From Dublin to Silicon Valley


Book Description

"From Dublin to Silicon Valley£ it is the story of Eric Lassard ho decided one day to change the world. He learned at a young age that change starts ith you. So hen he as seven he started to be the change himself and started his journey. The book is the roadmap and the learning of the five years that followed and brought Eric to Silicon Valley in the USA. If you need inspiration, if you ant some golden nuggets, if you ant to laugh and cry this book ill bring it on to you. An extraordinary read for all the family.




Immigrant Identity and the Politics of Citizenship


Book Description

The next volume in the Common Threads book series, Immigrant Identity and the Politics of Citizenship assembles fourteen articles from the Journal of American Ethnic History . The chapters discuss the divisions and hierarchies confronted by immigrants to the United States, and how these immigrants shape, and are shaped by, the social and cultural worlds they enter. Drawing on scholarship of ethnic groups from around the globe, the articles illuminate the often fraught journey many migrants undertake from mistrusted Other to sometimes welcomed citizen. Contributors: James R. Barrett, Douglas C. Baynton, Vibha Bhalla, Julio Capó, Jr., Robert Fleegler, Gunlög Fur, Hidetaka Hirota, Karen Leonard, Willow Lung-Amam, Raymond A. Mohl, Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, Lara Putnam, David Reimers, David Roediger, and Allison Varzally.




The Silicon Valley of Dreams


Book Description

Examines the environmental racism at the foundation of the Silicon Valley economy Next to the nuclear industry, the largest producer of contaminants in the air, land, and water is the electronics industry. Silicon Valley hosts the highest density of Superfund sites anywhere in the nation and leads the country in the number of temporary workers per capita and in workforce gender inequities. Silicon Valley offers a sobering illustration of environmental inequality and other problems that are increasingly linked to the globalization of the world's economies. In The Silicon Valley of Dreams, the authors take a hard look at the high-tech region of Silicon Valley to examine environmental racism within the context of immigrant patterns, labor markets, and the historical patterns of colonialism. One cannot understand Silicon Valley or the high-tech global economy in general, they contend, without also understanding the role people of color play in the labor force, working in the electronic industry's toxic environments. These toxic work environments produce chemical pollution that, in turn, disrupts the ecosystems of surrounding communities inhabited by people of color and immigrants. The authors trace the origins of this exploitation and provide a new understanding of the present-day struggles for occupational health and safety. The Silicon Valley of Dreams will be critical reading for students and scholars in ethnic studies, immigration, urban studies, gender studies, social movements, and the environment, as well as activists and policy-makers working to address the needs of workers, communities, and industry.




Big Data in Small Slices: Data Visualization for Communicators


Book Description

This book offers an engaging and accessible introduction to data visualization for communicators, covering everything from data collection and analysis to the creation of effective data visuals. Straying from the typical "how to visualize data" genre often written for technical audiences, Big Data in Small Slices offers those new to data gathering and visualization the opportunity to better understand data itself. Using the concept of the "data backstory," each chapter features discussions with experts, from marine scientists to pediatricians and city government officials, who produce datasets in their daily work. The reader is guided through the process of designing effective visualizations based on their data, delving into how datasets are produced and vetted, and how to assess their weaknesses and strengths, ultimately offering readers the knowledge needed to produce their own effective data visuals. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in data visualization and storytelling, from journalism and communications students to public relations professionals. A detailed accompanying website features additional material for readers, including links to all the original datasets used in the text, at www.bigdatainsmallslices.com




Das Netz - English Edition


Book Description

Digitalization is changing our world – and we are in the middle of it. The digital magazine "Das Netz" (German for "the net") gathers writers, activists, scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs to think about the developments of our digital life. More than 50 contributions reflect on the digital transformation of society. Topics include the internet of things, artificial intelligence, ethics of algorithms and responsibility as well as social media and election campaigns plus digitalization in China and the USA. A must-read for everyone interested in digitalization!




Is the European Union Capable of Integrating Diverse Models of Capitalism?


