State Society And Information Technology In Asia

Many maintain that the arrival of computers networked across sovereign borders and physical barriers is a liberating force that will produce a global dialogue of liberal hues but this book argues that this dominant paradigm needs to be supplemented by the perspective of alterity in the impact of Information Technology in different regions. Local experts draw upon a range of Asian cases to demonstrate how alterity, defined here as a condition of privileging the hitherto marginal and subterranean aspects of a capitalist world order through the capabilities of information and communications technologies, offers an alternative to the paradigm of inevitable material advances and political liberalization. Calling attention to the unique social and political uses being made of IT in Asia in the service of offline and online causes predominantly filtered by pre-existing social milieus the contributors examine the multiple dimensions of Asian differences in the sociology and politics of IT and show how present trends suggest that advanced electronic media will not necessarily be embraced in a smooth, unilinear fashion throughout Asia. This book will appeal to any reader interested in the nexus between society and IT in Asia.

Many maintain that the arrival of computers networked across sovereign borders and physical barriers is a liberating force that will produce a global dialogue of liberal hues but this book argues that this dominant paradigm needs to be supplemented by the perspective of alterity in the impact of Information Technology in different regions. Local experts draw upon a range of Asian cases to demonstrate how alterity, defined here as a condition of privileging the hitherto marginal and subterranean aspects of a capitalist world order through the capabilities of information and communications technologies, offers an alternative to the paradigm of inevitable material advances and political liberalization. Calling attention to the unique social and political uses being made of IT in Asia in the service of offline and online causes predominantly filtered by pre-existing social milieus the contributors examine the multiple dimensions of Asian differences in the sociology and politics of IT and show how present trends suggest that advanced electronic media will not necessarily be embraced in a smooth, unilinear fashion throughout Asia. This book will appeal to any reader interested in the nexus between society and IT in Asia.

Undeniably, Asian societies are in a period of transition, when people are learning to live with new information and communication technologies (ICTs) - whether in commerce, government or development work. Living the Information Society in Asia describes the interaction of people and new ICTs as the technologies seep into everyday life, such as how mobile phones forge relationships among families separated by migration, how camera phones threaten personal space, how cultural identities are strengthened in call centres, and how religion is incorporated into the new communication technologies people use. Living the Information society in Asia looks at the phenomenon as it unfolds and raises the implications for policy and future research.

The rapid growth of internet, digital, social media and mobile users in Southeast Asia has increased the possibility of cyber misuse. The digital domain connects over half of the region population, opening economic possibilities, but also increasing their vulnerability to crimes and security breaches done via the internet. Aside from the cyber security challenges faced by individuals and businesses, national governments that increasingly provide their services online, as well as manage physical infrastructures that are digitally connected, have become more fragile toward cyber espionages and attacks. Furthermore, not only governments are obliged to protect national cyber security and the welfare of the population, but they are also tasked to formulate regulations for private sectors operating in cyber realm. Understanding such complexities, leaders of ASEAN have agreed to work together on cyber cooperation across the various platforms of the three pillars of ASEAN. This publication is an effort to increase public awareness of cyber issues faced by the Southeast Asian region, as well as to share experiences from ASEAN countries in dealing with the complexities of cyber development and management. Cyber domain carries a great potential for economic development and source of employment, but it is also a field of contestation for ideology spreading and power play. Notwithstanding the intricacies, cyber security is a cross-cutting issue that would benefit from the involvement of multiple stakeholders including governments, scholars and practitioners.

This book examines the influence of mobile media technology on the lives of young people in East and North Asia, South East Asia and Australia. It discusses the impact information communication technologies have today on social identity, well-being, participation and exclusion. It explores current media practices and their innovative, transformative and disruptive uses at the local, the regional, the national, and the global level. In particular, it analyses mobile media not as a discrete object, but rather as part of a dynamic communication and information environment in which human-object relations are constantly reconfigured. It covers key theoretical and conceptual themes in youth mobile media research focusing on social, cultural and political aspects, including coverage of key themes such as regulation and technology, practices, pedagogies, aesthetics, social change, and representations of mobile youth. The book includes new accounts of recent research into the uses of mobile media by young people, and how these are situated in a broader socio-political context. Case studies include mobile panics in Australia (the notorious Kings of Wirrabee sexual assault case) and Japan (the scandals of high school girls as teenage prostitutes) in which mobile media use has had significant impact. This book offers an up-to-date examination of the influence of information communication technologies on young people’s lives in the region.

