elia Vardaki | University of Oxford (original) (raw)
Chapters in Edited Book by elia Vardaki
One of the promises of self-driving vehicles is equity to all social groups. Physically impaired ... more One of the promises of self-driving vehicles is equity to all social groups. Physically impaired people, people with disabilities currently face unequal conditions in transportation that restrict their freedom of movement, unfavorably impact their medical, social, and economic life, and even accentuate conditions of social exclusion. Autonomous driving carries the potential to deliver accessibility to transportation and create more favorable living conditions for people with mobility impairments. However, there is still limited research, compared to the general population, addressing the challenges people with mobility disabilities face, the prospects autonomous driving can provide to them and more importantly the attitudes and the perspectives of people with disabilities towards autonomous vehicles and autonomous driving. Nevertheless, such research is of importance since it can inform relevant research and policies and the design of transportation systems advancing social justice and equity. The current article, based on a recent survey, aims at filling the above-mentioned gaps concentrating its focus on the Greek context from a user's perspective.
Journal by elia Vardaki
IFAC PapersOnLine 54(13)p.p.63-67, 2021
This article aims to catch a glimpse of the changes on the driving culture that are about to come... more This article aims to catch a glimpse of the changes on the driving culture that are about to come and attempt to sketch the contours of these changes. The thoughts I would like to share are more exploratory reflections than an argument, on the possible ways the Autonomous Vehicle's new technology would disrupt and transform material world, patterns of behaviour and cognitive awareness of the urban landscape. Mainly I am interested in the social and cultural implications of using Automated Vehicles; how the car-bots will transform our urban cognition and ultimately our spatial and temporal perception.
Heritage politics in the light of austerity crisis: Founding the ‘Muse... more Heritage politics in the light of austerity crisis:
Founding the ‘Museum of the Battle of Crete’as a case study
Elia Vardaki
Abstract
This article focuses on the cultural politics related to the Battle of
Crete and the materialities of the World War II. Many communities
and local authorities identify their history with the heroic acts during
the German occupation. They view the Battle of Crete and the island’s
resistance against the Germans as ‘symbolic capital.’ The materiality
of these events and acts apparent in the monuments dispersed on the
The Cretan landscape reminds us of the trauma the war has caused to those communities. This article aims to analyse the role local communities, international organisations and local authorities play in the negotiations for founding the ‘Museum of the Battle of Crete.’
Keys: austerity crisis; cultural politics; Museum of the Battle of Crete; memory
Μνημονικές επιστροφές και αναστοχαστικές παρακαταθήκες Eξώφυλλο: Βασίλι Καντίνσκυ, Empor, Dessau ... more Μνημονικές επιστροφές και αναστοχαστικές παρακαταθήκες Eξώφυλλο: Βασίλι Καντίνσκυ, Empor, Dessau 1929 Η Χρυσάνθη Ζάχου σπούδασε κοινωνιολογία στην Ελλάδα και την Μ. Βρετανία (London School of Economics, University of Essex) και είναι Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Κοινωνιο λο γίας στο Αμερικανικό Κολλέγιο Ελ λά δos -Deree. Το επιστημονικό της έργο, με δημοσιεύσεις και ανακοινώσεις σε διεθνή συνέδρια, εστιάζει στη μελέτη της μετανάστευσης, του φύλου, της κοινότητας και κοινωνικής αλλαγής, της ποιοτικής έρευνας και της κοινωνική θεωρίας.
Memory is viewed as a culturally mediated practice and is used as an analytical tool to examine t... more Memory is viewed as a culturally mediated practice and is used as an analytical tool to examine the construction of identity in a remote and socially dispersed landscape in the island of Kythera.
Films by elia Vardaki
"When you leave home, you leave your life behind..." Alkis Dertilis, Albania. This film is about... more "When you leave home, you leave your life behind..." Alkis Dertilis, Albania.
This film is about the performative aspect of ethnic identity. Through narratives and performances, immigrants recount the difficulties they faced when they left their countries and the insecurity they felt in the host country. It focuses on the cultural practices of immigrant communities of Chania. Through festivals and social clubs the immigrants' aim is to make visible and reposition themselves in the local community as social subjects. Through performative practices such as music and dancing, immigrants negotiate cultural values of belonging, home and exile, contesting thus, ignorance and xenophobia. The aim of the film is to contribute to an understanding of the multi-cultural dimensions of contemporary Mediterranean urban space.
