Digital Social Sciences
Journal articles - Digital Social Sciences
All articles: 31
AI Surveillance Technologies and Cybersecurity: Bridging National Security and Privacy Rights
Scientific article
The evolution of national security architectures has begun from reactionary monitoring to proactive, predictive, and "intelligent oversight" in the Indian context. Then, the study examines the impact of deploying advanced surveillance technologies such as facial recognition and behavior analytics on the Smart Cities Mis-sion and their supporting effect on public safety as well as creating significant "regulatory gaps" because of increasing surveillance capabilities that cause fundamental privacy violations. The analysis sheds light on how developing these types of sociotechnical harms may create conditions where algorithmic-biased systems of "digital Jim Crow" continue to reinforce existing inequality based on historical factors but are represented as objective data analysis. Finally, the paper examines how India's continued development trajectory compares to regulators across the globe, specifically contrasting the risk-based regulatory regime of the EU with that of China. China’s State centered model, exporting capabilities of surveillance. Ultimately calls for a coordinated strategy, based on the principles of "Industry 5.0", strong legislative oversight and public knowledge, to rec-oncile demands for national security while maintaining civil rights in a democracy.
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Administrative Contracts: Reflections on the limitations of exorbitant clauses
Scientific article
In view of the inherent prerogatives of the Public Power vis-à-vis private individuals in administrative contracts, this article aims to reflect on exorbitant clauses in administrative contracts, their use, their characteristics, their species and their limitations. Based on this analysis, the topic of certain rights and guarantees in the Constitution was explored, such as the supremacy of the public interest over the private interest and economic and financial equilibrium. In order to carry out this work, a study was carried out through bibliographical research, analysis of legal provisions and doctrinal teachings in the areas of constitutional and administrative law. In fact, due to these principles, the feasibility and possibility of restricting the indiscriminate and abusive use of exorbitant clauses by the Public Administration was verified, since the legitimate use of such prerogatives is not indiscriminate and can be mitigated.
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Scientific article
Artificial intelligence is altering the competitive advantage by lowering the cost of prediction. Strategic management, however, knows little how this transformation unfolds where the institutions that supply advantage's complements are themselves underdeveloped. Current study is an integrative conceptual review connecting the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, the economics of artificial intelligence, research on human–AI complementarity, and the institution-based view. It advances two arguments. First, as general-purpose predictive technologies diffuse and converge across competitors, generic predictive capability is commoditized and competitive advantage relocates to complements that resist imitation. These include strategically embedded data assets, managerial judgment encoded in decision architectures, and the orchestration of human and algorithmic agents. Second, and centrally, the accumulation and appropriation of these complements are conditioned by the institutional and infrastructural environment. Data infrastructure, factor markets for specialized talent, property-rights and appropriability regimes, and information intermediaries each moderate a specific link in the pathway from algorithmic resources to advantage. The study therefore theorizes resource-constrained economies not as disadvantaged versions of advanced economies but as boundary conditions that reveal, with unusual clarity, the mechanisms linking algorithmic resources to advantage. There are theses that cheap artificial intelligence (AI) democratizes advantage and enables developing-economy firms to leapfrog and that it structurally widens the gap between rich and poor economies. Current study, however, argues that the binding constraint shifts from access to algorithms, which diffuse cheaply as general-purpose tools, to complementary capabilities whose accumulation is institutionally gated. Hence the two theses operate at different levels of analysis and reconcile once access and advantage are distinguished. Seven propositions specify these relationships in causal, testable form, defining the multidimensional construct of the resource-constrained institutional environment, operationalizing artificial-intelligence orchestration capability, and identifying the conditions under which firms either experience constrained value creation or convert institutional voids into proprietary capability and defensible position. The framework contributes to competitive-advantage theory by respecifying the scarcity structure that underpins advantage in the algorithmic firm; to the micro foundations program by relocating the explanatory locus from human action to human–algorithm interaction; and to the institution-based view by showing that institutions govern not only the adoption of artificial intelligence but the conversion of algorithmic resources into appropriated advantage.
