Participatory video drama research in transitional Vietnam: post-production narratives on marriage,parenting and social evils

Based on two years of participatory video drama (PVD) research with men and women in the city of Hu?, this article explores perspectives on, and experiences of, socio-economic transition and its influence on domestic life in Vietnam. Through a combination of output analysis, group screening sessions and individual interviews, it concentrates on the themes of marriage, parenting and ‘social evils’ which emerged in the PVD. It demonstrates how familial tensions collectively identified in the workshop and told in a single video-narrative are complicated by the more nuanced discourses that emerge from co-produced analysis in the post-production period. These illuminate a greater plurality of voices towards the liberalisation of the Vietnamese economy and the new life choices that this brings.     

Energy and water resource simulations for U.S. geography undergraduates

This paper describes environmental systems games developed for energy and water resource use designed to be adaptable from high school to undergraduate use. Two of the games are computer simulations with adjustable levels of difficulty that can be done in a computer lab or as a homework assignment. The third is a peer-to-peer roleplayer game designed for an immersive in-class simulation. For the energy and the peer-to-peer water games, we describe (1) the overall strategy or story line adopted, (2) the manner in which the game is played by students in a classroom setting, (3) the use of scientific literature in conceptualizing and parameterizing the game, and (4) possible game extensions. Preliminary data from use at the undergraduate level shows that the games are very well-received by students and, consistent with other research on quasi-experimental simulations, likely enhance learning outcomes.     

The Impact of Forum Interdependence and Network Structure on Actor Performance in Complex Governance Systems

One of the main assumptions of the Ecology of Games Framework (EGF) is that governance processes are heavily affected by the interactions among policy actors that take place in multiple decision‐making forums, which often function interdependently. In this article, we use data collected in the Tampa Bay and California Delta water governance systems to examine how “biophysical interdependence”—the extent to which forums deal with interconnected policy problems—impacts the costs that actors face when they participate in forums, which in turn can affect their performance in them. Furthermore, we examine how the individual information exchange networks that actors have (i.e., their ego‐networks) can mediate the previous relationship. We find that actors with networks that have more closure are better able to mitigate the costs associated with participating in biophysically interdependent forums, thus leading to better in‐forum performance. Our findings shed new light on the relationship between structure and function in complex ecologies of games.     

Paving the way for new regional industrial paths: actors and modes of change in Scania’s games industry

ABSTRACT

Recent scholarly work has enhanced our understanding of how new path development activities are enabled or constrained by ‘regional environments’, made up of pre-existing industrial structures, knowledge organizations, support structures and institutional configurations. This paper moves beyond overly static views on regional environments. We develop a dynamic perspective by analysing conceptually and empirically how a constraining environment can be transformed into one that enables the development of new growth paths. The paper offers a typology of various modes of change, including layering, adaptation and novel application that are used by key actors to ‘manipulate’ the regional support structures to facilitate new regional industrial path development. The conceptual framework is applied to a case study of the digital games industry in the region of Scania, southern Sweden. Our findings suggest that the creation of a more enabling environment for the growth of the digital games industry has been the outcome of multi-scalar processes and combinations of various modes of change employed by a few key individuals operating in the newly emerging path.     

Las estrategias del juego áulico en las comedias mitológicas de Calderón de la Barca

This article studies the particular case of the mythological plays of Calderón that form a cohesive and recognizable set of works in certain circumstances. This kind of comedy is modulated by specific issues of reception, under the dominant global principle of playfulness, through the mechanisms of admiratio, and different strategies of courtly game that can be summarized in four basic areas: conventional comicity, the writing of a theater full of sensorismo, the importance of the intellect games, and finally, the strategies to point identity marks of a particular social group.     

Chinese Independent Documentary Films: Alternative Media,Public Spheres and the Emergence of the Citizen Activist

This article argues that contemporary independent documentary filmmaking in China has been used as a tool by Chinese citizens to intervene in the public sphere and to provoke social change. I therefore propose to look at the phenomenon of Chinese video activism under the umbrella of alternative media. In particular, I take into consideration the “rhizomatic” media approach, which focuses on the interaction of alternative media with authority, the market and civil society. The case studies I present consist of several documentary projects completed between 2004 and 2010 that opened up spaces of dialogue between filmmakers and local authority, mass media and civil society. The paper claims that documentary films have an impact on audiences, whose members are consequently motivated to engage in discussion and action. I argue that activist video-making in China is reshaping the identity of urban citizens: through filmmaking, urban citizens claim their right to access information and demonstrate their will to participate and intervene in social issues.     

‘Hanging out in Runescape’: Identity,Work and Leisure in the Virtual Playground

This article explores young people's practices in the virtual spaces of online gaming communities. Based on a three-year field-study of virtual worlds, it considers how young people construct and maintain identities within virtual social systems. The article discusses the relationship between the material and virtual aspects of young people's leisure. It suggests that the boundaries between these domains are porous. Virtual worlds offer spaces for the imagination and can enhance agency and, potentially, resistance. However, virtuality is no ‘liberated space’ and it incorporates norms and practices that often mirror those of the material world.     

考古发现与秦汉时期的体育活动

体育活动,是人类在社会生产和社会生活的实践中不断创造、丰富和发展起来的,构成人类社会生活的一个有机组成部分。现代社会如此,古代社会也如此。古代体育活动,既是古代社会生活的一个重要方面,也为现代体育的发生和发展奠定了历史的基础。中国古代体育活动有着悠久的历史和     

考古发现与唐宋时期的体育活动

中国古代体育活动,自秦汉时期出现了中国历史上第一个高潮之后,经过魏晋南北朝的一段沉寂,到唐宋时期又出现了中国古代体育发展史上一个新的鼎盛时期。自唐伊始,随着国家大一统局面的再次形成和发展,社会生活趋于稳定,有力地促     

大型主题活动的富矿效应

大型主题活动是一座富矿,一些预测数据表明,大型主题活动蕴涵着显的经济和社会价值。分析这些数据,可为旅游业应对将面临的机遇和挑战提供借鉴。