PostprintThis is the accepted version of a paper published in Organization. This paper has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proof-corrections or journal pagination.Citation for the original published paper (version of record):Upchurch, M., Grassman, R. (2015) Striking with social media: The contested (online) terrain of workplace conflict. The contested (online) terrain of workplace conflict
AbstractIn this paper we review the workplace battleground and explore the potential of social media for mobilizing social movements in labour conflicts and beyond.By conducting a case study with empirical accounts obtained from the 2010/2011 British Airways cabin crew dispute in the UK, along with secondary sources, we discern social media in the workplace as a contested field. Inquiring into the unfolding dynamic of social media and workplace conflict, we investigate the mobilizing prospects of theoretical concepts like 'distributed discourse' and 'accelerated pluralism' through the analytical prism of our interviews (Bimber, 1998;. Our analysis of these empirical accounts will tease out certain empowering potentials in the use of social media to shape discourse and mobilize movement. However, we also note that these same communicative actions may challenge internal union authority, generate counter-mobilizing efforts and constitute an integral part in exposing both our private and working lives to the processes of marketization and commodification.
In this paper, we explore how cryptocurrencies have been received in Sweden and Japan, and what specific attitudes and discourses may reveal about the ethical implications surrounding this new technology. By way of topic modelling prevalent discourses on social media among users of cryptocurrencies, and teasing out the more culturally situated significance in such interactions through discourse analysis, our aim is to unpack the way certain tropes and traces around the notion of autonomy may provide a fruitful lens through which we may discern how this technology has been received in each respective country. The ultimate aim of the paper is to shed light on the attitudes that inform the way this technology is perceived and the cultural and ideological nuances that this brings to the fore, as well as how this culturally nuanced view may help us better discern the potential advantages and ethical challenges associated with this new technology.
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