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Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism for Sustainable Development
Scientific article
Disputes are an accepted reality associated with human life. However, numerous problems arise when such disputes are dissolved using methods adopted in rigid legal frameworks. Due to complex procedures inherited from the British legal system, there is a large public mistrust of the existing judicial system. Further, the judicial process is expensive, which hinders the low-income people of the subcontinent to seek justice in the court of law. Consequently, many problems arise that correlate to the judicial mechanism. This article explores the current and upcoming challenges impending the current judicial system, elaborating the possibilities to replace incompetent judicial processes with advanced, stable, and comprehensive Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) instruments to serve proper justice to people leading to peaceful, progressive, and inclusive societies, as mentioned in UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 16.
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An Overview of Victim Compensation Program with Special Reference to State of Uttar Pradesh
Scientific article
This paper undertakes a critical analysis of the Victim Compensation Schemes of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and examines the frameworks under the broader mandate of Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Now 396 Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023). The scheme for compensation to the victims of crimes, established to support crime victims, having the aim to ensure financial relief, rehabilitation, and reintegration of affected individuals into society. Through this paper authors explore the eligibility requirements, compensation limits, procedural challenges, and the role of legal authorities in each scheme. It highlights significant disparities in the handling of cases involving heinous offenses, such as acid attacks, sexual assault, and murder, revealing procedural bottlenecks and gaps in implementation. Using judicial precedents and case studies, the paper provides an assessment of the scheme’s real-world impact, aiming to advance a model that better aligns with principles of restorative justice and victim-centric jurisprudence. Concluding with recommendations, this paper emphasizes the urgent need for reforms to bridge policy gaps and uphold victims’ rights to timely compensation and rehabilitation.
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Scientific article
This research explores the coping mechanisms of the tertiary education sector during the Covid-19 pandemic from the point of view of the restricted human migration. The research is conceptual and empirical in nature within the qualitative research paradigm. Interviewing technique and narrative enquiry were employed to generate data pertaining to the restricted human mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic. Out of the population of 25 public higher education institutions, in South Africa, only 2 were conveniently sampled for intensive study on restricted human migration of their employees during the Covid-19 lockdown. This paper is therefore, a case study of 2 public higher education institutions. Research findings revealed that firstly, organisational efficacy took a nosedive during the Covid-19 pandemic. Secondly, there was a controversy of the mandatory immunizations within the migrants. Thirdly, the application of migration segregation aggravated the state of affairs. Fourthly, inhibition of the already planned face-to-face conference attendance crippled the education sector. Lastly, compromising of quality assessment practices particularly at institutions of higher learning was a disservice and disruptions to the education sector. Exemption of the education sector from the suffocation of restrictive health protocols in case of similar Covid-19 pandemics in future is recommended.
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Cut a Tree, Cut a Man: Charcoal Production as a Bane to Green Economy in Nigeria
Scientific article
Symbiotically speaking, cutting a tree is akin to cutting a man or any of its counterparts in the animal kingdom. Besides solar energy, heat energy's role in humans’ daily life calls for its taming, artificial ignition, and fuelling of same for its reuse as and when due. Hence, humans’ ability to ignite and fuel fire marked a significant achievement in human evolution. Meanwhile, wood was the most traditional source of fuel in human history, which is, mainly, of two forms: firewood and charcoal. Dried wood was the common source of fuel for domestic cooking and commercial use both in the rural and urban areas in the primitive era. Although, firewood has relatively little burden on nature, charcoal, which has more adverse effects on the environment, is now taking over. Sadly, the discovery of better alternative sources such as LPG and electricity could not bring about a remarkable shift in many developing nations, including Nigeria, despite their efficiency. Taking expository and critical analysis methodologies, this paper argues that wood-fuelling hinders the achievement of the green economy in Africa, and it persists for many reasons; poor state of electricity, unavailability and/or unaffordability of the LPG, poverty, poor environmental awareness, unsophisticated and poor enforcement of environmental laws and lack of compensation for the conservators among others. In addition to the ever-suggested solutions, this paper recommends a ‘carrot and cane' system. By this, the offenders should not only be accordingly penalised but also the conservers be compensated duly. It also recommends the use of briquettes as viable alternatives.
