DOAB - Directory of Open Access Books
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Grounding Digitalization
No full textDigitalization is usually perceived as an invisible process and its cultural embeddedness as well as its material, spatial, and environmental grounding are often neglected. However, digital technologies and transformations are shaped not only by cultural values, practices, and imaginaries, but also by network infrastructures and spatial orders. They consume environmental resources and cause high carbon dioxide emissions and electronic waste. At the same time, these materialities intervene in spaces, thereby reconfiguring socio-spatial arrangements. The contributors to this volume analyze digitalization from a »grounding« perspective that explores involved cultural practices, technologies, materialities, and spaces
The Order of People
No full textBioscientific concepts of human diversity and politics of inequality have long been intertwined in efforts to order and classify people. The contributors to this volume critically examine the particular ways in which these concepts are constituted and applied across various national contexts and within different life science disciplines, including genetics, medicine, forensics, anthropology, epidemiology, and microbiome research. By highlighting cases outside the dominant research focus on the United States, the authors unpack the epistemological foundations, inherent ambiguities, and political dimensions underlying key classifications—such as race, ethnicity, ancestry, and migration background
The Human Right to Democracy in Multilevel Systems at a Time of Democratic Backsliding: Global, Regional and European Union Perspectives
No full textThis open access book takes stock of the current situation of the human right to democracy in multilevel systems of government - at a time of renewed struggles with antidemocratic forces (democratic backsliding). It tries to answer three questions: (1) Is there a human right to democracy in contemporary global and regional international law as well as European Union law and what consequences does that have for the States’ governmental structure (top-down perspective on national democracy)? (2) Does the human right to democracy also extend to decision-making at the international and supranational level (bottom-up perspective on international/supranational democracy)? (3) What is the relation between national democracy and international democracy and the corresponding human entitlements (interdependence perspective)? The first part of an answer to these questions derives from the elements of democracy proclaimed by the United Nations as a universal value. The second part results from an investigation of the national and international democratic ingredients of the right of self-determination of peoples, whose recognition and codification is the mainstay of the human rights revolution since 1945. The third part is added by a survey and comparison of the various democratic rights included in the global and regional human rights treaties that constitute the subjective cornerstones of democracy. The fourth part is devoted to analysing the EU as exemplary but imperfect multilevel democracy. In all these parts, the enforcement of democratic entitlements are also discussed. In the fifth part, conclusions will be drawn. The book is addressed to international and EU law experts as well as political scientists
Work and Legal Guidelines in the Age of Digitalisation and Green Transition
No full textThis open access book provides important insights into the integration of digitalisation and green economy into the platform economy, and how these processes can contribute to the improvement of legal labour regulations and processes in the EU and Eastern Europe. It addresses the following key topics: the impact of digitisation on the labour market, including the impact of robotics and automation on the changing nature of work; the organisation of work through digital platforms; the relationship between workers and employers; the challenges of implementing the Green Deal strategy in the labour market; the specifics and types of platform work; problems concerning labour regulation on digital platforms in Eastern and Southern European countries, such as Moldova, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania; and the results of an empirical survey. The topics are highly relevant in the contemporary context, as the European Parliament adopted the Platform Work Directive in 2024 after several years of debate. This Directive aims to sift out the working patterns of the platform sector, introducing clear criteria on what is considered to be an individual activity and what is considered to be an employment relationship. The EU Directive calls upon each EU country to develop its own criteria for assessing whether certain work carried out via platforms is based on an employment relationship or merely constitutes an individual activity. One of the book’s main objectives is to present possible business models for digital platform work that offer greater social protection for the worker by analysing the theoretical aspects of digitalisation and the integration of the green economy into the labour market, and the legal framework for digital labour market platforms in Eastern and Southern European countries. The book will be of interest to policymakers responsible for regulation of the labour market, trade unions, university lecturers and students of economics and law who are interested in delving into the characteristics and regulation of the digital economy and the digital labour market, labour platform workers and employers
Geotechnical Modeling and Intelligent Systems
