Analele Universităţii din Oradea, Seria Relaţii Internaţionale şi Studii Europene, 2021
As far as an increasing number of scientists are warning us about the destructive potential of cl... more As far as an increasing number of scientists are warning us about the destructive potential of climate change, humanity is facing a tremendous technological revolution. Also, the potential of new technologies to decrease the carbon footprint is significant, but the transition is highly dependent on people's choices and behaviour. This is why, a new way of motivating people around the world emerged: gamification. But, as good and innovative this idea seems to be, as many concerns it rises. Because the focus is mainly on technology, in this paper I will analyse the process of gamification through the lens of the digital divide. The concept was first used in the 1990s to describe the social and economic gap that emerged between those who had access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and those who did not. Today it is mainly focused on the possibility that people would become even more marginalized due to the lack of basic skills and the impossibility to afford the new technologies on the market. Consequently, my research question is: "Is it possible that the introduction of gamification in the field of transportation increases the digital divide?". I will try to answer this question by analysing what categories of people are targeted by gamification in transportation services and which are those that could be excluded. Also, my approach is not limited to a specific country or global area, but is considering gamification and digital divide at an international level.
Researchers and engineers of the 21st century have produced technologies that might deeply change... more Researchers and engineers of the 21st century have produced technologies that might deeply change our way of life. There is Blockchain which could revolutionise the trust between people and the financial sector, Internet of Things that can allow machines to communicate with each other to provide better services, and Artificial Intelligence that assigns machines with the ability to ?think? and empowers them to make decisions by themselves. The intersection between technological development and society ? understood as economic activities, social habits, politics, political institutions, etc. ? has always been a delicate issue in human history. It can generate both wealth and poverty, wars and peace or illnesses and health. It all depends on how we use technology and how prepared we are to accept changes and to adapt to them. Artificial Intelligence fits all previous scenarios and it generates highly concern among regular people. Therefore, in this paper, I will try to answer the follo...
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanţa – Political Science Series, 2020
M-learning solutions (mobile Massive Open Online Courses-MOOCs) are key elements in a world affec... more M-learning solutions (mobile Massive Open Online Courses-MOOCs) are key elements in a world affected by the coronavirus pandemic, considering that more than half of the world's student population was forced to stay at home during this crisis. Mobile MOOCs enable exchanges of information by using mobile devices without needing direct interaction. They have the potential to help users limit the risks and enable organizations, students and professors to continue their activities. The m-learning applications gained a lot of ground in the current context and can be seen significantly in areas such as online teaching, classroom management, language learning, and many more. In practice, the implementation of the mobile MOOCs adapted to the current challenges need to correspond to several criteria and recommendations identified by experts, in order to be viable on a large scale. This paper analyses the security issues related to the most used m-learning solutions in the current coronavirus pandemic by examining the existing empirical studies that provide a valuable insight into the requirements surrounding these applications. The findings of the study reveal that the m-learning solutions available today enable us to overcome one of the ever-growing challenges of our time, and it is essential to comprehensively evaluate them in order to enable future developers to create new and better secured mobile MOOCs adapted to the current needs. ◊◊◊ Rezumat: Soluţiile de învăţare de tip M-learning (mobile Massive Open Online Courses-MOOCs) au devenit elemente cheie într-o lume afectată din plin de pandemia generată de noul coronavirus, având în vedere că mai mult de jumătate din populaţia de studenţi din întreaga lume a fost forţată să rămână acasă în timpul acestei crize. Aceste aplicaţii permit schimbul de informaţii prin utilizarea dispozitivelor mobile fără a necesita interacţiuni directe. Ele au potenţialul de a ne ajuta să limităm riscurile şi să permitem instituţiilor de învăţământ, studenţilor şi profesorilor să îşi continue activităţile. Aplicaţiile de învăţare au câştigat tot mai mult teren în contextul actual şi pot fi întâlnite în domenii precum predarea online, managementul clasei, învăţarea limbilor străine şi multe altele. În practică însă, implementarea MOOC-urilor mobile adaptate provocărilor Victor Negrescu, Lecturer, SNSPA, Volume 9 (2020): 7-25 8 actuale, trebuie să corespundă mai multor criterii şi recomandări pentru a fi viabile la scară largă. Lucrarea noastră îşi propune să analizeze problemele de securitate ale celor mai utilizate soluţii de învăţare de tip m-learning din timpul pandemiei de coronavirus. Ne propunem să realizăm acest lucru printr-o analiză a cercetărilor empirice deja existente pentru a obţine o perspectivă cât mai cuprinzătoare asupra cerinţelor de securitate specifice aplicaţiilor discutate. Rezultatele studiului au relevat faptul că soluţiile de învăţare m-learning disponibile astăzi ne permit să depăşim una dintre provocările în continuă creştere ale timpului nostru fapt pentru care este esenţial să le evaluăm de o manieră comprehensivă pentru a permite viitorilor dezvoltatori să creeze MOOC-uri noi şi mai bine securizate, adaptate nevoilor actuale.