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Scientific article
Consent is the basis of India’s data protection framework. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) created its entire lawful processing framework based on the concept of consent that must be “free, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous” as per section 6(1). The law enactment time coincided with the emergence of products related to blockchain identification and consent, as solutions to the very problem that the DPDP Act intends to resolve. The effectiveness of blockchain technology for securing consent records is only partially true. It can secure consent records from being changed retrospectively, but it cannot prevent the process of consent manipulation from taking place before a person accepts an agreement. This phenomenon is known as ‘dark patterns,’ where users are either persuaded or tricked to consent, can even occur on an error-proof consent ledger. Current study analyses the doctrinal framework of consent established by the DPDP Act and its rules and investigates the interaction between certain dark pattern classifications and the use of smart contracts and the systems of self-sovereign identity. It explores possible technical and regulatory interventions for improving this situation, using the EU experience with consent due to GDPR and Indian legislation on the subject.
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Digital Harassment Against Women: Need for a Gender-Sensitive Legal Framework
Scientific article
Human Digital technological advancement has transformed the way women experience gender-based violence to a larger extent, that it has moved from the physical world of harassment to the almost unsecured area of the cyberspace. It is sad that apart from physical integrity, security, and participation in public, vocational, and economic activities, women's rights also face threats from cyberstalking, consensual dissemination of intimate images without endorsement, doxxing, deepfake pornography, and orchestrated online harassment. The increase in technology-enabled crime has been highlighted by the National Crime Records Bureau in India, a conclusion that has been confirmed by other surveys of which more than 50% of the women have been attacked with some kind of cyber harassment like unsolicited sexual messages, and morphed and deepfake pictures. The existing legal frameworks are however patchy: the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the (Ministry of Home Affairs 2023) which are cyber and criminal statutes respectively do not deal with the harassing act as one entity, while the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace which was initially created for a physical workplace is no longer relevant as it is not the real case for professional women, journalists, gig workers, and remote employees who actually work. This paper contends that the digital forms of harassment should not only be through cyber law and criminal law without these two but it must also be proponents of the issue such as occupational health and labor rights that workers suffer from more in the remote working, gig-fitness and online business exchange model where they interact and overlap. By drawing on such materials as the International Labor Organization's Violence and Harassment Convention (No. 190), the CEDAW Committee's General Recommendation No. 35, and the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act, 2023, this paper states that a gender sensitive legal framework must recognize the digital and occupational space of working women as one, uniform space, and it winds up with firm suggestions for reforming the cyber, criminal, and labor law umbrella in India's context to such an extent.
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Digital Labor and Social Protection in the Platform Economy
Scientific article
Digital labor platforms have transformed organization, monitoring, and compensation of work, challenging the twentieth-century welfare architectures built around stable, full-time employment. Current research explores the relationship between digital labor and welfare provision, tracing how platform-mediated work ranging from ride-hailing and delivery services to microtask crowd work, content moderation, and freelance platform work is uncertain although it has generated new efficiencies and income opportunities. Digital labor exposes a fundamental mismatch between employment-linked welfare systems and the fragmented, algorithmically managed platform work. The study traces the history of the employment-based welfare state, analyzes the mechanics of algorithmic management, surveys legal classification struggles across the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Global South, and examines gendered, health-related, and cross-border dimensions of the welfare deficit. Emerging policy responses including reclassification litigation, portable benefits schemes, universal basic income proposals, algorithmic transparency mandates, and the European Union's Platform Work Directive have also been explored. Addressing the welfare deficit of digital labor requires decoupling social protection from the traditional employer-employee relationship altogether, and reorganizing it instead around the worker as such.
