Community Contexts
Asynchronous Session
Public Art and the Law: An International Comparison of the Impact of Copyright Legislation on Creativity in the Public Realm View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Robert Greenstreet, Karen Greenstreet
Law, the invisible web of legislation and regulation that permeates all aspects of society, especially affects the physical environment through its considerable impact on cities, buildings and, surprisingly, even in the art that enriches the public realm. One of the least noticeable consequences of legal influence on art lies in copyright law, the protection of the ownership and subsequent reuse of original, creative ideas. The recent case involving Hermes, which successfully sued an artist for creating NFTs incorporating images of their iconic Birkin handbag, demonstrates the power of the law to control and restrict creative ideas within the visual arts. This influence is even more pronounced in public art, a medium created for maximum public accessibility and impact, which therefore has an even greater potential for influencing subsequent artworks and, potentially, attracting commensurate legal retribution. This paper explores the current variants of public art – statues, street art, murals etc. – and examines the laws that affect them. Through international comparison and by reference to recent legal cases in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada and Spain, the mechanisms for the restraint of the free flow of artistic ideas are explored, and their impact on creativity in public art assessed.
Meaningful Connection in the Neoliberal Smart City: The Singaporean Experience of Chasing Efficiency, and the Impact on Connection for Community and Belonging View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Aisha Sobey
Trends in urban development have centred on the use of data and digital infrastructures in the form of Smart Cities to increase quality of life and manage city space more efficiently. However, there has been little investigation into how the narratives surrounding the addition of digital space to the city impact inhabitants’ ability to connect. Connection to place supports belonging, and connection to others is important for social functioning, both important aspects of community within the city. Therefore, this study seeks to understand how approaching ‘smart’ as a discursive assemblage embedded within its history and context can shed new light on the impact of digital city space on inhabitants' connection. To do so, it focuses on the Singaporean Smart Nation and uses survey responses, interviews, and case studies to explore the inhabitant experience. The paper conceptualises the ability to connect based on the theory of value-fulfilment, which allows the relational and subjective aspects of meaningful connection to be appreciated. By focusing on the ability of Singaporean inhabitants to connect, the values embedded in the Smart Nation narratives are shown, and their impact on inhabitants is highlighted. The paper argues that chasing efficiency in the narratives of digitally enhanced spaces can be understood to be interrupting the fulfilment of connection in the Smart Nation. Consequently, the paper concludes that these spaces need to be approached as more than an efficient means of resource allocation but as a way of re-spatialising governance and shaping the way people live in cities.
The Use of Organizational Storytelling for Sustainability Communication View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nancy Ladeinde
Sustainability has become imperative for organizations due to rising stakeholder awareness of environmental, social, and economic impacts. For-profit organizations play key roles in sustainability communication through public campaigns and ESG reporting, setting the agenda for attaining sustainable development goals. This paper elucidates how organizational storytelling can foster effective stakeholder engagement and sustainability messaging. We define storytelling as a strategic narrative approach for translating technical details and abstract concepts into relatable stories. In the literature review, we identify storytelling motivations, opportunities, and contexts spanning branding, advocacy, and reporting. This conceptual paper provides insights into how sustainability storytelling enables organizations to construct sustainable identities, convey commitment, spark action, and build trust. We present an agenda for future research to assess stakeholder reactions and quantify storytelling impact. By synthesizing storytelling literature, we conceptualize how organizations leverage stories as vehicles for communicating sustainability practices. Using a case study approach, we analyze a Unilever sustainability campaign's narrative element. Our work identifies storytelling as a potent strategic communication tool, offering guidance for crafting compelling sustainability narratives. This research explains storytelling’s role in balancing public relations and sustainability. It provides a roadmap for organizations to catalyze stakeholder action and construct sustainable identities through impactful stories.
Role of Social Media in Cultivating Anti-poverty Communities in Neoliberal Australia View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ritsuko Kurita
In contemporary society, the pervasive influence of digital technology has rendered it indispensable for sustaining civic culture. The formation of civic communities is no longer confined to physical spaces; rather, it extends to the digital space as well. In some cases, citizens, who constitute themselves as political entities through remarks and actions on the internet, share their knowledge and values as well as their experiences with others in the digital space, thus mobilizing political movements with shared goals. Today, the virtual community, characterized as a communication-driven community, is a significant aspect of the civic landscape. Considering this relationship between digital technology and civic communities, this study examines how a community, rallying against poverty and comprising low-income individuals and the homeless, is formed and sustained through social media. Examining cases from anti-poverty and anti-homelessness civil groups in urban Australia, the study addresses the challenges posed by neoliberalism, where issues of precarity and poverty are more likely to be attributed to personal failures than to structural inequalities. In a society that places high value on economic rationality and self-reliance, the experience of shame arising from poverty tends to be experienced individually, remaining obscured from the public eye. The study focuses on elucidating how the private experience of shame derived from poverty is transformed into a collective one, potentially leading to the creation of affective solidarity. This collective experience emerges as a force challenging the neoliberal social system by leveraging the reflexive nature of digital technology.