Conference Proceedings by elia Vardaki
Proceedings of the 12th Hellenic Conference on Artificial Intelligence
The use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a main pathway to decrease CO 2 emissions. Apart from mobil... more The use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a main pathway to decrease CO 2 emissions. Apart from mobility services, EVs can also utilize their batteries when they are not en route to increase the storage capacity of the electricity network. This in turn can improve the utilization of energy from renewable sources that are characterized by intermittent production. In the so-called Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) energy provision, drivers offer their EVs as temporary energy storage units, but this comes with substantial losses in comfort or equipment degradation costs. In this paper we discuss how, departing from the strict algorithmic and mechanism design techniques, social anthropology can help AI in designing V2G schemes that will be explainable and thus easily comprehensible and acceptable by laypeople. We argue that intertwining the scheduling algorithms and mechanisms with socio-anthropological aspects can: enhance the effectiveness of V2G incentivization mechanisms; help engage and associate people with the use and control of green energy technologies; boost the creation of novel and highly realistic largescale V2G simulation platforms; and create a new and challenging interdisciplinary research area.
Talks by elia Vardaki
Βιβλιοκριτική για το "Αουρέλια: η πρώτη μνήμη" της Λίλας Τρουλινού, 2018
Αουρέλια, η πρώτη µνήµη
Γυναικείο Κίνημα, Λύκειο Ελληνίδων Χανίων, η ανίχνευση μιας σχέσης: Σκέψεις εν είδει σημείωσης". ... more Γυναικείο Κίνημα, Λύκειο Ελληνίδων Χανίων, η ανίχνευση μιας σχέσης: Σκέψεις εν είδει σημείωσης". Προσφώνηση των ομιλητών στην Εναρκτήρια Ομιλία για τα 100 χρόνια του Λυκείου. Πελαντάκη Μαρία Η Καλιρρόη Παρέν και το Λύκειο Ελληνίδων Ζωή Μητσοτάκη Το έργο της Φλωρεντίνης Καλούτση. Δρ.Ελια Βαρδάκη, κοινωνική ανθρωπολόγος.
Conference Presentations by elia Vardaki
My interest is to explore the effects of the Autonomous Vehicles in human cognition, in knowledge... more My interest is to explore the effects of the Autonomous Vehicles in human cognition, in knowledge transmission, memory practices, spatial and temporal perception. If the mind is relationally affected by collective and environmental factors that shape our cognition and interact with the social, material and biological environments, then how the emergent technology of the Autonomous Vehicles would affect human cognition and embodied minds? This new technology can change the perception of urban space in multifarious ways, while creating new relational connections between mind, material culture and bodily practices. My interest is to explore along the lines of cognitive approach, the way these new environmental factors and new material worlds interact with and in turn affect human cognition. As the autonomous technology influences nearly every aspect of everyday practices, anthropologists should pose questions on the way this new artificially intelligence such as autonomous agents would affect cognition related to various aspects of human life like spatial perceptions, memory practices, emotions, embodied practices, creativity and imaginary perspectives. Amidst growing concerns over the implication of such technology in human life social scientists point to the fact that the use and implementation of technology is viewed linear, while human practices and social implications aren't linear. Social forces like environmentalist, concerned citizens, government regulators, state mechanisms would regulate and control these technologies (Brown and Duguid, 2017). Although these responses are correct they only highlight the external restrictions and control mechanisms for regulating autonomous technology. The implication of Autonomous Vehicles on cognition, on the embodied practices, knowledge patterns and memory mechanisms call for anthropological attention.
Tο άρθρο αποτελεί συντετµηµένη µορφή ανακοίνωσης µε τον ίδιο τίτλο στο 12ον Διεθνές Κρητολογικό Σ... more Tο άρθρο αποτελεί συντετµηµένη µορφή ανακοίνωσης µε τον ίδιο τίτλο στο 12ον Διεθνές Κρητολογικό Συνέδριο, Ηράκλειο 21-25 Σεπτεµβρίου 2016. Έλια Βαρδάκη, Δρ. Κοινωνικής Ανθρωπολογίας, Ερευνήτρια Πολυτεχνείου Κρήτης. Η κατασκευή της κλειστής αγοράς των Χανίων κι η διαµόρφωση του αστικού τοπίου στις αρχές του 20ου αι.