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Scientific article
Digital literature and social media have completely changed how texts are composed, read and understood and how relationships are formed, lived and participated in, as well as how identities are constructed. Social media is not just a space filled with Communications, but a space where people can make digital literary texts, with narratives, poems, personal stories, memes and multimodal texts circulating around the world. This paper reviews pertinent recent research and empirical studies on the effects of these digital literary environments on social interaction, mental health, youth development, political discussions, and social inequality. Opportunities and challenges are assessed in the review. Digital literary practices promote creativity, collaborative storytelling, self-expression, cultural engagement, and social support, on one hand. On the other hand, they have been linked to well-documented problems like social comparison, compulsive use, misinformation, algorithmic amplification, and exposure to harmful content, especially by adolescents. The paper also discusses the connection between digital literature, polarization, and the digital divide, suggesting that access inequalities to digital textual culture contribute to inequalities in society and education. The paper synthesizes various interdisciplinary perspectives from media studies, digital humanities, communication and psychology, to find that digital literature, and social media in general, is not automatically good or bad. Their social impact is grounded in patterns of creating, interpreting, technological design and engaging with a user. Digital literacy, ethical governance of platform production processes, and ongoing cross-disciplinary research into new forms of AI-supported and participatory digital literature are important points emphasized in the study.
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Digital Social Innovation and Sustainability: Theory, Practice, and Debate
Scientific article
Digital social innovation (DSI), the use of digital technologies by citizens, civil society organizations, social enterprises, and public institutions to develop novel solutions to social and environmental problems, has evolved over the past decade and a half as a distinct field of research and practice at the intersection of technology studies, innovation studies, and sustainability science. Current study explores the interdisciplinary literature on DSI and its relationship to sustainability, in its triple-bottom-line sense of environmental, social, and economic dimensions. It traces the conceptual roots of DSI in the broader social innovation literature and in information-systems research on digital innovation, reviews the major theoretical frameworks, including a nascent multidimensional framework spanning digital technology, innovation process, and sustainability focus to connect digital innovation to sustainable development, and examines empirical evidence on how digitally enabled initiatives, from open data commons and citizen science to platform cooperatives, civic technology, telemedicine, and precision agriculture, contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research engages critically with the limits of DSI's contribution, including the digital divide, the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure itself, the phenomenon of data colonialism, and the tendency toward technological solutionism, before setting out a twelve-pathway research agenda and highlights practical implications for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. DSI offers a genuine, if bounded and unevenly distributed, set of tools for advancing sustainability, and its future contribution depends less on the sophistication of the technology involved than on the governance arrangements, funding ecosystems, and power relations within which that technology is embedded.
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Division of Labour-Side Reform Based on A New Theory of Digital Intelligence Manifest-Concealed
Scientific article
The question of where the revolution in human society driven by digital intelligence science and technology will lead global governance reforms is a pressing issue of our time that all nations urgently need to address. Although continuing to rely on the traditional strategy of solving problems through scale expansion can alleviate superficial contradictions in global digital intelligent governance to a certain extent, this scale-oriented mindset falls short of facilitating deep reflection on global governance reform. Based on this, this study proposes a new theory—the “Manifest and Concealed of Digital Intelligence”—by examining the manifest and concealed thinking inherent in current digital intelligence science and technology. Furthermore, the study advocates moving beyond the impasse of scale-based thinking toward a path of global governance reform grounded in structural thinking; specifically, reform centered on the “division of labor-side reform”. The study posits that “digital intelligent concealment” refers to the imperceptible existence of certain digital intelligence by humans, while “digital intelligent manifestation” refers to the perceptible breakthrough of human beings that has not yet reached the existence of digital intelligence; for humanity to gain new insights into global governance reform, it must enhance its ability to perceive digital intelligent phenomena, moving from the concealed to the manifest; The “Digital Intelligence Manifestation and Concealment” thinking represents an integration of simple and complex thinking; it serves as a method, strategy, and mindset for addressing global governance reform challenges. The theory of Digital Intelligence Manifest-Concealed can be used to analyze common global issues such as data privacy and division of labor-side reform. Based on this mindset, the division of labor-side reform refers to a good-governance initiative that eliminating work monopolies, breaks through distribution dilemma, provides development opportunities for new talents, and driving economic growth.