Today, more and more debates on economic and environment issues are linked with new technologies ... more Today, more and more debates on economic and environment issues are linked with new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Big Data or 5G network. But trying to find new ways to boost the economy or to fight against climate change in a more effective manner, are often missing the social dimension and could generate a social inequality phenomenon known as ‘digital divide’. This term was first used in the 1990s, when a gap was observed between those who had access to ICT and those who did not. Today, the main concern regarding the digital divide is focused on poor people and the possibility of them becoming even more marginalized due to the lack of basic skills using new technologies or the capacity to afford them. Starting from this theoretical framework, I will extend my analysis to the field of European public policies and programs and ask the following research question: what is EU’s plan for tackling with new technologies’ potential to increase the ‘digital gap’? I will try to answer this question by analysing strategic documents or public policies of the European Union. EU policies aimed at the development of digital economy and information society represent a strategic direction of public policies, referring to the fragmentation of the current digital space and to the uneven development of digital competences in the companies of the EU member states. Even though progress has been made over the last few years through the Commission’s Digital Agenda of 2015 – with goals such as providing broadband access to all households in the EU and 75% of Europeans using the internet – there is a danger that standards related to broadband and fast internet will not be reached, especially in rural areas. Moreover, new technologies such as AI, Blockchain or 5G network could further worsen the situation of poor people and enlarge the social gaps.
The paper aims to explore the roots of inequality in the European Union by focusing on the potent... more The paper aims to explore the roots of inequality in the European Union by focusing on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enlarge the actual digital divide. Each time a new technology is broadly implemented in society, it generates economic and social gaps. There are many similar examples in history when a new invention brought poverty for significant categories of people, who faced unemployment due to new industrial machines or found themselves unable to operate or afford new devices. Therefore, the research question that I will try to answer in this paper is: "does artificial intelligence have the potential to create more inequality in the European Union?". To answer this question, I will firstly address the issue of AI's state of the art and I will research how this new technology is industrially implemented, aiming to see to what extent it represents a threat to our jobs or our way of life. Secondly, I will search for social mechanisms that generate inequality by using the concept of digital divide. This theoretical approach focuses on the possibility of people impoverishing due to the lack of basic skills and the impossibility to afford new available technologies.
6th ACADEMOS Conference 2019 - “Political and Economic Unrest in the Contemporary Era”, 2019
The beginning of the 21st century brings new thresholds in the field of technology, known as the ... more The beginning of the 21st century brings new thresholds in the field of technology, known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This revolution challenges the limits among physical, digital and biological spheres and, for the first time in history, human intelligence and creativity – things that were considered unique – could be, in time, substituted by robots with artificial intelligence. All of those chances will deeply reshape our way of life, national and global economy and even politics. In this article, I will focus on how technology is going to influence developing countries, and I will discuss the case of the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). This is a new field of the Development studies, which aims to see how devices or techniques that apply knowledge in order to process or communicate data deliver some aspects of a development agenda in a developing country. As part of the 4IR and ICT4D, I will focus on Blockchain – and on its most relevant example, Bitcoin. This is an emerging technology that strives to add value in economy by eliminating third parties from financial transactions (such as banks) and to reinforce trust between individuals that want to cooperate in a variety of social and economic fields. Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer the following question: How can Blockchain technology’s features help developing countries? I will try to answer this question by correlating the development agenda of a developing country (consisting in economic growth, poverty and livelihoods, social development, e- Governance or environmental sustainability) with the most important features of Blockchain technology. Also, for each correlation I will find relevant examples of successfully implemented Blockchain projects. In the final part of the paper I will show how Blockchain can significantly impact the development agenda of each country that has already joined the race for economic, political and social development.
