Jennifer Earl and Katrina Kimport
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262015103
- eISBN:
- 9780262295352
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262015103.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Attention has been paid to the emergence of “Internet activism,” but scholars and pundits disagree about whether online political activity is different in kind from more traditional forms of ...
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Attention has been paid to the emergence of “Internet activism,” but scholars and pundits disagree about whether online political activity is different in kind from more traditional forms of activism. Does the global reach and blazing speed of the Internet affect the essential character or dynamics of online political protest? This book examines key characteristics of Web activism, and investigates their impacts on organization and participation. It argues that the Web offers two key affordances relevant to activism: Sharply reduced costs for creating, organizing, and participating in protest; and the decreased need for activists to be physically together in order to act together. A rally can be organized and demonstrators recruited entirely online, without the cost of printing and mailing; an activist can create an online petition in minutes and gather e-signatures from coast to coast using only his or her laptop. Drawing on evidence from samples of online petitions, boycotts, and letter-writing and e-mailing campaigns, the authors show that the more these affordances are leveraged, the more transformative the changes to organizing and participating in protest; the less these affordances are leveraged, the more superficial the changes. The rally organizers, for example, can save money on communication and coordination, but the project of staging the rally remains essentially the same. Tools that allow a single activist to create and circulate a petition entirely online, however, enable more radical changes in the process. The transformative nature of these changes demonstrates the need to revisit long-standing theoretical assumptions about social movements.Less
Attention has been paid to the emergence of “Internet activism,” but scholars and pundits disagree about whether online political activity is different in kind from more traditional forms of activism. Does the global reach and blazing speed of the Internet affect the essential character or dynamics of online political protest? This book examines key characteristics of Web activism, and investigates their impacts on organization and participation. It argues that the Web offers two key affordances relevant to activism: Sharply reduced costs for creating, organizing, and participating in protest; and the decreased need for activists to be physically together in order to act together. A rally can be organized and demonstrators recruited entirely online, without the cost of printing and mailing; an activist can create an online petition in minutes and gather e-signatures from coast to coast using only his or her laptop. Drawing on evidence from samples of online petitions, boycotts, and letter-writing and e-mailing campaigns, the authors show that the more these affordances are leveraged, the more transformative the changes to organizing and participating in protest; the less these affordances are leveraged, the more superficial the changes. The rally organizers, for example, can save money on communication and coordination, but the project of staging the rally remains essentially the same. Tools that allow a single activist to create and circulate a petition entirely online, however, enable more radical changes in the process. The transformative nature of these changes demonstrates the need to revisit long-standing theoretical assumptions about social movements.
Iñigo del Guayo Castiella
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198822080
- eISBN:
- 9780191861161
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198822080.003.0017
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
Early in the EU liberalization process, renewable energies needed governmental support in a market dominated by traditional sources. Support was considered an exception to prohibition of governmental ...
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Early in the EU liberalization process, renewable energies needed governmental support in a market dominated by traditional sources. Support was considered an exception to prohibition of governmental promotion of indigenous national energy sources. The Climate and Energy Package changed this perspective, leading to the 2009 Directive, allowing member states to enforce support schemes promoting renewable energies. Conflicts emerged between some schemes and the rules on state aids of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Deficient stability of support schemes must yield to a more predictable legal framework. The proposed substitute renewable energies Directive must be read in light of reinforcements of EU sustainable energies policies and 2015 Paris Agreement commitments. Renewable energies technology innovation has reduced costs and governmental support is somehow redundant. The future Directive provides rules that are compatible with competition and on the need to support generation from renewable energies in other member states.Less
Early in the EU liberalization process, renewable energies needed governmental support in a market dominated by traditional sources. Support was considered an exception to prohibition of governmental promotion of indigenous national energy sources. The Climate and Energy Package changed this perspective, leading to the 2009 Directive, allowing member states to enforce support schemes promoting renewable energies. Conflicts emerged between some schemes and the rules on state aids of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Deficient stability of support schemes must yield to a more predictable legal framework. The proposed substitute renewable energies Directive must be read in light of reinforcements of EU sustainable energies policies and 2015 Paris Agreement commitments. Renewable energies technology innovation has reduced costs and governmental support is somehow redundant. The future Directive provides rules that are compatible with competition and on the need to support generation from renewable energies in other member states.
Ewan Ferlie, Sue Dopson, Chris Bennett, Michael D. Fischer, Jean Ledger, and Gerry McGivern
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198777212
- eISBN:
- 9780191823008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198777212.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management
This chapter focuses on the importance of the QIPP productivity programme, and the techniques underpinning implementation. It offers a historical analysis of the various phases of QIPP. The ...
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This chapter focuses on the importance of the QIPP productivity programme, and the techniques underpinning implementation. It offers a historical analysis of the various phases of QIPP. The chronology indicates that QIPP was originally developed in 2009 under a Labour government following the 2008 global financial crisis. QIPP involved three streams of activity: pay restraint and reduced administration costs; lower national tariffs and increased productivity; and system redesign. We note the involvement of external management consultants brought in to advise government. The chapter reviews existing commentaries on QIPP; however, we note that the nature and effects of QIPP have been badly under-researched, despite its major importance. Think tank-based commentaries suggest QIPP relied on crude cost compression, with little evidence of the productivity-enhancing service transformation initially hoped for. The chapter ends by introducing subsequent chapters that explore the career of QIPP in our case-study sites.Less
This chapter focuses on the importance of the QIPP productivity programme, and the techniques underpinning implementation. It offers a historical analysis of the various phases of QIPP. The chronology indicates that QIPP was originally developed in 2009 under a Labour government following the 2008 global financial crisis. QIPP involved three streams of activity: pay restraint and reduced administration costs; lower national tariffs and increased productivity; and system redesign. We note the involvement of external management consultants brought in to advise government. The chapter reviews existing commentaries on QIPP; however, we note that the nature and effects of QIPP have been badly under-researched, despite its major importance. Think tank-based commentaries suggest QIPP relied on crude cost compression, with little evidence of the productivity-enhancing service transformation initially hoped for. The chapter ends by introducing subsequent chapters that explore the career of QIPP in our case-study sites.