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Educational and Psychological Consequences of the Internal Migration: Left-behind Children in Nepal
Scientific article
One of the major socioeconomic trends observed globally is internal migration. In Nepal, this trend is particularly significant, with many families' experiencing separation as parents migrate for work while their children remain behind. Although internal migration can improve household income and living conditions, the psychological and educational consequences for left-behind children remain underexplored. This research paper proposes a review of the impact of parental internal migration on children aged 10 to 16, examining both its positive and negative effects and suggesting educational policy responses. Using a comparative research design focused on two residential districts (Salyan and Dang), the study surveyed 354 households. The research employed structured questionnaires to assess demographic profiles, family circumstances, child welfare, and educational outcomes. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests, independent sample t-tests, and logistic regression, were used to evaluate the data. Findings suggest that while remittances from migrant parents may improve household conditions, the absence of parents often creates emotional and psychological gaps that affect children’s educational attendance. Regression results indicate that parental absence significantly affects children’s psychosocial well-being, although academic performance was not uniformly negatively impacted. Key factors influencing outcomes included quality of primary care, family functioning, and the presence of social safety nets. The study highlights the importance of community engagement and local support systems in mitigating the adverse effects of parental migration. It recommends policy measures that support the emotional development and education of left-behind children, as well as broader rural development initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of migration.
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Ethical Leadership in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Systematic Literature Review
Scientific article
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged in organizational settings at a swift pace, fundamentally reshaping the comprehension of ethical leadership. The study, called a systematic literature review, analyzed 87 peer-reviewed studies that were published in the period from 2018 to 2025, to see how AI technologies transform the roles, resources and ethical landscape of organizational leaders. Algorithmic decision-making, automated surveillance and AI-enhanced governance are transforming the existing discourse on ethical lead-ership – whether that's transformational leadership, servant leadership, or authentic leadership – and we take a look at how they're doing it in this article based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The five thematic clusters we identified are: (1) shifting the moral responsibility for AI from humans to AI systems, (2) algorithmic bias as an ethical leadership problem, (3) transparency and explainability in securing trust of AI system leadership, (4) data governance and data privacy as leadership needs, and (5) building new ethical leadership skills for AI. We suggest an integrative theory, the Responsible AI Leadership Model (RAILM), to combine themes and provide directions for empirical studies in the future.
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Historiography and the Role of Muslim Historians in the Pir Panchal Region of Jammu and Kashmir
Scientific article
This research paper examines the historiography of the essential historical region of Jammu and Kashmir, Pir Panchal, in depth, emphasising the historical achievements of Muslim historians and their scholarly and research contributions. The Pir Panchal region is distinguished by its unique geographical location, cultural diversity, and historical significance. Historically, the region has been a crossroads of various civilizations, empires, and cultures, which has given it a prominent place in the history of South Asia. However, in traditional historiography, the historical narrative of Kashmir has been given central importance, while the history of the Pir Panchal region has been neglected. The main objective of this study is to analyse the scholarly efforts of the Muslim historians of Pir Panchal, who have played a key role in preserving the region's historical traditions, cultural heritage, social structure, and political evolution. Through a critical review of primary documents, historical manuscripts, and secondary sources, this paper demonstrates that Muslim historians have given a coherent form to the history of Pir Panchal by adopting a systematic research method and analytical approach. At the same time, an attempt has been made to highlight the distinctive identity of the region in the light of the historical traditions of these historians. Furthermore, this paper sheds light on the scholarly role of the Muslim scholars of Pir Panchal in the broader context of South Asian history. It emphasises that their services are indispensable for understanding the region's past and preserving historical facts. This research highlights an important aspect of local historiography and opens the door to new debates on regional history, cultural studies, and the impact of Islamic civilization.
