Empathetic technologies: digital materiality and video ethnography

In this article, we advance recent theoretical and methodological discussions regarding the use of video techniques for generating empathetic encounters. We do so through a focus on how these techniques might be rendered in research conducted through sites of action and experience that are explicitly constituted through forms of digital materiality, whereby the digital and material are understood as relational and emergent. We argue for a processual view of digital materiality and in correspondence with this, of the research process, whereby empathetic imagining is itself understood as emergent from the research encounter. By way of example we draw on recent video ethnography research that has used GoPro and researcher-held video recording in collaboration with participants, in order to record and develop understandings of their experiences of self-tracking and cycle commuting.     

Towards next-generation visual archives: image,film and discourse

The digital turn in visual studies has played a major role in the terminological overlap between ‘archive’, ‘database’ and ‘corpus’, and it has brought about a number of positive developments such as improved accessibility and availability. At the same time, it has also raised important questions pertaining to the materiality, searchability, annotation and analysis of the data at hand. Through a series of theoretical constructs and empirical examples, this paper illustrates the necessity and benefits of interdisciplinary dialogue when tackling the multimodal corpus annotation challenge. The meaningful interrelations between semiotic modes, the combinations between manual and (semi)automated annotation, the seamless integration of coding and annotation schemes which share common logics and the contextual embedding of the presented analyses strongly suggest multimodal document analysis in all its forms will continuously benefit from a corpus-based approach.     

Playing with materiality: an agential-realist reading of SethBling's Super Mario World code-injection

ABSTRACT

This article takes inspiration from Youtuber and software developer ‘SethBling’ and his 2016 ‘code-injection’ (Bling, 2016), in which, using only a standard Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller and in-depth knowledge of the console, he ‘injected’ and executed the code of popular mobile game Flappy Bird (Nguyen, 2013) into a running instance of Super Mario World (Miyamoto, 1990), effectively transforming one game into another through play. Drawing from this I propose a performative understanding of videogames (and software in general) to reinvigorate discussions of software's materiality. Though it is possible to contrast Wendy Chun's (2008a) suggestion that one can view software as ‘vaporous’ against Friedrich Kittler's (1995) assertion that ‘there is no software’, I propose a more holistic approach. Academics and users alike should attempt to see software as living a double-life: as simultaneously solid as it is (metaphorically) gaseous. It then becomes possible to embrace software(s) as performative examples of the entangled ‘phenomena’, suggested by Barad (2007), that produce everyday reality through quantum activity. I explore SethBling's code-injection suggesting that actions clearly reveal software's double existence as both tangible ‘thing’, locatable on magnetic memory, and as a vaporous non-entity. Accepting these propositions together, software can be understood as continuously re-emerging through shared activities. Following Barad, I conclude that this quality is not unique to software, but software – and videogames above all – are a useful tool for understanding a vision of reality that favours activity over materiality as the basis of our existence.     

Use of graphical modality in a collaborative design distant setting

In this paper, we present an original environment, the Distributed Collaborative Design Studio (DCDS) which allows multimodal real-time remote exchanges, and which aims at re-creating remotely the conditions of co-present meetings. This environment associates a videoconference tool (supporting verbal and non-verbal communication) and an original realtime shared digital hand-drawn sketches system (supporting graphical communication). The users can import documents and annotate them in real-time at distance. In this paper, we are interested in studying the use of the graphical modality (digital sketch and document annotations) as a tool for collective design and remote communication. This study takes place in the framework of a collaborative architectural design studio, which has taken place during 3 month, and gathering students from Belgium and France to work together in 3 small groups mainly at distance. The study focuses on the role of graphical modality in the synchronous remote meetings supported by the DCDS. We identify the types of digital annotations made on the imported document, thanks to the electronic pen, and their role in the cognitive processes of designing and in the collaboration and communication processes. We also identify the different practices of digital sketching, according to the group and its collaborative strategies. We discuss the utility of the graphical modality as an efficient support for collaborative synchronous activities and show that the DCDS environment supports different strategies of collaborative design (co-design and distributed design). We conclude on recommendations for improving the system and for designing sketch-based collaborative environments.     

How to think about cyber sovereignty: the case of China

The cybersphere constitutes a global disagreement space where the contested, ongoing ties that link states and the internet come into being. In this paper, a critique of sovereignty and political economy is offered to evaluate contemporary controversies concerning authority, independence, regulation, and access to communications as matters of relationality, materiality, and disagreement. We review China’s promotion of cyber sovereignty as a complicating episode that reflects the development stresses of the sphere. China wishes to establish guardrails for the practices of multipolar global digital capitalism; yet, it has ushered in a variety of internet-related global issues, including in security, privacy, material well-being, developmental justice, and planetary futures. These complex aims invite and expand the dialectical spaces animating the cybersphere.     