(W103) Sourcing/outsourcing state violence: concealment, legitimacy, sovereignty Location Callan ... more (W103)
Sourcing/outsourcing state violence: concealment, legitimacy, sovereignty
Location Callan CS1
Date and Start Time 26 Aug, 2010 at 11:30
Convenors:
Urania Astrinaki (Panteion University), Staffan Löfving (Uppsala University).
Violence and the suspension of human rights masked in a discourse of security and law enforcement represent a medium by which democracy and sociopolitical stability is protected and/or reinforced. Illegal migration in this context is viewed as a threat to social and political security, while illegal migrants are stripped off their basic human rights. With Agamben's work as point of departure, this paper explores whether the historic centre of Athens constitutes a symbolic space in a state of exception in the context of the urban web, legitimizing police violence. Secondly, the paper analyzes both public and state discourse on illegal migration in Greece in light of notions of security and order, and it critiques political authority practices that depoliticize the current situation in the historic centre.
Drafts by elia Vardaki
Recent advances on automated driving technology remain largely focused on the technical side of t... more Recent advances on automated driving technology remain largely focused on the technical side of this innovative technology on traffic management, deployment techniques and demand services. The problem with this approach is that it focuses on the technical side of the Autonomous Vehicles reinforcing the artificial division between human and machine agency by focusing more on the agency of the cars. The aim of this paper on the other hand, is to look at the way technology transcends the relationship between humans, physical space and material practices. Informed by the recent scholarship of Material Engagement Theory (MET) the article reinstates the artificial opposition between mind and matter granting agency to both humans and machines under the assumption that they mutually constitute each other. Human cognition, thus, is viewed as enacted, embodied and extended in a manner that provides a path to understand the changes CAV will induce in urban life. Thinking through the notion of cognition, material culture and spatial understanding, will help the research to re-conceptualise CAV not only as a disruptive technology that destabilised current forms of embodied practices, but also as a hybrid mode of engagement in an automated world. Therefore the interest is on how these new hybrid agents will actively produce patterns of behaviour, forge new identities and social relations and reconnect with the material world.
One of the promises of self-driving vehicles is equity to all social groups. Physically impaired ... more One of the promises of self-driving vehicles is equity to all social groups. Physically impaired people, people with disabilities currently face unequal conditions in transportation that restrict their freedom of movement, unfavorably impact their medical, social, and economic life, and even accentuate conditions of social exclusion. Autonomous driving carries the potential to deliver accessibility to transportation and create more favorable living conditions for people with mobility impairments. However, there is still limited research, compared to the general population, addressing the challenges people with mobility disabilities face, the prospects autonomous driving can provide to them and more importantly the attitudes and the perspectives of people with disabilities towards autonomous vehicles and autonomous driving. Nevertheless, such research is of importance since it can inform relevant research and policies and the design of transportation systems advancing social justice and equity. The current article, based on a recent survey, aims at filling the above-mentioned gaps concentrating its focus on the Greek context from a user's perspective.
IFAC PapersOnLine 54(13)p.p.63-67, 2021
This article aims to catch a glimpse of the changes on the driving culture that are about to come... more This article aims to catch a glimpse of the changes on the driving culture that are about to come and attempt to sketch the contours of these changes. The thoughts I would like to share are more exploratory reflections than an argument, on the possible ways the Autonomous Vehicle's new technology would disrupt and transform material world, patterns of behaviour and cognitive awareness of the urban landscape. Mainly I am interested in the social and cultural implications of using Automated Vehicles; how the car-bots will transform our urban cognition and ultimately our spatial and temporal perception.
Heritage politics in the light of austerity crisis: Founding the ‘Muse... more Heritage politics in the light of austerity crisis:
Founding the ‘Museum of the Battle of Crete’as a case study
Elia Vardaki
Abstract
This article focuses on the cultural politics related to the Battle of
Crete and the materialities of the World War II. Many communities
and local authorities identify their history with the heroic acts during
the German occupation. They view the Battle of Crete and the island’s
resistance against the Germans as ‘symbolic capital.’ The materiality
of these events and acts apparent in the monuments dispersed on the
The Cretan landscape reminds us of the trauma the war has caused to those communities. This article aims to analyse the role local communities, international organisations and local authorities play in the negotiations for founding the ‘Museum of the Battle of Crete.’