No full textThis open access book provides insights into research topics related to geotechnical engineering simulations. With the development of computing power and artificial intelligence, research methods in geotechnical engineering are gradually shifting from field surveys and physical experiments toward simulation and prediction. Through simulations, it is possible to infer the impact of engineering structures on soil and rock masses, as well as their response to natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, and debris flows, allowing for early planning of mitigation measures. Inside, readers will find cutting-edge studies on microbial soil stabilization, finite element simulations, centrifuge modeling, and machine learning applications. Topics include advanced material characterization, predictive modeling of tunnels and slopes, AI-enhanced monitoring systems, and risk mitigation strategies for deep excavations and mining subsidence. These contributions illustrate how intelligent systems are optimizing both design and safety across a wide range of geotechnical scenarios. This volume is an essential resource for researchers, engineers, and graduate students seeking to leverage intelligent technologies for more efficient, accurate, and resilient geotechnical solutions. With its integration of theory, experimentation, and smart modeling, it offers a forward-looking perspective on the future of infrastructure in a rapidly evolving technological landscape
Fukushima Legacies
No full textThis Open-Access-book focuses on the legacies of post-Fukushima activism, which are linked to significant changes in Japan’s civil society. Thirteen years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Japanese government tries to convey the impression that Japan has fully recovered and regained a sense of normalcy. But Japan continues to grapple with the effects of the nuclear disaster, and the government’s plans are beginning to falter. Japan’s civil society, which has strengthened and accumulated legacies—such as established networks, shared scientific knowledge, and advocacy experience— over a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, has been a key force of resistance to the government’s plans. Post-Fukushima activism has extended its repertoire and thereby firmly shaped various legacies for future social movements. The book concentrates on the following three aspects that have not been thoroughly examined in previous research: The national advocacy of civil society organisations through a special type of legislation called a ‘Diet member bill’; the backgrounds of mothers and other women mobilised for CSOs with a focus on advocacy; and the longevity of these CSOs
Growing Up Rural
No full textThis open access book explores the everyday lives of young people living in rural areas in Nordic countries, drawing on qualitative longitudinal methods. The young people’s life stories are set against a backdrop of Nordic welfare states under increasing global pressure. Growing Up Rural contributes to the growing literature on spatialized youth studies by providing a refreshing antidote to one-sided stories about depraved young lives in rural areas. By drawing on novel empirical analyses of longitudinal data, thereby foregrounding processual shifts and changes over time, it highlights the vast varieties in young people’s lives as well as the agency and navigation skills required to master vulnerabilities in transitions to adulthood. It contributes to ongoing discussions about how longitudinal qualitative research design provides a deeper understanding of the lives of young people as they unfold. This book provides useful and inspiring insights for scholars and students of youth studies, rural studies, life course studies, and qualitative research more generally
Schwarzbuch Bürokratie an Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften
No full textAn den deutschen Hochschulen ist die Situation nicht anders als im ganzen Land: Sowohl subjektiv wahrgenommen (so die endlosen Klagen an den Hochschulen) wie objektiv messbar (bspw. am Zeit- und Kostenaufwand) führt die Hochschulbürokratie zu erheblichen und wachsenden Produktivitätsverlusten bei Lehre, Forschung, Transfer und anderen originären Aufgaben der Professorinnen und Professoren. Dabei leiden diese nicht allein am bürokratischen Schlupf, alle Statusgruppen sind belastet: die wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter in den Fachgebieten, nichtwissenschaftlich Beschäftigte in Laboren, Rechenzentren, Bibliotheken, selbst die Bediensteten in den Hochschulverwaltungen verschwenden unnötig Arbeitszeit und verursachen ungewollt vermeidbare Kosten. Diese Anamnese hat eine Arbeitsgruppe von mehr als 70 HAW-Professorinnen und -Professoren aus dem gesamten Bundesgebiet, tätig in staatlichen, kirchlichen und privaten Hochschulen sowie Hochschulen für öffentliche Verwaltung und Polizei, dazu bewegt, in diesem Open-Access-Buch Beispiele und Belege für ausufernde Bürokratie zusammenzutragen, nach Verursachern zu fragen und Lösungen anzubieten
Science-Fiction-Futurologien
No full textWas hat Science-Fiction mit der Zukunft zu tun? Und können literarische Spekulationen dabei helfen, systematisch über Zukünfte nachzudenken? Viele Science-Fiction-Erzählungen spielen in der Zukunft und werden bei Überlegungen über mögliche Entwicklungen als Beispiele herangezogen. Gleichzeitig schätzen Fans das Genre besonders für seine eigenartigen, exzentrischen und unwahrscheinlichen Weltentwürfe. Ausgehend von aktuellen Projekten, die Literatur und futurologische Szenario-Technik aktiv verschränken, beleuchtet Julia Grillmayr die gemeinsamen Ziele und Geschichten der Science-Fiction und Zukunftsforschung, blickt dabei aber auch auf das, was sie trennt und Science-Fiction als Kunstform einzigartig macht
Aktuelle Entwicklungen des Rechtsrahmens der Cybersicherheit und Privatheit
No full textDer Sammelband zum Rechtsrahmen der Cybersicherheit und Privatheit bietet eine umfassende Sammlung von Beiträgen aus den Rechtswissenschaften. Die Themen reichen von datenschutzrechtlichen Herausforderungen der Nutzung neuer Technologien, über die angemessene Umsetzung neuer Rechtsakte im Kontext Privatheit und Cybersicherheit bis hin zu aktuellen rechtlichen Entwicklungen in der Cybersicherheitsforschung. Dies ist ein Open-Access-Buch