que se encuentran viviendo en las calles. A partir de ello, en primer lugar, se realiza un breve recorrido de experiencias internacionales que han centrado su atención en el desarrollo de herramientas que proporcionen tanto una definición clara y consistente como un marco adecuado para la recopilación de datos confiables sobre la problemática. Luego, en el marco de Argentina, se caracterizan las dos formas más utilizadas para denominar la vida en las calles en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: sin techo y situación de calle. Por último, acorde con las categorías seleccionadas, se describen y comparan las metodologías empleadas para establecer la magnitud numérica del problema. En este sentido se realiza una comparación entre los conteos oficiales del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires y el Censo Popular de Personas en Situación de Calle llevado adelante por organizaciones de la sociedad civil acorde con la legislación vigente
Artificial Intelligence in a Structurally Unjust Society
No full textIncreasing concerns have been raised regarding artificial intelligence (AI) bias, and in response, efforts have been made to pursue AI fairness. In this paper, we argue that the idea of structural injustice serves as a helpful framework for clarifying the ethical concerns surrounding AI bias—including the nature of its moral problem and the responsibility for addressing it—and reconceptualizing the approach to pursuing AI fairness. Using AI in health care as a case study, we argue that AI bias is a form of structural injustice that exists when AI systems interact with other social factors to exacerbate existing social inequalities, making some groups of people more vulnerable to undeserved burdens while conferring unearned benefits to others. The goal of AI fairness, understood this way, is to pursue a more just social structure with the development and use of AI systems when appropriate. We further argue that all participating agents in the unjust social structure associated with AI bias bear a shared responsibility to join collective action with the goal of reforming the social structure, and we provide a list of practical recommendations for agents in various social positions to contribute to this collective action
Siri, Stereotypes, and the Mechanics of Sexism
No full textFeminized AIs designed for in-home verbal assistance are often subjected to gendered verbal abuse by their users. I survey a variety of features contributing to this phenomenon—from financial incentives for businesses to build products likely to provoke gendered abuse, to the impact of such behavior on household members—and identify a potential worry for attempts to criticize the phenomenon; while critics may be tempted to argue that engaging in gendered abuse of AI increases the chances that one will direct this abuse toward human beings, the recent history of attempts to connect video game violence to real-world aggression suggests that things may not be so simple. I turn to Confucian discussions of the role of ritualized social interactions both to better understand the roots of the problem and to investigate potential strategies for improvement, given a complex interplay between designers and device users. I argue that designers must grapple with the entrenched sexism in our society, at the expense of “smooth” and “seamless” user interfaces, in order to intentionally disrupt entrenched but harmful patterns of interaction, but that doing so is both consistent with and recommended by Confucian accounts of social rituals
Artificial Knowing Otherwise
No full textWhile feminist critiques of AI are increasingly common in the scholarly literature, they are by no means new. Alison Adam’s Artificial Knowing (1998) brought a feminist social and epistemological stance to the analysis of AI, critiquing the symbolic AI systems of her day and proposing constructive alternatives. In this paper, we seek to revisit and renew Adam’s arguments and methodology, exploring their resonances with current feminist concerns and their relevance to contemporary machine learning. Like Adam, we ask how new AI methods could be adapted for feminist purposes and what role new technologies might play in addressing concerns raised by feminist epistemologists and theorists about algorithmic systems. In particular, we highlight distributed and federated learning as providing partial solutions to the power-oriented concerns that have stymied efforts to make machine learning systems more representative and pluralist
A study on the mild solution of special random impulsive fractional differential equations
No full textIn this article, we deal with mild solution of special random impulsive fractional differential equations. Initially, we present the existence of the mild solution via Leray-Schauder fixed point method. After that, we establish the exponential stability of the system. Finally, we give examples to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results
Mesurer la prévalence du libre accès au Canada : une comparaison nationale
No full textFor two decades, open access (OA) has gained momentum worldwide. However, adoption of OA in Canada is lagging compared with other countries. Using data from Dimensions and Érudit, this paper provides an overview of OA dissemination in Canada, focusing on the effect of institutions, language, and funding. Papers in French, and from Quebec universities, are more likely to be OA, while papers from engineering-oriented institutions are less likely to be OA. Regarding funders, those in health sciences have higher OA compliance. The paper concludes discussing disciplinary differences in OA dissemination, low compliance to OA mandates in Canada, and the role of Érudit.Au cours des deux décennies, le libre accès (LA) a pris de l’importance à travers le monde. Toutefois, son adoption au Canada est à la traîne par rapport à d'autres pays. À l'aide des données de Dimensions et d’Érudit, cet article donne un aperçu de la diffusion en LA au Canada, en se concentrant sur l’effet des institutions, de la langue et du financement. Les articles en français et ceux des universités québécoises sont plus susceptibles d'être en LA, tandis que les établissements axés sur le génie sont moins susceptibles. En ce qui concerne les bailleurs de fonds, ceux en sciences de la santé ont une conformité plus élevée au LA. L'article conclut en discutant des différences disciplinaires dans la diffusion en LA, de la faible conformité aux mandats de LA au Canada et du rôle d'Érudit
What's in a No-Name?