Keywords: Blockchain, Bitcoin, development, Information and Communication Technology
5th ACADEMOS Conference 2018 - Development, Democracy and Society in the Contemporary World, 2018
Europe and Africa shared a long and controversial history. During the age of colonialism, the gre... more Europe and Africa shared a long and controversial history. During the age of colonialism, the great European powers fought to expand their domination on African territories and, due the extractive policies of the colonizing powers, the continent never economically “took off”. The Twenty Century and the decolonization process should have brought, along with independence, the capacity of African states to reach full development. But due to the colonial legacies, global political environment and post-colonial ties with former metropolis, Africa remained the poorest continent in the world. Nowadays Europe has changed a lot: European Union has developed its own foreign policy and it is trying to increase its role as a global actor. Meanwhile, the EU expansion to the East asked for a huge amount of energy and resources to be invested from older member state, and the EU’s mission in the world was not on the priority list. However, 2018 should be the year of a new impetus in EU-Africa relations: EU leaders call for a “Marshall Plan” for Africa in order to counteract the soar of China in the region and the European institutions hardly worked to develop new strategic documents. Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer to the following question: “is European Union able to provide a different approach in its strategy to develop the African continent?”. I will try to answer this question using the dependency theory that understand the underdeveloped stage of Africa through the relations between this economic periphery and the Western economic core. In the first part of the paper, I will present the main aspects of the dependency theory that will allow me to understand the relations between the two continents. Then, using the lens of the dependency theory I will try to understand the African underdevelopment state and what are its economic perspectives for the next years. Furthermore, I will compare my theoretical results with the current official positions and strategies of the European Union to see if there will be or not a new impetus in the relation between EU and Africa. In conclusion I will try to see if the EU has a different strategy this time to help Africa “taking off”, or it just want to regain its economic supremacy in front of China and get more access to raw material and other resources.
Keywords: European Union, Africa, development, critical theory, dependency
This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European Integration and I will try to demo... more This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European Integration and I will try to demonstrate that the concept of Europeanization is not able to capture the nature of social change which occurs in member states. Nowadays, this concept is largely used by scholars to describe all of the economic, political and social changes that are taking place in national domestic policy under the influence of the European Union, understood as a distinct polity. In other words, this approach of Europeanization is limited only to the European geographical space and, as a consequence, it cannot capture the wider context in which the European Union exists globalization and the nature of world order. My aim is to analyse the concept of Europeanization through the neogramscian theoretical framework and to see if it can be overlapped with the process of European integration. I will do this by assuming a historical materialist view on the European integration process and international relations which will help me understand these changes through the Marxist perspective of structure and superstructure. Those concepts are mutually constructed in the neo gramscian approach and they are represented by the agency of social forces and its superstructural dimension – the neoliberal ideology according to Baastian Van Apeldoorn, Andeas Bieler, Adam David Morton or Stephen Gill.
Abstract. This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European
Integration and tries to... more Abstract. This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European Integration and tries to demonstrate that neo-gramscianism is an integration theory which came as a necessity to complete the puzzle in this field. The main critique of neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and middle-range theories is that they are unable to understand the real nature of power in the European Union, and by this I mean that they cannot conceptualise the power relations which are part of capitalist market structures. In other words, those theories fail to understand the structural power that establishes the direction of the European integration. My purpose here is to show the limits of the classical2 and middle-range theories and that the neo-Gramscian theory covers the gaps of the traditional integration ones, providing a coherent vision on the emergence and the evolution of the European Union, by using the social forces agency in the process of integration and superstructural dimension of European Single Market. I choose this critical theory because it focuses on the process of change, adopting the historical-structures perspective, which regards all of the structures that define social and political reality (ex. human nature) as products of history and subjects of change.
This paper belongs to the area of critical studies of European Integration and tries to analyse t... more This paper belongs to the area of critical studies of European Integration and tries to analyse the nature of the European states’ response to euro zone crisis, during the negotiation of European Fiscal Pact. The theoretical approach is neo-gramscianism, which is focused on social forces agency in the process of integration and super-structural dimension of European Single Market. Since 1980, the interests of big capital, gathered in the European Round Table, shaped a neo-liberal dimension of the European economy, adapting it to the context of globalisation.
But this neo-liberal project was also able to capture social-democratic, trade union and centrist demands into a neo-liberal European order, called by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn “embedded” neo-liberalism. This European model has also his limits because it puts the interests of capital in front of social policies through the assurance of market efficiency by EU. My purpose here is to see if during nowadays crisis, the European elite will apply the same economic principles of the embedded neo-liberalism trying to envisage rescue plans. To achieve this, I will follow the theoretical approaches of neo-gramscian authors like Apeldoorn, Bohle or Gill and analyse the state negotiations outputs during the European Council meetings.