Keys: austerity crisis; cultural politics; Museum of the Battle of Crete; memory
Μνημονικές επιστροφές και αναστοχαστικές παρακαταθήκες Eξώφυλλο: Βασίλι Καντίνσκυ, Empor, Dessau ... more Μνημονικές επιστροφές και αναστοχαστικές παρακαταθήκες Eξώφυλλο: Βασίλι Καντίνσκυ, Empor, Dessau 1929 Η Χρυσάνθη Ζάχου σπούδασε κοινωνιολογία στην Ελλάδα και την Μ. Βρετανία (London School of Economics, University of Essex) και είναι Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Κοινωνιο λο γίας στο Αμερικανικό Κολλέγιο Ελ λά δos -Deree. Το επιστημονικό της έργο, με δημοσιεύσεις και ανακοινώσεις σε διεθνή συνέδρια, εστιάζει στη μελέτη της μετανάστευσης, του φύλου, της κοινότητας και κοινωνικής αλλαγής, της ποιοτικής έρευνας και της κοινωνική θεωρίας.
Memory is viewed as a culturally mediated practice and is used as an analytical tool to examine t... more Memory is viewed as a culturally mediated practice and is used as an analytical tool to examine the construction of identity in a remote and socially dispersed landscape in the island of Kythera.
"When you leave home, you leave your life behind..." Alkis Dertilis, Albania. This film is about... more "When you leave home, you leave your life behind..." Alkis Dertilis, Albania.
This film is about the performative aspect of ethnic identity. Through narratives and performances, immigrants recount the difficulties they faced when they left their countries and the insecurity they felt in the host country. It focuses on the cultural practices of immigrant communities of Chania. Through festivals and social clubs the immigrants' aim is to make visible and reposition themselves in the local community as social subjects. Through performative practices such as music and dancing, immigrants negotiate cultural values of belonging, home and exile, contesting thus, ignorance and xenophobia. The aim of the film is to contribute to an understanding of the multi-cultural dimensions of contemporary Mediterranean urban space.
Proceedings of the 12th Hellenic Conference on Artificial Intelligence
The use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a main pathway to decrease CO 2 emissions. Apart from mobil... more The use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a main pathway to decrease CO 2 emissions. Apart from mobility services, EVs can also utilize their batteries when they are not en route to increase the storage capacity of the electricity network. This in turn can improve the utilization of energy from renewable sources that are characterized by intermittent production. In the so-called Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) energy provision, drivers offer their EVs as temporary energy storage units, but this comes with substantial losses in comfort or equipment degradation costs. In this paper we discuss how, departing from the strict algorithmic and mechanism design techniques, social anthropology can help AI in designing V2G schemes that will be explainable and thus easily comprehensible and acceptable by laypeople. We argue that intertwining the scheduling algorithms and mechanisms with socio-anthropological aspects can: enhance the effectiveness of V2G incentivization mechanisms; help engage and associate people with the use and control of green energy technologies; boost the creation of novel and highly realistic largescale V2G simulation platforms; and create a new and challenging interdisciplinary research area.
Βιβλιοκριτική για το "Αουρέλια: η πρώτη μνήμη" της Λίλας Τρουλινού, 2018
Αουρέλια, η πρώτη µνήµη
Γυναικείο Κίνημα, Λύκειο Ελληνίδων Χανίων, η ανίχνευση μιας σχέσης: Σκέψεις εν είδει σημείωσης". ... more Γυναικείο Κίνημα, Λύκειο Ελληνίδων Χανίων, η ανίχνευση μιας σχέσης: Σκέψεις εν είδει σημείωσης". Προσφώνηση των ομιλητών στην Εναρκτήρια Ομιλία για τα 100 χρόνια του Λυκείου. Πελαντάκη Μαρία Η Καλιρρόη Παρέν και το Λύκειο Ελληνίδων Ζωή Μητσοτάκη Το έργο της Φλωρεντίνης Καλούτση. Δρ.Ελια Βαρδάκη, κοινωνική ανθρωπολόγος.
My interest is to explore the effects of the Autonomous Vehicles in human cognition, in knowledge... more My interest is to explore the effects of the Autonomous Vehicles in human cognition, in knowledge transmission, memory practices, spatial and temporal perception. If the mind is relationally affected by collective and environmental factors that shape our cognition and interact with the social, material and biological environments, then how the emergent technology of the Autonomous Vehicles would affect human cognition and embodied minds? This new technology can change the perception of urban space in multifarious ways, while creating new relational connections between mind, material culture and bodily practices. My interest is to explore along the lines of cognitive approach, the way these new environmental factors and new material worlds interact with and in turn affect human cognition. As the autonomous technology influences nearly every aspect of everyday practices, anthropologists should pose questions on the way this new artificially intelligence such as autonomous agents would affect cognition related to various aspects of human life like spatial perceptions, memory practices, emotions, embodied practices, creativity and imaginary perspectives. Amidst growing concerns over the implication of such technology in human life social scientists point to the fact that the use and implementation of technology is viewed linear, while human practices and social implications aren't linear. Social forces like environmentalist, concerned citizens, government regulators, state mechanisms would regulate and control these technologies (Brown and Duguid, 2017). Although these responses are correct they only highlight the external restrictions and control mechanisms for regulating autonomous technology. The implication of Autonomous Vehicles on cognition, on the embodied practices, knowledge patterns and memory mechanisms call for anthropological attention.
