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Publikation On the social life of a city anthem. semiotic objects, ideologies of belonging, and the reproduction of sociocultural difference(Routledge, 2015) Del Percio, AlfonsoThis article takes a closer look at the role of semiotic objects such as texts, monuments, songs, and flags in the definition of both sociocultural boundaries and legitimation of the resulting relations of difference. The focus is a specific anthem, Z'Basel an mym Rhy [In Basel on my Rhine], which is the official anthem of Basel, a city in northwest Switzerland. In line with Appadurai's [1996. The Social Life of Things. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] claim in favor of a complex analysis of an object's social life, this article is a historiographical investigation of the circulation of this semiotic object across time and space – from the moment of its conception as a poem in 1806, to the present day. The analysis centers on how this specific semiotic object has been re-appropriated and transformed continuously, throughout its social life, by new actors, in new contexts, and for new purposes. Indeed, from its origin as a romantic ode for intimate private consumption, this text gradually emerged as an object of cultural consumption on a larger scale, taking on the role of an instrument of pride and power, and becoming a tool to legitimize social structuration.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher ZeitschriftPublikation Migration(Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, 2021) Del Percio, Alfonso01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher ZeitschriftPublikation Introduction. language, work and affective capitalism(De Gruyter, 2022) Dlaske, Kati; Del Percio, AlfonsoThis special issue contributes to scholarship on language and affective economy by exploring the role played by affect in shaping work and workers under current configurations of capitalism. We take as a starting point the observation of increased valorisation and instrumentalisation of affect in the contemporary phase of capitalism. In this editorial introduction to the special issue, we set the scene by first outlining our questions, aims and objectives. Subsequently, we situate the contribution made by this issue in a larger social theorisation of affect and capitalism, particularly the notion of affective capitalism, and reflect on how this theorisation can contribute to sociolinguistic scholarship on work. The introduction concludes with an outline of the articles in this special issue, highlighting the way, empirically and conceptually, each article contributes to our understanding of the intersections between language, work and affective capitalism.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher ZeitschriftPublikation Language and neoliberal governmentality(Routledge, 2020) Martin Rojo, Luisa; Del Percio, Alfonso; Martín Rojo, Luisa; Del Percio, AlfonsoAgainst a background of the ongoing crisis of global capitalism and the fracturing of the neoliberal project, this book provides a detailed account of the ways in which language is profoundly imbricated in the neoliberalising of the fabric of social life. With chapters from a cast list of international scholars covering topics such as the commodification of education and language, unemployment, and the governmentality of the self, and discussion chapters from Monica Heller and Jackie Urla bringing the various strands together, the book ultimately helps us to understand how language is part of political economy and the everyday making and remaking of society and individuals. It provides both a theoretical framework and a significant methodological "tool-box" to critically detect, understand, and resist the impact of neoliberalism on everyday social spheres, particularly in relation to language. Presenting richly empirical studies that expand our understanding of how neoliberalism as a regime of truth and as a practice of governance performs within the terrain of language, this book is an essential resource for researchers and graduate students in English language, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and related areas.03 - SammelbandPublikation When linguistic capital isn’t enough. Personality development and English speakerhood as capital in India(Routledge, 2021) Highet, Katy; Del Percio, Alfonso; Petrovic, John E.; Yazan, BedrettinDiscourses of development, as well as popular understandings, hold that access to education in English is essential for alleviating inequality. As such, since the neoliberal reforms of the 1990s, India has witnessed a boom in not only private English coaching, but also NGO educational institutions. However, drawing on ethnographic data from an English and soft-skills training NGO in Delhi, this chapter argues that the conceptualization of linguistic capital does not fully capture how students invest in English in the hope of achieving future success. Besides the speculative capital (Tabiola & Lorente, 2017) that the language represents, and the shaping of neoliberal subjectivities through soft-skill training (Urciuoli, 2008; Allan, 2013) and “personality development”, students equally invest in the cultural capital of English speakerhood, that is, the “doing” and “being” of an English speaker, a notion deeply intertwined with class and caste, and which extends to encompass students’ bodies and “personalities”.04A - Beitrag SammelbandPublikation Branding the nation. Swiss multilingualism and the promotional capitalization on national history under late capitalism(John Benjamins, 2016) Del Percio, AlfonsoThis paper discusses how Switzerland is branded by the Swiss state under late capitalism. Drawing on discursive data collected in the framework of a research project investigating the international promotion of Switzerland, I particularly focus on how multilingualism and cultural diversity are constructed by the Swiss government as a capital belonging to Switzerland and its history and on how and why this imagined historical capital is reframed in promotional terms. In doing so, I question the function of the historicity of Swiss multilingualism and cultural diversity in nation branding practices and analyze the logics causing specific tokens of multilingualism and cultural diversity to emerge as desirable promotional features. Finally, I research how the promotional investment in Swiss multilingualism and cultural diversity affects the status and value of its historical capital and how this has consequences for what can be said (or not) about Switzerland and its history.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher ZeitschriftPublikation Language, communication, and the politics of hope. Solidarity and work in the Italian migration infrastructure(Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, 2018) Del Percio, AlfonsoThis article documents the role of language in social cooperatives, which work with transnational workers in Italy to promote these individuals’ access to employment and socioeconomic independence. This contribution argues that just like the state, whose management of inequality is framed by ideologies of colonialism and gendered/racialized nationalism, social cooperatives in Italy manage the contradiction between liberal democratic promises of equality and social selection through mystification processes that rely on language, which then leads to a reproduction of hierarchies that complicate transnational workers’ access to social equality.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher ZeitschriftPublikation Identifikation von Meinungsrobotern(Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW, 2018) Gürtler, Stefan; Bendel, Oliver; Pustulka, Elzbieta; Binz, Mathias; Heimsch, FabianDer Bericht des Bundesrats «Rechtliche Basis für Social Media» (Bundesrat 2017) stellt fest, dass soziale Medien bei der öffentlichen Meinungsbildung an Bedeutung gewinnen und parallel dazu eine «zunehmende Beeinflussung bzw. Manipulation des politischen Diskurses» stattfindet. Gemeint sind insbesondere Meinungsroboter (als Vertreter der Social Bots), welche durch maschinelle Kommunikation die Themenagenda beeinflussen, Diskussionsgruppen infiltrieren und Nutzerprofile sabotieren. Die Hasler-Stiftung wurde zum Jahreswechsel 2017/18 darum gebeten, das Projekt «Identifikation von Meinungsrobotern» zu unterstützen. Informations- und Meinungsroboter werden, so die Argumentation ihr gegenüber, die Informationsflüsse einer Gesellschaft nachhaltig beeinflussen und verändern – nicht nur in der Politik. Ihre Aktivitäten zu erkennen, zu verstehen und zu bewerten gilt als notwendige Voraussetzung, um ihre Spielräume zu definieren und zu begrenzen.05 - Forschungs- oder Arbeitsbericht