Analele Universităţii din Oradea, Seria Relaţii Internaţionale şi Studii Europene, 2021
As far as an increasing number of scientists are warning us about the destructive potential of cl... more As far as an increasing number of scientists are warning us about the destructive potential of climate change, humanity is facing a tremendous technological revolution. Also, the potential of new technologies to decrease the carbon footprint is significant, but the transition is highly dependent on people's choices and behaviour. This is why, a new way of motivating people around the world emerged: gamification. But, as good and innovative this idea seems to be, as many concerns it rises. Because the focus is mainly on technology, in this paper I will analyse the process of gamification through the lens of the digital divide. The concept was first used in the 1990s to describe the social and economic gap that emerged between those who had access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and those who did not. Today it is mainly focused on the possibility that people would become even more marginalized due to the lack of basic skills and the impossibility to afford the new technologies on the market. Consequently, my research question is: "Is it possible that the introduction of gamification in the field of transportation increases the digital divide?". I will try to answer this question by analysing what categories of people are targeted by gamification in transportation services and which are those that could be excluded. Also, my approach is not limited to a specific country or global area, but is considering gamification and digital divide at an international level.
Researchers and engineers of the 21st century have produced technologies that might deeply change... more Researchers and engineers of the 21st century have produced technologies that might deeply change our way of life. There is Blockchain which could revolutionise the trust between people and the financial sector, Internet of Things that can allow machines to communicate with each other to provide better services, and Artificial Intelligence that assigns machines with the ability to ?think? and empowers them to make decisions by themselves. The intersection between technological development and society ? understood as economic activities, social habits, politics, political institutions, etc. ? has always been a delicate issue in human history. It can generate both wealth and poverty, wars and peace or illnesses and health. It all depends on how we use technology and how prepared we are to accept changes and to adapt to them. Artificial Intelligence fits all previous scenarios and it generates highly concern among regular people. Therefore, in this paper, I will try to answer the follo...
Annals of the „Ovidius” University of Constanţa – Political Science Series, 2020
M-learning solutions (mobile Massive Open Online Courses-MOOCs) are key elements in a world affec... more M-learning solutions (mobile Massive Open Online Courses-MOOCs) are key elements in a world affected by the coronavirus pandemic, considering that more than half of the world's student population was forced to stay at home during this crisis. Mobile MOOCs enable exchanges of information by using mobile devices without needing direct interaction. They have the potential to help users limit the risks and enable organizations, students and professors to continue their activities. The m-learning applications gained a lot of ground in the current context and can be seen significantly in areas such as online teaching, classroom management, language learning, and many more. In practice, the implementation of the mobile MOOCs adapted to the current challenges need to correspond to several criteria and recommendations identified by experts, in order to be viable on a large scale. This paper analyses the security issues related to the most used m-learning solutions in the current coronavirus pandemic by examining the existing empirical studies that provide a valuable insight into the requirements surrounding these applications. The findings of the study reveal that the m-learning solutions available today enable us to overcome one of the ever-growing challenges of our time, and it is essential to comprehensively evaluate them in order to enable future developers to create new and better secured mobile MOOCs adapted to the current needs. ◊◊◊ Rezumat: Soluţiile de învăţare de tip M-learning (mobile Massive Open Online Courses-MOOCs) au devenit elemente cheie într-o lume afectată din plin de pandemia generată de noul coronavirus, având în vedere că mai mult de jumătate din populaţia de studenţi din întreaga lume a fost forţată să rămână acasă în timpul acestei crize. Aceste aplicaţii permit schimbul de informaţii prin utilizarea dispozitivelor mobile fără a necesita interacţiuni directe. Ele au potenţialul de a ne ajuta să limităm riscurile şi să permitem instituţiilor de învăţământ, studenţilor şi profesorilor să îşi continue activităţile. Aplicaţiile de învăţare au câştigat tot mai mult teren în contextul actual şi pot fi întâlnite în domenii precum predarea online, managementul clasei, învăţarea limbilor străine şi multe altele. În practică însă, implementarea MOOC-urilor mobile adaptate provocărilor Victor Negrescu, Lecturer, SNSPA, Volume 9 (2020): 7-25 8 actuale, trebuie să corespundă mai multor criterii şi recomandări pentru a fi viabile la scară largă. Lucrarea noastră îşi propune să analizeze problemele de securitate ale celor mai utilizate soluţii de învăţare de tip m-learning din timpul pandemiei de coronavirus. Ne propunem să realizăm acest lucru printr-o analiză a cercetărilor empirice deja existente pentru a obţine o perspectivă cât mai cuprinzătoare asupra cerinţelor de securitate specifice aplicaţiilor discutate. Rezultatele studiului au relevat faptul că soluţiile de învăţare m-learning disponibile astăzi ne permit să depăşim una dintre provocările în continuă creştere ale timpului nostru fapt pentru care este esenţial să le evaluăm de o manieră comprehensivă pentru a permite viitorilor dezvoltatori să creeze MOOC-uri noi şi mai bine securizate, adaptate nevoilor actuale.
