This study of computing in an economically transforming city in the north of England looks at how new information technologies effect and are affected by a historically vibrant working-class culture. Stressing the complex interplay between technology and culture, especially notions about work and labor, the authors examine how this dynamic is manifest in computer-related jobs, in social relationships, and in the reproduction of local culture. They analyze the structure of computing in Sheffield, placing it in the contexts of national state policy, world political economy, and the regional labor market, and they explore the processes of computing in relation to the reproduction of gendering, the rise of "labor freedom," and local attempts to influence the course of computerization. The experiences of the people in Sheffield and South Yorkshire have much to teach us about what technology does and what we can do to control it. Computing Myths, Class Realities will be of interest not only to anthropologists and sociologists but to all scholars interested in the social correlates of computing.

A study of the effect of new information technologies on a traditional working-class society in the north of England. Focusing on the complex interplay between technology and society's ideas on work and labour, it examines how these impulses are expressed in the service and manufacturing sectors.

High Tech and High Heels in the Global Economy is an ethnography of globalization positioned at the intersection between political economy and cultural studies. Carla Freeman’s fieldwork in Barbados grounds the processes of transnational capitalism—production, consumption, and the crafting of modern identities—in the lives of Afro-Caribbean women working in a new high-tech industry called “informatics.” It places gender at the center of transnational analysis, and local Caribbean culture and history at the center of global studies. Freeman examines the expansion of the global assembly line into the realm of computer-based work, and focuses specifically on the incorporation of young Barbadian women into these high-tech informatics jobs. As such, Caribbean women are seen as integral not simply to the workings of globalization but as helping to shape its very form. Through the enactment of “professionalism” in both appearances and labor practices, and by insisting that motherhood and work go hand in hand, they re-define the companies’ profile of “ideal” workers and create their own “pink-collar” identities. Through new modes of dress and imagemaking, the informatics workers seek to distinguish themselves from factory workers, and to achieve these new modes of consumption, they engage in a wide array of extra income earning activities. Freeman argues that for the new Barbadian pink-collar workers, the globalization of production cannot be viewed apart from the globalization of consumption. In doing so, she shows the connections between formal and informal economies, and challenges long-standing oppositions between first world consumers and third world producers, as well as white-collar and blue-collar labor. Written in a style that allows the voices of the pink-collar workers to demonstrate the simultaneous burdens and pleasures of their work, High Tech and High Heels in the Global Economy will appeal to scholars and students in a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, women’s studies, political economy, and Caribbean studies, as well as labor and postcolonial studies.

The financial/social cataclysm beginning in 2007 ended notions of a “great moderation” and the view that capitalism had overcome its systemic tendencies to crisis. The subsequent failure of contemporary social formations to address the causes of the crisis gives renewed impetus to better analysis in aid of the search for a better future. This book contributes to this search by reviving a broad discussion of what we humans might want a post-capitalist future to be like. It argues for a comparative anthropological critique of capital notions of value, thereby initiating the search for a new set of values, as well as identifying a number of selected computing practices that might evoke new values. It articulates a suggestive set of institutions that could support these new values, and formulates a group of measurement practices usable for evaluating the proposed institutions. The book is grounded in contemporary social science, political theory, and critical theory. It aims to leverage the possibility of alternative futures implied by some computing practices while avoiding hype and technological determinism, and uses these computing practices to explicate one possible way to think about the future.

"This book explores the culture of modern high-tech workplaces and the different challenges and opportunities that new technologies present for modern workers and employers, reviewing various management practices throughout the world"--Provided by publisher.

Arguing that humans have always been technological as well as cultural beings, David Hakken calls for a fundamental rethinking of the traditional separation of anthropology and technical studies. Drawing on three decades of research on contemporary technological societies, this book outlines a fresh way of thinking about technology and offers an ethical and political response to the challenge of truly living as "cyborgs" in the age of cyberspace.

For the past 100 years, Hopis have had to deal with technological, economic and political changes originating from outside their society. The author documents the ways in which Hopis have used their culture and their socio-political structures to deal with change, focusing on major events in Hopi history. A study of "fourth worlders" coping with a dominant nation state, the book documents Hopi social organization, economy, religion and politics, as well as key events in the history of Hopi-US relations. Despite 100 years of contact with the dominant American culture, Hopi culture today maintains continuity with aboriginal roots while reflecting the impact of the 20th century.

This book is about interconnections-those among the historical, geographic, demographic, social, economic, and ecological aspects of development-as well as how Central Americans struggle with the interplay of increasing poverty and environmental degradation. Centering on the case of southern Honduras and expanding to include the Central American region, Susan Stonich's analysis employs an integrative approach that builds on a strong and varied methodological foundation to encompass both political economy and ecology. Stonich examines the systemic linkages among the dynamics of dominant development models and associated patterns of capitalist accumulation, regional demography, rural impoverishment, and environmental decline. By casting the discussion against the backdrop of southern Honduras, she presents a powerful historical record of how larger socio-political communities impact individuals and the natural environment and how, in turn, people respond. She charts the destiny of peasant groups within the dynamics of contemporary capitalism, recognizing that the fates of the peasantry and the natural environment are intimately linked. Stonich's study contributes to an improved understanding of the complex interrelationships between social processes and environmental degradation, offering a timely and pertinent comment on one of the most serious modern challenges

This ethnography of Nadur Village explores the ramifications of Kerala State's policy of wealth redistribution to achieve equality. The author shows a decline in income inequality and an improved quality of life for most villagers despite high unemployment, low incomes and the persistence of inequalities that redistribution has not overcome. This e

Information technology has had a major impact on individuals, organizations and society over the past 50 years. There are few organizations that can afford to ignore IT and few individuals who would prefer to be without it. As managerial tasks become more complex, so the nature of the required information systems (IS) changes - from structured, routine support to ad hoc, complex enquiries at the highest levels of management. Global Information Systems aims to present the many complex and inter-related issues associated with culture in the management of information systems. The editors have selected a wide range of contemporary articles from leading experts in North America and Europe that represent a wide variety of different national and cultural environments. They offer valid explanations for, rather than simply pointing out cultural differences in articles that cover a variety of national cultures, including: China, Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Peru South Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirate, the UK, and the US.