The first full-length exposition of what it terms a global city-global risks nexus, this volume crosses disciplinary boundaries to draw upon research from Security Studies; Geography; Sociology; and Urban Studies. Innovative in its approach integrating theories about Global Cities with those positing a Global Risk Society, Yee-Kuang Heng positions this research in the midst of two concurrent global trends that will gain more significance in coming years. The world is experiencing the consequences of not only rapid globalisation, but also urbanization. In 2008, the UN declared that more than half the world’s population was now urban. At the same time, highly connected global cities like New York, London, Tokyo and Singapore also face rapidly spreading global risks such as pandemics and financial crises. Unique in developing a typology of global risks that threaten a global city like Singapore, beyond its Asian focus, the book also draws out thematic and policy lessons pertinent to other global cities. ’Global cities’ do not simply materialize. They are dependent on a range of stakeholders at various levels that produce and re-produce its command and control capabilities, in the face of global risks. Singapore’s experiences managing global risks in the financial; aviation; and maritime domains are common concerns shared by many countries and cities that have, or aspire to develop, similar critical infrastructure.

No book has addressed the simultaneous phenomena of Korea’s rapid economic development and its vibrant democratization in a single coherent paradigm. The late developmentalist approach emphasizes the strong role of Korea’s state and bureaucratic efficiency but does not explain how political development was concurrent with the economic miracles in the Han River; modernization and dependence theories also fail to explain the aspect of simultaneity in this phenomenon. What these three theories commonly miss is the unique relationship between state and society in Korea’s long history of political culture. In this book, Jongwoo Han takes a holistic approach to understanding these phenomena by examining the state’s role in the unprecedented economic development and society’s capabilities to resist the state’s centralized power. Han re-articulates state-society relations through Onuf’s social constructivist approach based on three rules of a political community: hegemony, hierarchy, and heteronomy. This book expands upon this effort to re-construct the state and society relations in two ways. First, it produces case studies of the capital city of Hanyang (Joseon Dynasty from 1392 to 1910), Kyeongseong (Japanese colonial control from 1910 to 1945), and Seoul (1945-current). The capital city is analyzed as a container for the major ideologies and ways of thinking that have shaped three important political eras. Second, i adopts two indigenous thoughts, Neo-Confucianism and geomancy, as sources of the main political and cultural ideologies that shape Korea’s state and society relations. These sources have never been treated as units of political analysis. This book finds that both Neo-Confucianism and geomancy, over two periods of Hanyang and Kyeongseong, are two main contributing factors of the emergence of the developmental state and vibrant democracy in Korea in the Seoul era.

The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda unpacks the ever-present and exciting topic of propaganda to explain how it invades the human psyche, in what ways it does so, and in what contexts. As a beguiling tool of political persuasion in times of war, peace, and uncertainty, propaganda incites people to take, often violent, action, consciously or unconsciously. This pervasive influence is particularly prevalent in world politics and international relations today. In this interdisciplinary Handbook, the editors have gathered together a group of world-class scholars from Europe, America, Asia, and the Middle East, to discuss leadership propaganda, war propaganda, propaganda for peace marketing, propaganda as a psychological tool, terror-enhanced propaganda, and the contemporary topics of internet-mediated propaganda. Unlike previous publications on the subject, this book brings to the forefront current manifestations and processes of propaganda such as Islamist, and Far Right propaganda, from interdisciplinary perspectives. In its four parts, the Handbook offers researchers and academics of propaganda studies, peace and conflict studies, media and communication studies, political science and governance marketing, as well as intelligence and law enforcement communities, a comprehensive overview of the tools and context of the development and evolution of propaganda from the twentieth century to the present: Part One: Concepts, Precepts and Techniques in Propaganda Research Part Two: Methodological Approaches in Propaganda Research Part Three: Tools and Techniques in Counter-Propaganda Research Part Four: Propaganda in Context