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Human Digital Twins and the Reconfiguration of Social Interaction
Scientific article
Human Digital Twins (HDTs) are a new concept that has become part of the wider picture of Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0, and aim to simulate a representation of a human being that is dynamic and encompasses not only physiological aspects but also cognitive, emotional, and social characteristics. Although much work has been done on technical architectures and biomedical applications, social aspects of HDTs have received relatively little attention. This paper fills this void by systematically reviewing literature from information systems, sociology, ethics and human-computer interaction to analyze the social dimensions of HDTs. It claims that the HDTs are not just technical products, but are social actors that could interact with and change the main dimensions of human relationship: identity, presence, trust, intimacy, and authority. The paper examines application areas in education, healthcare, employment, interpersonal relations, social pairing and the new industry of the digital-afterlife, to pinpoint opportunities for strengthening social connectiveness and threats of social displacement, identity fragmentation and ethical erosion. It suggests a conceptual approach to the understanding of HDTs as socially grounded, structural-functionalist, post humanist and post phenomenological forms and provides recommendations for human-centred development that maintains a sociality of human beings rather than its loss.
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Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) in AI-Assisted Disclosure
Scientific article
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of corporate disclosure processes, changing the way that companies create, validate and communicate information to others. The use of AI in decision making and disclosure processes, has revolutionized the governance, in the legal, financial and public administration sectors. Its critical, especially in high-stakes settings such as financial reporting and legal disclosure requirements. Although AI-assisted disclosure is advantageous in terms of efficiency, scalability and analytical capabilities, it poses governance, auditability and explainability challenges. These dimensions are interdependent and current study explores these dimensions highlighting the need for accountability and compliance of human-in-the-loop (HITL) supervision. The study suggests an integrated architecture which includes governance structures, audit trails, explainability techniques and structured human monitoring. Current research analyzes disclosure processes and introduces a new AI-assisted disclosure approach with a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) system that allows for human oversight, accountability, and trust. EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and emerging compliance and open governance practices, should be reviewed regarding their application to HITL systems to investigate trends and patterns in managing ‘black box' risks, audit trails and meaningful explanations. Technical (e.g., XAI techniques such as SHAP/LIME) and procedural safeguards must be combined to provide an effective governance process, holistic HITL supplemented by technical safeguards do not rubber stamp decisions, but instead increase decision quality. Good governance needs to be multi-layered in which there is structured human intervention, regulatory control and technical transparency. A full package approach, combining audit trails, explainability protocols and human review processes is recommended to ensure legally compliant and ethically responsible disclosure when made by AI.
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Scientific article
This research provides an in-depth analysis of the intellectual foundations of humanity and universality in Maulana Abul Ala Maududi’s political philosophy and critically assesses their relevance in the context of his broader theoretical framework. This research explores Maududi’s concepts of social justice, human dignity, and universal ethical principles, which transcend national, ethnic, and cultural divisions and highlight the universal nature of the Islamic political system. Examining Maulana Maududi’s political thought in the light of his key writings, this paper examines the practical application of his ideas in solving modern political problems. In particular, his intellectual contributions to human rights, Islamic governance principles, and religion’s role in politics are highlighted. In addition, this study examines Maududi’s concept of Theo-democracy in the present era, where ethical governance and universal values are at the centre of international political discourse. This research highlights the comprehensiveness of Maududi’s political philosophy, with special emphasis on a balanced model of governance, universal human harmony, and the connection of the political system with religious principles. The main objective of this paper is to reconcile Maududi’s thought with modern political theories and to prove that his concept of government not only reflects Islamic traditions but also offers solutions to the challenges of the present day.
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Scientific article
This study aims to highlight the determinants and pathways that trigger employee functional and detrimental voluntary work performances i.e. OCB & CWBs. It is unclear whether family financial pressure is functional or nonfunctional for generating voluntary work behaviors. This study spotlights the paradoxical nature of family financial pressure. We theorize that family financial pressure is a double-edged sword that can produce positive OCB and negative CWBs employee voluntary work behaviors. We have collected data from manufacturing and service sector employees working in different organizations in Pakistan. This study found that family financial pressure is the salient determinant that can generate both functional voluntary work performance OCB and counterproductive voluntary work performance CWBs through unique pathways i.e. family motivation, state self-control failure. Family motivation acts as a partial mediator between family financial pressure and OCB and state self-control failure also partially mediated the link between family financial pressure and CWBs. The practical and theoretical implications are also discussed in this study.
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