No full textGiven names address, point and refer to people. We investigate the role of the no-name, which we define as the actual silencing of an anticipated given name. Proper nouns – people’s given names included – do not designate classes (as common nouns) but individuate and impart singularity. Each person has a name. The paper is devoted to no-name as a deliberate significant means for expression, i.e. the use of no-name when pragmatic, cognitive, sociological, psychological, referential, legal and stylistic circumstances anticipate an explicit mention of a known, relevant given name. Drawing on real-life situations as well as literary works, we identify three roles that the no-name plays. First, it is anonymity that reflects anybody and everybody but not somebody. Second, the no-name is a means of constructing or obliterating identity. Third, we explore the qualities of the no-name to perform an act in areas such as taboos, enactment, and the avoidance of using anticipated names for newborns at risk and commemorative names. Contrary to what we might suspect, the no-name does not conceal. Instead, it communicates rich and varied meanings, some genuinely reflected by the no-name rather than by the anticipated given name.Chaque personne possède un nom en propre. L’étude est consacrée aux sans-noms comme moyens d’expression délibérément employée, c’est-à-dire l’emploi de sans-nom comme nom propre approprié lorsque le contexte qu’il soit pragmatique, cognitif, sociologique, psychologique, référentiel, légal ou stylistique permet d’appréhender ce qui est désigné. À partir de situations de vie réelles et d’ouvrages littéraires, nous établissons l’existence de trois rôles joués par le sans-nom. Premièrement, l’anonymat renvoie à tout un chacun, mais à personne en particulier. Deuxièmement, le sans-nom est une façon soit de construire, soit d’oblitérer l’identité. Troisièmement, nous explorons les propriétés du sans-nom dans des circonstances telles que les tabous, la promulgation, ou pour éviter l’utilisation d’un nom anticipé pour des nouveau-nés en danger ou des noms commémoratifs. Contrairement à ce que l’on pourrait s’attendre, le sans-nom ne masque pas. Il communique des significations riches et variées, dont certaines sont plus simplement reflétées par le sans-nom plutôt que par le prénom anticipé
Nazareth Chornyak: An Unlikely Messiah
No full textSuzette Haden Elgin’s Native Tongue (1984) is the first book in a dystopian science fiction trilogy set in a future in which the government has rescinded the rights of women. Personal names are typically gendered, but the protagonist, Nazareth Chornyak, stands out as having a name that is arguably both androgynous and prophetic and that has its origins as a place name. Furthermore, while there are several possible etymologies of this biblical place name, each carrying its own set of meanings, the strongest association the name has is with Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of Christianity. This paper explores the range of meanings associated with the name Nazareth and demonstrates how Nazareth Chornyak embodies each of them, but most importantly that of being a messiah. The character Nazareth, despite her off-putting personal attributes, fills a messianic role within the novels, thereby living up to her auspicious name.Native Tongue (1984) de Suzette Haden Elgin est le premier livre d’une trilogie dystopique et futuriste dans laquelle le gouvernement a révoqué les droits des femmes. Les prénoms sont pour la plupart genrés, mais la protagoniste, Nazareth Chornyak, se différencie par un prénom androgène, prophsétique, et qui est à l’origine un nom de lieu. De plus, bien que ce nom de lieu biblique ait plusieurs étymologies possibles, chacune avec ses propres significations, le nom est le plus étroitement lié à Jésus de Nazareth, le Messie du christianisme. Cet article explore l’éventail de significations liées au nom de Nazareth et démontre comment Nazareth Chornyak incarne chacune d’elles, notamment celle du messie. Le personnage de Nazareth, malgré son tempérament peu amène, joue le rôle d’un messie dans les trois romans et est ainsi à la hauteur de son prénom de bon augure