Notes on materiality and sociality

In this paper it is argued that materiality and sociality are produced together. In order to explore the implications of this suggestion, three metaphors are developed through a series of note-like stories. The first is that of semiotics. This suggests that materials are relational effects. The second is that of strategy. Here it is suggested that strategy is recursively and reflexively implicated in the performance of materiality. And the third is that of the patchwork. This is a way of exploring the possibility that though material and social relations might be matters of local performance, they may not ‘add up’ to form an overall pattern or structure.     

Spatial Barriers and the Formation of Global Art Cities: The Case of Tokyo

This paper addresses a neglected dimension of global cities research: how the idea of economic concentration, its surplus and consequent global influence can be applied to the art world. The research presented here relates to Tokyo as a well‐known example of a global city, advancing existing understandings of Tokyo from the neglected perspective of the arts. Based on qualitative and quantitative research by the author, including cultural and spatial mapping, interviews, ethnographic observations and visual documents, the findings confirm that the role of space and materiality is overlooked in global cities research. The results demonstrate the active contribution and intervention of spatial patterns in the formation of artistic activities. A number of Tokyo's spatial features have an inhibiting effect that shifts artistic activities underground, creating asymmetries in the constitution of symbolic meanings in the city and a failure to openly stimulate artistic practices. As a consequence, Tokyo's vivid art world remains invisible not only to outsiders but to Tokyo itself.     

Material beings: Objecthood and ethnographic photographs

This paper argues that the material and presentational forms of photographs are central to their meaning as images. Drawing on work from the anthropology of material culture, it explores the significance of the materiality of ethnographic photographs as socially salient objects. The argument suggests that, while the analytical focus has been on the semiotic and iconographical in the representation of race and culture, material forms of images are integral to this discourse.     

Socio-material network analysis: A mixed method study of five European artistic collectives

In this paper, I argue that we can better understand the relationship between social structure and materiality by combining qualitative analysis of practices in shared physical space with statistical analysis. Drawing on the two-mode approach, I treat social and material structures together with the relationship between them as a two-level socio-material network. In a mixed method study, formalized ethnographic data on such networks in five European artistic collectives are subjected to multilevel exponential random graph modelling. It sheds light on how different kinds of interpersonal ties condition the engagement of individuals with similar materiality over time.     

PROMOTING SCHOLARSHIP THROUGH DESIGN

How can new media positively transform scholarly practices? One possible way is for scholarly archives such as e-journals and digital libraries to better support the needs and practices of their users, instead of the publishing process. This article examines what it might mean to promote cognitive and social aspects of 'scholarship' through innovative archive design. Design requirements for supporting both scholarly tasks and scholarly communities are derived by analysing existing cognitive and social theories. A theoretical framework for guiding archive design is introduced: the contextually enriched document framework. This framework suggests that: document interfaces should enable practitioners to progressively enrich documents with important contextual information arising from social processes; and archive managers should engage in proactive practices to facilitate use and assist practitioners in realizing the benefits of the new technology. Both the design requirements and the framework are illustrated with examples from an existing electronic journal - The Journal of Interactive Media in Education .     

Transformative Homes

ABSTRACT

In the era of global workflows and massive migrations, it has been suggested that the notion of home is breaking free from its material aspects to become a set of exportable routines and practices. On the other hand, it is argued that the materiality of spaces and objects can support migrants' well-being in the new destination. Drawing on the ethnography of a Moroccan household in Rome, Italy, we illustrate how actions pertinent to the material home can favor identity development and the exercise of agency. First, we discuss squatting as a collective action of appropriation and transformation, which led to the identification with a transnational, intercultural category of migrant. Second, we illustrate the activities of furnishing as the locus of syncretic and reflexive processes, in which elements of the host country and themes from the migratory experience are mixed and reinterpreted in novel ways. Our analysis supports the view that the materiality of the home and the actions it affords play a major role in the socio-psychological adjustment of migrants and—on a wider scale—in processes of cultural dynamism and renovation.     

Elementary Social Studies Content Integration in CCLS: An Analysis of Content Integration

While the primary focus of the Common Core Learning Standards is in improving literacy and math, elements of Social Studies topics and skills are emphasized. Primary source analysis and understanding multiple perspectives are just two examples. This article is grounded in a qualitative analysis of integrated instruction in two elementary classrooms. Through content analysis of curriculum and policy documents, I argue that current policy has made gains in elementary Social Studies instruction, but significantly more work must be done to elevate the subject to a true core content area. Data sources for this study were classroom observations, teacher interviews, and document analysis. Classrooms involved in this study utilized resources, as determined by the classroom teacher, to integrate literacy instruction with Social Studies concepts and skills. The purpose of this study was to identify progress made in recent policy toward practical application of Social Studies instruction. I also identify next steps in increasing and improving elementary Social Studies instruction. This study sought to guide the evolution of policy.     