Tο άρθρο αποτελεί συντετµηµένη µορφή ανακοίνωσης µε τον ίδιο τίτλο στο 12ον Διεθνές Κρητολογικό Σ... more Tο άρθρο αποτελεί συντετµηµένη µορφή ανακοίνωσης µε τον ίδιο τίτλο στο 12ον Διεθνές Κρητολογικό Συνέδριο, Ηράκλειο 21-25 Σεπτεµβρίου 2016. Έλια Βαρδάκη, Δρ. Κοινωνικής Ανθρωπολογίας, Ερευνήτρια Πολυτεχνείου Κρήτης. Η κατασκευή της κλειστής αγοράς των Χανίων κι η διαµόρφωση του αστικού τοπίου στις αρχές του 20ου αι.
(W103) Sourcing/outsourcing state violence: concealment, legitimacy, sovereignty Location Callan ... more (W103)
Sourcing/outsourcing state violence: concealment, legitimacy, sovereignty
Location Callan CS1
Date and Start Time 26 Aug, 2010 at 11:30
Convenors:
Urania Astrinaki (Panteion University), Staffan Löfving (Uppsala University).
Violence and the suspension of human rights masked in a discourse of security and law enforcement represent a medium by which democracy and sociopolitical stability is protected and/or reinforced. Illegal migration in this context is viewed as a threat to social and political security, while illegal migrants are stripped off their basic human rights. With Agamben's work as point of departure, this paper explores whether the historic centre of Athens constitutes a symbolic space in a state of exception in the context of the urban web, legitimizing police violence. Secondly, the paper analyzes both public and state discourse on illegal migration in Greece in light of notions of security and order, and it critiques political authority practices that depoliticize the current situation in the historic centre.
Recent advances on automated driving technology remain largely focused on the technical side of t... more Recent advances on automated driving technology remain largely focused on the technical side of this innovative technology on traffic management, deployment techniques and demand services. The problem with this approach is that it focuses on the technical side of the Autonomous Vehicles reinforcing the artificial division between human and machine agency by focusing more on the agency of the cars. The aim of this paper on the other hand, is to look at the way technology transcends the relationship between humans, physical space and material practices. Informed by the recent scholarship of Material Engagement Theory (MET) the article reinstates the artificial opposition between mind and matter granting agency to both humans and machines under the assumption that they mutually constitute each other. Human cognition, thus, is viewed as enacted, embodied and extended in a manner that provides a path to understand the changes CAV will induce in urban life. Thinking through the notion of cognition, material culture and spatial understanding, will help the research to re-conceptualise CAV not only as a disruptive technology that destabilised current forms of embodied practices, but also as a hybrid mode of engagement in an automated world. Therefore the interest is on how these new hybrid agents will actively produce patterns of behaviour, forge new identities and social relations and reconnect with the material world.
IFAC-PapersOnLine, 2021
This article aims to catch a glimpse of the changes on the driving culture that are about to come... more This article aims to catch a glimpse of the changes on the driving culture that are about to come and attempt to sketch the contours of these changes. The thoughts I would like to share are more exploratory reflections than an argument, on the possible ways the Autonomous Vehicle's new technology would disrupt and transform material world, patterns of behaviour and cognitive awareness of the urban landscape. Mainly I am interested in the social and cultural implications of using Automated Vehicles; how the car-bots will transform our urban cognition and ultimately our spatial and temporal perception.
South European Society and Politics, Sep 1, 2009
This edited volume offers a series of thought-provoking essays by well-known scholars in the fiel... more This edited volume offers a series of thought-provoking essays by well-known scholars in the field of Modern Greek Studies. The chapters, rich and diverse, explore from different methodological and theoretical standpoints the social and cultural mediative role of the archaeological ...