Today, more and more debates on economic and environment issues are linked with new technologies ... more Today, more and more debates on economic and environment issues are linked with new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Big Data or 5G network. But trying to find new ways to boost the economy or to fight against climate change in a more effective manner, are often missing the social dimension and could generate a social inequality phenomenon known as ‘digital divide’. This term was first used in the 1990s, when a gap was observed between those who had access to ICT and those who did not. Today, the main concern regarding the digital divide is focused on poor people and the possibility of them becoming even more marginalized due to the lack of basic skills using new technologies or the capacity to afford them. Starting from this theoretical framework, I will extend my analysis to the field of European public policies and programs and ask the following research question: what is EU’s plan for tackling with new technologies’ potential to increase the ‘digital gap’? I will try to answer this question by analysing strategic documents or public policies of the European Union. EU policies aimed at the development of digital economy and information society represent a strategic direction of public policies, referring to the fragmentation of the current digital space and to the uneven development of digital competences in the companies of the EU member states. Even though progress has been made over the last few years through the Commission’s Digital Agenda of 2015 – with goals such as providing broadband access to all households in the EU and 75% of Europeans using the internet – there is a danger that standards related to broadband and fast internet will not be reached, especially in rural areas. Moreover, new technologies such as AI, Blockchain or 5G network could further worsen the situation of poor people and enlarge the social gaps.
The paper aims to explore the roots of inequality in the European Union by focusing on the potent... more The paper aims to explore the roots of inequality in the European Union by focusing on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enlarge the actual digital divide. Each time a new technology is broadly implemented in society, it generates economic and social gaps. There are many similar examples in history when a new invention brought poverty for significant categories of people, who faced unemployment due to new industrial machines or found themselves unable to operate or afford new devices. Therefore, the research question that I will try to answer in this paper is: "does artificial intelligence have the potential to create more inequality in the European Union?". To answer this question, I will firstly address the issue of AI's state of the art and I will research how this new technology is industrially implemented, aiming to see to what extent it represents a threat to our jobs or our way of life. Secondly, I will search for social mechanisms that generate inequality by using the concept of digital divide. This theoretical approach focuses on the possibility of people impoverishing due to the lack of basic skills and the impossibility to afford new available technologies.
6th ACADEMOS Conference 2019 - “Political and Economic Unrest in the Contemporary Era”, 2019
The beginning of the 21st century brings new thresholds in the field of technology, known as the ... more The beginning of the 21st century brings new thresholds in the field of technology, known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This revolution challenges the limits among physical, digital and biological spheres and, for the first time in history, human intelligence and creativity – things that were considered unique – could be, in time, substituted by robots with artificial intelligence. All of those chances will deeply reshape our way of life, national and global economy and even politics. In this article, I will focus on how technology is going to influence developing countries, and I will discuss the case of the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). This is a new field of the Development studies, which aims to see how devices or techniques that apply knowledge in order to process or communicate data deliver some aspects of a development agenda in a developing country. As part of the 4IR and ICT4D, I will focus on Blockchain – and on its most relevant example, Bitcoin. This is an emerging technology that strives to add value in economy by eliminating third parties from financial transactions (such as banks) and to reinforce trust between individuals that want to cooperate in a variety of social and economic fields. Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer the following question: How can Blockchain technology’s features help developing countries? I will try to answer this question by correlating the development agenda of a developing country (consisting in economic growth, poverty and livelihoods, social development, e- Governance or environmental sustainability) with the most important features of Blockchain technology. Also, for each correlation I will find relevant examples of successfully implemented Blockchain projects. In the final part of the paper I will show how Blockchain can significantly impact the development agenda of each country that has already joined the race for economic, political and social development.
Keywords: Blockchain, Bitcoin, development, Information and Communication Technology
5th ACADEMOS Conference 2018 - Development, Democracy and Society in the Contemporary World, 2018
Europe and Africa shared a long and controversial history. During the age of colonialism, the gre... more Europe and Africa shared a long and controversial history. During the age of colonialism, the great European powers fought to expand their domination on African territories and, due the extractive policies of the colonizing powers, the continent never economically “took off”. The Twenty Century and the decolonization process should have brought, along with independence, the capacity of African states to reach full development. But due to the colonial legacies, global political environment and post-colonial ties with former metropolis, Africa remained the poorest continent in the world. Nowadays Europe has changed a lot: European Union has developed its own foreign policy and it is trying to increase its role as a global actor. Meanwhile, the EU expansion to the East asked for a huge amount of energy and resources to be invested from older member state, and the EU’s mission in the world was not on the priority list. However, 2018 should be the year of a new impetus in EU-Africa relations: EU leaders call for a “Marshall Plan” for Africa in order to counteract the soar of China in the region and the European institutions hardly worked to develop new strategic documents. Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer to the following question: “is European Union able to provide a different approach in its strategy to develop the African continent?”. I will try to answer this question using the dependency theory that understand the underdeveloped stage of Africa through the relations between this economic periphery and the Western economic core. In the first part of the paper, I will present the main aspects of the dependency theory that will allow me to understand the relations between the two continents. Then, using the lens of the dependency theory I will try to understand the African underdevelopment state and what are its economic perspectives for the next years. Furthermore, I will compare my theoretical results with the current official positions and strategies of the European Union to see if there will be or not a new impetus in the relation between EU and Africa. In conclusion I will try to see if the EU has a different strategy this time to help Africa “taking off”, or it just want to regain its economic supremacy in front of China and get more access to raw material and other resources.