Environmental and Resource Sociology: Theoretical Issues and Opportunities for Synthesis1

Abstract Rural sociologists have been disproportionately represented among the major contributors to environmental sociology. In part, this is because several areas of longstanding rural sociological interest (e.g., sociology of resource management and outdoor recreation, studies of resource-dependent communities) essentially came to be redefined as environmental sociology during the 1970s. The most significant role of rural sociologists in building environmental sociology, however, has perhaps been the fact that the material and biophysical nature of the phenomena they have traditionally studied contributed to a general predisposition to recognize the “materiality” of social structure and social life. I assess the major strategies that have been developed for theorizing this materiality, and then indicate some of the most critical lines of debate and dissension. I argue that if these debates are examined in their specifics—rather than as incompatible perspectives or “paradigms”—some opportunities for synthesis become apparent. Some suggested avenues of synthesis are set forth.     

Thank God it’s Monday: Manhattan coworking spaces in the new economy

Theory and Society - Although it has been argued that digital technology liberates workers from spatial constraints, the materiality of physical space still matters in the new economy. In this...     

Material civilization: things and society

This paper argues that although classical sociology has largely overlooked the importance of social relations with the material world in shaping the form of society, Braudel's concept of 'material civilization' is a useful way to begin to understand the sociological significance of this relationship. The limitations of Braudel's historical and general concept can be partially overcome with Elias's analysis of the connection between 'technization' and 'civilization' that allows for both a civilizing and a de-civilizing impact of emergent forms of material relation that both lengthen and shorten the chains of interdependence between the members of a society. It is suggested that the concept of the 'morality of things' employed by a number of commentators is useful in summarizing the civilizing effects of material objects and addressing their sociological significance. From the sociology of consumption the idea of materiality as a sign of social relationships can be drawn, and from the sociology of technology the idea of socio-technical systems and actor-networks can contribute to the understanding of material civilization. It is argued that the concept of 'material capital' can usefully summarize the variable social value of objects but to understand the complexity of material civilization as it unfolds in everyday life, an analysis of 'material interaction' is needed. Finally the paper suggests some initial themes and issues apparent in contemporary society that the sociological study of material civilization might address; the increased volume, functional complexity and material specificity of objects and the increased social complexity, autonomy and substitutability that is entailed. A theory of 'material civilization' is the first step in establishing a sociology of objects.     

Digital document and interpretation: re-thinking “text” and scholarship in electronic settings

The contribution starts from outlining the evolution of the scholarly production flow from the print based paradigm to the digital age and in this context it explores the opposition of digital versus analog representation modes. It then develops on the triple paradigm shift caused by genuine digital publishing and its specific consequences for the social sciences and humanities (SSH) which in turn results in re-constituting basic scholarly notions such as ‘text’ and ‘document’. The paper concludes with discussing the specific value that could be added in systematically using digital text resources as a basis for scholarly work and also states some of the necessary conditions for such a ‘digital turn’ to be successful in the SSH.     

The NUDIST qualitative data analysis system

Most computer approaches to qualitative data analysis have concentrated on coding and retrieval of text. This paper describes a research project which set out to support a range of methods for the analysis of unstructured data, with emphasis on the building and testing of grounded theory. It resulted in software whose innovations include: a) No limit to the number of coding categories and sub-categories, and no limit to the number of times a given text passage can be coded; b) The use of separate document and indexing databases, interrelated and of unlimited flexibility; c) Comprehensive hypermedia-like browsing tools for both document and indexing databases; d) Ability to search for words and lexical patterns occurring in text and to combine this with indexing of the text; e) Ability to handle off-line textual and non-textual data as well as on-line data; f) Ability to record textual comments in indexing categories — a memoing facility for emerging ideas and categories; g) Support and exploitation of hierarchical indexing systems; h) Mechanisms for creating new indexing categories out of existing ones, relating them to the data documents, and using them for further analyses. New goals of the project are to provide a number of artificial intelligence based information structuring and reasoning facilities which can be used to aid the organization and retrieval of qualitative data, and to extend the present capabilities of the software to express and test new ideas, concepts, generalizations and hypotheses about the data.     

Writing birthing bodies: exploring the entanglements between flesh and materiality in childbirth

ABSTRACT

This article enquires into the lived experiences of childbirth as a site of ‘fleshy becomings’ that disrupts the dominantly cleaned-up approaches to organising. Theoretically, we approach childbirth as a primitively humane experience in which birthing bodies become entangled with the materiality by which they are surrounded. The empirical material of the article consists of 12 in-depth interviews with first-time mothers in Finland as well as of photographs and autoethnographic research notes taken by the two authors of this article. By empirically highlighting the interplay between flesh and materiality in the ‘making’ of birthing bodies, this article offers novel viewpoints on the discussion of embodied experiences as well as on the entangled relations between flesh and materiality in the field of organisation studies. It also makes an empirical contribution using a unique contextual example of ‘birthing’ to illustrate how vulnerable topics can be researched, offering critical viewpoints on this subject.