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@phdthesis{Poletti2021,

title = {Global freedoms and viral harms: The controversy around governance of speech and social media.},

author = {Chiara Poletti},

url = {https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/145885},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-12-03},

school = {Cardiff University},

abstract = {In the study I address the controversy surrounding the governance of speech and social media communications. In less than 15 years, the regulation of content on social media platforms has increasingly taken over public discussions all over the globe. Social media’s charming narrative of ‘liberation technology’ and space of free speech, has progressively switched into the frightening character of ‘threat to democracy’ and space of hate speech and fake information. Whichever idea one might be leaning on, the diffusion and entanglement of social media platforms with every aspect of our society has made content regulation on social media a global public issue.

Scholars have stressed how governance of speech has been in the hand of a plurality of actors, in a plurality of settings. In the lack of a single decision-making process, governance initiatives emerge as a reaction to public shocks. In this study, I investigate how public shocks have contributed to regulation initiatives. Using theoretical concepts from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and critical data studies and the methodological tools from controversy mapping, I have analysed narratives about free speech, technology and governance models on websites and in the UK press from 2015 until 2018. The analysis reveals public bodies have increasingly assigned public policy responsibilities to social media and their technology (algorithms and A.I.). However, they miss considerations about the social implication of this type of governance of speech, which reinforces the structure of organisation of platform economy and algorithmic management of social life. With this study, I hope to contribute to the empirical study of governance of speech as well as presenting a normative reflection on the type of governance. I also include a meta-reflection on the role of researchers, and in particular on how this methodology and theory can expose the

paradoxes hidden in the black boxes of technology.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {phdthesis}

}

@phdthesis{Gourdon2021,

title = {La coopération entre villes européennes : convergences dans l'action publique urbaine par la circulation transnationale de modèles},

author = {Paul Gourdon},

url = {https://theses.hal.science/tel-03684225

https://theses.hal.science/tel-03684225/file/Gourdon.pdf},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-11-30},

urldate = {2021-11-30},

school = {Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I},

abstract = {Cette thèse examine les relations politiques entre villes européennes depuis 2000. Nous analysons les systèmes de relations formés par les projets de coopération de l’Union Européenne et par les associations transnationales de municipalités, grâce à la construction de deux bases de données. Notre démarche exploratoire fondée sur l’analyse spatiale, l’analyse de réseaux et la statistique textuelle, permet de décrire l’espace européen de coopération, d’étudier les réseaux d’affiliation et d’analyser les modèles urbains qui circulent à travers ces canaux. L’objectif est de repenser le transnational comme processus à travers lequel des politiques locales sont sélectionnées, comparées et érigées en "best practices", renforçant ainsi des normes d’action publique à l’échelle européenne. La coopération entre villes se déploie sur de larges ensembles régionaux et témoigne de niveaux d’internationalisation congruents avec la taille et le statut administratif des villes. Si les plus petites villes sont moins impliquées, leur participation peut s’avérer déterminante pour gagner en visibilité et porter une voix collective. Les politiques locales, telles que médiatisées au sein des réseaux, participent à la circulation de discours sur le pouvoir urbain s’exprimant dans la langue du néolibéralisme. Toutefois, l’étude de la construction de la catégorie des « petites villes » révèle un paysage plus complexe où coexistent la tentation d’entrer dans la compétition interurbaine et des stratégies écologistes et sociales de long terme, contestant alors le tropisme métropolitain des politiques étatiques et de l’UE ainsi que les apories du développement géographique inégal inhérent au capitalisme.},

note = {HAL Id : tel-03684225 , version 1},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {phdthesis}

}

@phdthesis{Blank-Gomel2021,

title = {Traffic accidents and the risks of cycling: A sociological perspective},

author = { Rony Blank-Gomel},

url = {https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/vt150p658},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-04-19},

address = {Montréal},

school = {McGill University},

abstract = {Traffic accidents generate a heavy burden in deaths, bodily harm and monetary costs, and there are growing concerns regarding the unintended consequences of traffic safety policies. Yet, they are marginal in the sociological literature. Drawing on the sociology of knowledge, I explore the construction and spread of truth claims regarding traffic accidents and traffic safety, focusing on accounts of the risks of cycling and specifically the role of bicycle helmets. I use this case to contribute to several sociological debates.

I used a mixed methods approach. I constructed a dataset of 1,902 articles, published 1970-2014, and identified the main themes characterizing different periods using bibliometric and network analysis mapping tools. This was complemented by 19 in-depth interviews; close readings of influential texts; and a qualitative analysis of 665 relevant news stories, published 1970-1995.

In the first chapter I contribute to the sociology of risk by examining if Beck’s risk society thesis, criticized for neglecting mundane risks, can be used to account for historical transformations in expert discourse regarding the risks of cycling. Drawing on the mapping of academic debates, I describe the bicycle helmets’ journey from the margins to the center of accounts of the risks of cycling, and the growing challenges to their position at the core of national policies. I argue that this process corresponds to the risk society thesis, including the transformation of bicycle helmets from mechanical objects into ‘quasi objects’.

In the second chapter I contribute to the sociology of mobilities, in which the development of traffic safety measures, including bicycle helmets, is often attributed to automobility, a car-dominated mobility regime. However, only few studies analyzed how automobility exerted such an influence. Drawing on Actor-Network Theory, I examine how helmet-oriented accounts of the risks of cycling succeeded in expanding their reach in the United States. I demonstrate the constitutive role of non-humans in this process and highlight changes in how participants were represented as well as the different interpretations of the term ‘effectiveness’. I describe this expansion as a non-linear, contingent process and argue against the use of automobility as an explanatory factor.

In the third chapter I review sociological studies of traffic accidents and traffic safety, published 1940-2017. Using a systematic search I constructed a dataset of 266 articles that I examined using qualitative text analysis. The results demonstrate that sociological interest in these issues has been marginal and sporadic, but diverse. I discuss the major themes emerging from this literature, including the relations between traffic accidents and suicides, group differences in risk, human-technology relations, the public marginality of traffic accidents, and their unintended consequences. I then discuss the sociological neglect of traffic accidents and offer venues for further research.

The thesis problematizes the view of traffic accidents and traffic safety as mundane issues, explores the sociological relevance of these issues and suggest heuristic avenues for further research. Potential audiences include sociologists interested in knowledge, mobilities, risk and accidents, traffic safety experts, activists, and policymakers.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {phdthesis}

}