The mining culture in the Alps

€ 18,00

Although this book concentrates on a limited area corresponding to the Alpine region, it aims to outline the characteristics of a mining culture in the Alps through a comparative study of different mining districts. The research in this book is guided by two main questions: How was the management and organisation of mining in different historical periods influenced by political and economic factors? Is it possible to confirm the existence of cultural expressions specific to the mining profession? Despite their differences, the two questions in this book complement each other. In order to provide an adequate answer to these research questions, this study was based on precise methodological choices. Mining districts were selected, which were influential extractive locations for the development of mining in the Alpine region but which have been little researched in historical-anthropological research. Based on archival research and ethnographic work, this book examines both the socio-economic aspects of some mining sites in the Alps and the cultural repertoires of the miners, which include productions of immaterial culture that are not traceable in specific areas, but extend over the entire Alpine region and are configured as specific to this occupational group. Linda Armano completed a doctoral programme under the joint supervision of the Université Lumière Lyon 2 (Anthropology-Sociology) and the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice (European Social History from the Middle Ages to the Present). She was also awarded the title of “Doctor Europaeus”. Her main research topics are the anthropology of resource extraction, particularly in the mining sector, value chains, business ethics, luxury consumption and sustainability. She approaches these topics with ethnographic methods and multilevel analyses and positions her research at the intersection of business organisation, consumption and local and indigenous communities, particularly in the Italian and North American context. In 2018, she was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship combining mining anthropology and consumer research. In this context, she investigated the interpretations that different actors from different cultural, political and economic contexts along the value chain give to the concept of ethics in the context of the certification of diamonds mined in Canada. Indice Introduzione ISBN: 9788854958258 Collana: Scienze storiche Autore: Linda Armano Edizione: 2025

Essay on New Technologies and Discrimination

€ 18,00

The advent of digital communication and artificial intelligence within the work organization has accelerated a profound transformation of interpersonal relationships, which are now mediated by machines managed by algorithms. In some cases, the traditional structure of the enterprise no longer seems to exist: the employer and the digital application seem to be a single entity. In highly automated contexts, and thus not only on digital platforms, it can be difficult for employees to understand whether they are being discriminated against, and if they are uncertain, it may be impossible to understand the reasons for treating them differently from others. In the absence of a human point of reference, employees may not know whom to ask for an explanation of the difference in treatment and whom to ask for instructions not provided by the machine. Such difficulties in relationships affect not only those who already have jobs but also the unemployed who, discarded in the selection process, are unable to understand the reasons and potential discrimination that led to their exclusion from a job position. The author aims to critically examine discrimination issues that may arise from algorithmic applications in automated job management. The book compares the European Union’s approach to “statistical” discrimination with that of U.S. legislation. The author then highlights the interpretive problems related to the principle of discrimination that arise when the same principle is applied to algorithmic discrimination. The essay explores the implications of the liability of those who use algorithm-driven machines, the legal problems related to the protection of personal data in the production and testing of algorithms, and, finally, the AI Act’s regulatory framework on labor and fundamental workers’ rights. Adriana Topo is full professor of Labour law at the University of Padua’s law school since 2011. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto. Her research has focused on numerous areas of Labour law, including dismissal, strikes and collective bargaining in the public sector, anti-discrimination law, workers’ rights in insolvency procedures. More recently, her research has focused on the protection of privacy in the workplace and, more specifically, on the impact of artificial intelligence on workers’ rights. ISBN: 9788854958289 Collana: Scienze giuridiche Autore: Adriana Topo Edizione: 2025