Book Description

The 2009 European sovereign debt crisis and the EU’s policy response to it have prompted scholars to re-think whether diverse national models of capitalism can thrive within the European Union (EU). Are some national economic systems better suited to adapt to European integration than others, and if so, why? Contributions within this volume provide a qualified yes to these questions raised, concluding that the EU favors export-led growth models while it penalizes and discourages domestic consumption-oriented growth paths, particularly those that are financed by debt-accumulation. The book questions whether the EU is capable of integrating these diverse capitalist regimes. This volume adds a comparative capitalism perspective to EU integration scholarship in order to demonstrate that ever-closer union is not capable of accommodating diversity in national economic institutions. Chapters in this volume provide an innovative framework for understanding what factors related to European integration impede the economic and political integration of diverse European market economies. While recent comparative capitalism literature highlights that European monetary integration has favored export-led growth regimes, contributions in this volume outline that the EU’s prioritization of export-led growth over domestic-demand led growth is present in other facets of integration, including EU accession, financial integration, the free movement of people, fiscal governance and the Europe 2020 growth strategy. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of New Political Economy.




The Politics of High Tech Growth


Book Description

This book argues that beneath the Irish trade and foreign investment boom lies a more interesting story of regional innovation promoted by an alliance between the state and local technical communities. This alliance was governed through a decentralized set of state institutions, drawing on 'global' and 'local' economic and political resources. This 'Developmental Network State' has had a significant impact on the growth of Ireland's high tech cluster and is central to the emergence of an international network of 'global high tech regions' from Silicon Valley to Ireland, Taiwan, and Israel. The book provides a detailed study of the rise of the software industry in Ireland and of the state institutions and political conditions which promoted it. It shows how new 'network state' policies and institutions have been central to high tech regions elsewhere.




Routledge Companion to Creativity and the Built Environment


Book Description

This book crtitically examines the reciprocal relationship between creativity and the built environment and features leading voices from across the world in a debate on originating, learning, modifying, and plagiarizing creativities within the built environment. The Companion includes contributions from architecture, design, planning, construction, real estate, economics, urban studies, geography, sociology, and public policies. Contributors review the current field and proposes new conceptual frameworks, research methodologies, and directions for research, policy, and practice. Chapters are organised into five sections, each drawing on cross-disciplinary insights and debates: Section I connects creativity, productivity, and economic growth and examines how our built environment stimulates or intimidates human imaginations. Section II addresses how hard environments are fabricated with social, cultural, and institutional meanings, and how these evolve in different times and settings. Section III discusses activities that directly and indirectly shape the material development of a built environment, its environmental sustainability, space utility, and place identity. Section IV illustrates how technologies and innovations are used in building and strengthening an intelligent, real-time, responsive urban agenda. Section V examines governance opportunities and challenges at the interface between creativity and built environment. An important resource for scholars and students in the fields of urban planning and development, urban studies, environmental sustainability, human geography, sociology, and public policy.







Cultures@SiliconValley


Book Description

Since the initial publication of Cultures@SiliconValley fourteen years ago, much has changed in Silicon Valley. The corporate landscape of the Valley has shifted, with tech giants like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter vying for space with a halo of applications that connect people for work, play, romance, and education. Contingent labor has been catalyzed by ubiquitous access to the Internet on smartphones, enabling ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft and space-sharing apps like Airbnb. Entrepreneurs compete for people's attention and screen time. Alongside these changes, daily life for all but the highest echelon has been altered by new perceptions of scarcity, risk, and shortage. Established workers and those new to the workforce try to adjust. The second edition of Cultures@SiliconValley brings the story of technological saturation and global cultural diversity in this renowned hub of digital innovation up to the present. In this fully updated edition, J. A. English-Lueck provides readers with a host of new ethnographic stories, documenting the latest expansions of Silicon Valley to San Francisco and beyond. The book explores how changes in technology, especially as mobile phones make the Internet accessible everywhere, impact work, family, and community life. The inhabitants of Silicon Valley illustrate in microcosm the social and cultural identity of the future.