Keywords: European Union, Africa, development, critical theory, dependency
This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European Integration and I will try to demo... more This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European Integration and I will try to demonstrate that the concept of Europeanization is not able to capture the nature of social change which occurs in member states. Nowadays, this concept is largely used by scholars to describe all of the economic, political and social changes that are taking place in national domestic policy under the influence of the European Union, understood as a distinct polity. In other words, this approach of Europeanization is limited only to the European geographical space and, as a consequence, it cannot capture the wider context in which the European Union exists globalization and the nature of world order. My aim is to analyse the concept of Europeanization through the neogramscian theoretical framework and to see if it can be overlapped with the process of European integration. I will do this by assuming a historical materialist view on the European integration process and international relations which will help me understand these changes through the Marxist perspective of structure and superstructure. Those concepts are mutually constructed in the neo gramscian approach and they are represented by the agency of social forces and its superstructural dimension – the neoliberal ideology according to Baastian Van Apeldoorn, Andeas Bieler, Adam David Morton or Stephen Gill.
Abstract. This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European
Integration and tries to... more Abstract. This paper belongs to the area of critical studies in European Integration and tries to demonstrate that neo-gramscianism is an integration theory which came as a necessity to complete the puzzle in this field. The main critique of neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and middle-range theories is that they are unable to understand the real nature of power in the European Union, and by this I mean that they cannot conceptualise the power relations which are part of capitalist market structures. In other words, those theories fail to understand the structural power that establishes the direction of the European integration. My purpose here is to show the limits of the classical2 and middle-range theories and that the neo-Gramscian theory covers the gaps of the traditional integration ones, providing a coherent vision on the emergence and the evolution of the European Union, by using the social forces agency in the process of integration and superstructural dimension of European Single Market. I choose this critical theory because it focuses on the process of change, adopting the historical-structures perspective, which regards all of the structures that define social and political reality (ex. human nature) as products of history and subjects of change.
This paper belongs to the area of critical studies of European Integration and tries to analyse t... more This paper belongs to the area of critical studies of European Integration and tries to analyse the nature of the European states’ response to euro zone crisis, during the negotiation of European Fiscal Pact. The theoretical approach is neo-gramscianism, which is focused on social forces agency in the process of integration and super-structural dimension of European Single Market. Since 1980, the interests of big capital, gathered in the European Round Table, shaped a neo-liberal dimension of the European economy, adapting it to the context of globalisation.
But this neo-liberal project was also able to capture social-democratic, trade union and centrist demands into a neo-liberal European order, called by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn “embedded” neo-liberalism. This European model has also his limits because it puts the interests of capital in front of social policies through the assurance of market efficiency by EU. My purpose here is to see if during nowadays crisis, the European elite will apply the same economic principles of the embedded neo-liberalism trying to envisage rescue plans. To achieve this, I will follow the theoretical approaches of neo-gramscian authors like Apeldoorn, Bohle or Gill and analyse the state negotiations outputs during the European Council meetings.
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Papers by Mihail Caradaica
Starting from this theoretical framework, I will extend my analysis to the field of European public policies and programs and ask the following research question: what is EU’s plan for tackling with new technologies’ potential to increase the ‘digital gap’? I will try to answer this question by analysing strategic documents or public policies of the European Union. EU policies aimed at the development of digital economy and information society represent a strategic direction of public policies, referring to the fragmentation of the current digital space and to the uneven development of digital competences in the companies of the EU member states. Even though progress has been made over the last few years through the Commission’s Digital Agenda of 2015 – with goals such as providing broadband access to all households in the EU and 75% of Europeans using the internet – there is a danger that standards related to broadband and fast internet will not be reached, especially in rural areas. Moreover, new technologies such as AI, Blockchain or 5G network could further worsen the situation of poor people and enlarge the social gaps.
In this article, I will focus on how technology is going to influence developing countries, and I will discuss the case of the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). This is a new field of the Development studies, which aims to see how devices or techniques that apply knowledge in order to process or communicate data deliver some aspects of a development agenda in a developing country. As part of the 4IR and ICT4D, I will focus on Blockchain – and on its most relevant example, Bitcoin. This is an emerging technology that strives to add value in economy by eliminating third parties from
financial transactions (such as banks) and to reinforce trust between individuals that want to cooperate in a variety of social and economic fields. Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer the following question: How can Blockchain technology’s features help developing
countries?
I will try to answer this question by correlating the development agenda of a developing country (consisting in economic growth, poverty and livelihoods, social development, e- Governance or environmental sustainability) with the most important features of Blockchain technology. Also, for each correlation I will find relevant examples of successfully implemented Blockchain projects. In the final part of the paper I will show how Blockchain can significantly impact the development agenda of each country that has already joined the
race for economic, political and social development.
Keywords: Blockchain, Bitcoin, development, Information and Communication Technology
The Twenty Century and the decolonization process should have brought, along with independence, the capacity of African states to reach full development. But due to the colonial legacies, global political environment and post-colonial ties with former metropolis, Africa
remained the poorest continent in the world. Nowadays Europe has changed a lot: European Union has developed its own foreign policy and it is trying to increase its role as a global actor.
Meanwhile, the EU expansion to the East asked for a huge amount of energy and resources to be invested from older member state, and the EU’s mission in the world was not on the priority list. However, 2018 should be the year of a new impetus in EU-Africa relations: EU leaders call for a “Marshall Plan” for Africa in order to counteract the soar of China in the region and the European institutions hardly worked to develop new strategic documents.
Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer to the following question: “is European Union able to provide a different approach in its strategy to develop the African continent?”. I will try to answer this question using the dependency theory that understand the
underdeveloped stage of Africa through the relations between this economic periphery and the Western economic core. In the first part of the paper, I will present the main aspects of the dependency theory that will allow me to understand the relations between the two continents.
Then, using the lens of the dependency theory I will try to understand the African underdevelopment state and what are its economic perspectives for the next years. Furthermore, I will compare my theoretical results with the current official positions and strategies of the European Union to see if there will be or not a new impetus in the relation between EU and
Africa. In conclusion I will try to see if the EU has a different strategy this time to help Africa “taking off”, or it just want to regain its economic supremacy in front of China and get more access to raw material and other resources.
Keywords: European Union, Africa, development, critical theory, dependency
My aim is to analyse the concept of Europeanization through the neogramscian theoretical framework and to see if it can be overlapped with the process of European integration. I will do this by assuming a historical materialist view on the European integration process and international relations which will help me understand these changes through the Marxist perspective of structure and superstructure. Those concepts are mutually constructed in the neo gramscian approach and they are represented by the agency of social forces and its superstructural dimension – the neoliberal ideology according to Baastian Van Apeldoorn, Andeas Bieler, Adam David Morton or Stephen Gill.
Integration and tries to demonstrate that neo-gramscianism is an integration theory which came as a necessity to complete the puzzle in this field. The main critique of neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and middle-range theories is that they are unable to understand the real nature of power in the European Union, and by this I mean that they cannot conceptualise the power relations which are part of capitalist market structures. In other words, those theories fail to understand the structural power that establishes the direction of the European integration.
My purpose here is to show the limits of the classical2 and middle-range theories and that the neo-Gramscian theory covers the gaps of the traditional integration ones, providing a coherent vision on the emergence and the evolution of the European Union, by using the social forces agency in the process of integration and superstructural dimension of European Single Market. I choose this critical theory because it focuses on the process of change, adopting the historical-structures perspective, which regards all of the structures that define social and political reality (ex. human nature) as products of history and subjects of change.
But this neo-liberal project was also able to capture social-democratic, trade union and centrist demands into a neo-liberal European order, called by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn “embedded” neo-liberalism. This European model has also his limits because it puts the interests of capital in front of social policies through the assurance of market efficiency by EU. My purpose here is to see if during nowadays crisis, the European elite will apply the same economic principles of the embedded neo-liberalism trying to envisage rescue plans. To achieve this, I will follow the theoretical approaches of neo-gramscian authors like Apeldoorn, Bohle or Gill and analyse the state negotiations outputs during the European Council meetings.
Starting from this theoretical framework, I will extend my analysis to the field of European public policies and programs and ask the following research question: what is EU’s plan for tackling with new technologies’ potential to increase the ‘digital gap’? I will try to answer this question by analysing strategic documents or public policies of the European Union. EU policies aimed at the development of digital economy and information society represent a strategic direction of public policies, referring to the fragmentation of the current digital space and to the uneven development of digital competences in the companies of the EU member states. Even though progress has been made over the last few years through the Commission’s Digital Agenda of 2015 – with goals such as providing broadband access to all households in the EU and 75% of Europeans using the internet – there is a danger that standards related to broadband and fast internet will not be reached, especially in rural areas. Moreover, new technologies such as AI, Blockchain or 5G network could further worsen the situation of poor people and enlarge the social gaps.
In this article, I will focus on how technology is going to influence developing countries, and I will discuss the case of the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). This is a new field of the Development studies, which aims to see how devices or techniques that apply knowledge in order to process or communicate data deliver some aspects of a development agenda in a developing country. As part of the 4IR and ICT4D, I will focus on Blockchain – and on its most relevant example, Bitcoin. This is an emerging technology that strives to add value in economy by eliminating third parties from
financial transactions (such as banks) and to reinforce trust between individuals that want to cooperate in a variety of social and economic fields. Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer the following question: How can Blockchain technology’s features help developing
countries?
I will try to answer this question by correlating the development agenda of a developing country (consisting in economic growth, poverty and livelihoods, social development, e- Governance or environmental sustainability) with the most important features of Blockchain technology. Also, for each correlation I will find relevant examples of successfully implemented Blockchain projects. In the final part of the paper I will show how Blockchain can significantly impact the development agenda of each country that has already joined the
race for economic, political and social development.
Keywords: Blockchain, Bitcoin, development, Information and Communication Technology
The Twenty Century and the decolonization process should have brought, along with independence, the capacity of African states to reach full development. But due to the colonial legacies, global political environment and post-colonial ties with former metropolis, Africa
remained the poorest continent in the world. Nowadays Europe has changed a lot: European Union has developed its own foreign policy and it is trying to increase its role as a global actor.
Meanwhile, the EU expansion to the East asked for a huge amount of energy and resources to be invested from older member state, and the EU’s mission in the world was not on the priority list. However, 2018 should be the year of a new impetus in EU-Africa relations: EU leaders call for a “Marshall Plan” for Africa in order to counteract the soar of China in the region and the European institutions hardly worked to develop new strategic documents.
Consequently, my goal in this paper is to answer to the following question: “is European Union able to provide a different approach in its strategy to develop the African continent?”. I will try to answer this question using the dependency theory that understand the
underdeveloped stage of Africa through the relations between this economic periphery and the Western economic core. In the first part of the paper, I will present the main aspects of the dependency theory that will allow me to understand the relations between the two continents.
Then, using the lens of the dependency theory I will try to understand the African underdevelopment state and what are its economic perspectives for the next years. Furthermore, I will compare my theoretical results with the current official positions and strategies of the European Union to see if there will be or not a new impetus in the relation between EU and
Africa. In conclusion I will try to see if the EU has a different strategy this time to help Africa “taking off”, or it just want to regain its economic supremacy in front of China and get more access to raw material and other resources.
Keywords: European Union, Africa, development, critical theory, dependency
My aim is to analyse the concept of Europeanization through the neogramscian theoretical framework and to see if it can be overlapped with the process of European integration. I will do this by assuming a historical materialist view on the European integration process and international relations which will help me understand these changes through the Marxist perspective of structure and superstructure. Those concepts are mutually constructed in the neo gramscian approach and they are represented by the agency of social forces and its superstructural dimension – the neoliberal ideology according to Baastian Van Apeldoorn, Andeas Bieler, Adam David Morton or Stephen Gill.
Integration and tries to demonstrate that neo-gramscianism is an integration theory which came as a necessity to complete the puzzle in this field. The main critique of neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and middle-range theories is that they are unable to understand the real nature of power in the European Union, and by this I mean that they cannot conceptualise the power relations which are part of capitalist market structures. In other words, those theories fail to understand the structural power that establishes the direction of the European integration.
My purpose here is to show the limits of the classical2 and middle-range theories and that the neo-Gramscian theory covers the gaps of the traditional integration ones, providing a coherent vision on the emergence and the evolution of the European Union, by using the social forces agency in the process of integration and superstructural dimension of European Single Market. I choose this critical theory because it focuses on the process of change, adopting the historical-structures perspective, which regards all of the structures that define social and political reality (ex. human nature) as products of history and subjects of change.
But this neo-liberal project was also able to capture social-democratic, trade union and centrist demands into a neo-liberal European order, called by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn “embedded” neo-liberalism. This European model has also his limits because it puts the interests of capital in front of social policies through the assurance of market efficiency by EU. My purpose here is to see if during nowadays crisis, the European elite will apply the same economic principles of the embedded neo-liberalism trying to envisage rescue plans. To achieve this, I will follow the theoretical approaches of neo-gramscian authors like Apeldoorn, Bohle or Gill and analyse the state negotiations outputs during the European Council meetings.