scholarly journals Understanding migrants in COVID-19 counting: Rethinking the data-(in)visibility nexus

Data & Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Pelizza ◽  
Stefania Milan ◽  
Yoren Lausberg
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Undocumented Migrants ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Critical Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic confronts society with a dilemma between (in)visibility, security, and care. While invisibility might be sought by unregistered and undocumented people, being counted and thus visible during a pandemic is a precondition of existence and care. This article asks whether and how unregistered populations like undocumented migrants should be included in statistics and other “counting” exercises devised to track virus diffusion and its impact. In particular, the paper explores how such inclusion can be just, given that for unregistered people visibility is often associated with surveillance. It also reflects on how policymaking can act upon the relationship between data, visibility, and populations in pragmatic terms. Conversing with science and technology studies and critical data studies, the paper frames the dilemma between (in)visibility and care as an issue of sociotechnical nature and identifies four criteria linked to the sociotechnical characteristics of the data infrastructure enabling visibility. It surveys “counting” initiatives targeting unregistered and undocumented populations undertaken by European countries in the aftermath of the pandemic, and illustrates the medical, economic, and social consequences of invisibility. On the basis of our analysis, we outline four scenarios that articulate the visibility/invisibility binary in novel, nuanced terms, and identify in the “de facto inclusion” scenario the best option for both migrants and the surrounding communities. Finally, we offer policy recommendations to avoid surveillance and overreach and promote instead a more just “de facto” civil inclusion of undocumented populations.

scholarly journals Performance as (Dis)organizing: The Case of Discursive Material Practices in Academic Technologies

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Technology Coordinators ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Academic Technology ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
A Performance

Recent theorizing in Science and Technology Studies (STS) has taken a “performance” turn. Performative approaches theorize how meaning and matter relate in the context of situated practices. Scholars of organizational communication have also turned to theorizing the relationship between matter and meaning in the context of organization. In this article, I bring together these two strands of theorizing to offer a unique lens to study materiality as a process of (dis)organization. Through an empirical analysis of an academic technology organization, I illustrate the “performance as (dis)organization” lens, detailing three “organizing moves” that encompassed the discursive material practices of academic technology coordinators: boundary working, context shaping, and relational bridging. I conclude by discussing how performance as (dis)organizing adds dimension to theories that take seriously the materiality of practice.Les théories récentes en STS ont pris le tournant de la « performance ». Ces approches performatives proposent de théoriser la manière dont le sens et le contenu sont liés dans le contexte de pratiques situées. Les chercheurs en communication organisationnelle ont aussi théorisé les relations entre le contenu et le sens dans le contexte de l’organisation. Dans cet article, je réunis ces deux apports théoriques afin de proposer une perspective inédite pour l’étude de la matérialité entendue comme un processus d’organisation et désorganisation. À partir d’une analyse empirique d’une organisation technologique en milieu universitaire, j’illustre la performance comme perspective d’organisation / désorganisation, en mettant l’accent sur trois « mouvements organisants » qui englobent les pratiques matérielles discursives des coordinateurs technologiques universitaires : le travail de frontières, la mise en forme du contexte et l’établissement de ponts relationnels. Je conclus en examinant comment la performance comme organisante et désorganisante ajoute une dimension aux théories qui prennent au sérieux la matérialité de la pratique.

The Attentive Body: How the Indexicality of Epigenetic Processes Enriches Our Understanding of Embodied Subjectivity

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Frost
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Charles Sanders Peirce ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Embodied Subjectivity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Epigenetic Processes

Drawing on research in posthumanism, science and technology studies and biosemiotics, this essay analyses the challenges epigenetic processes pose for our understanding of embodied subjectivity. It uses the work of Charles Sanders Peirce to argue that epigenetic processes are indexical in their patterned logic, that they are meaning-making processes and that, consequently, they can be conceived as a form of attention. To conceive of bodies as paying attention through epigenetic processes is to rupture the distinction between matter and meaning that governs many philosophical categories. This in turn invites us to recalibrate our conception of the relationship between self, body and world.

scholarly journals Theoretical Bases of Critical Data Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1A(115A)) ◽  
pp. 96-109
Author(s):  
Łukasz Iwasiński
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Sociology Of Knowledge ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Critical Data ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
Philosophy Of Knowledge

Purpose/Thesis: The paper presents main premises and analyzes the theoretical bases of critical data studies (CDS). Approach/Methods: The article uses critical review of the literature on CDS, social aspects of big data, sociology of knowledge, philosophy of knowledge and science and technology studies. Results and conclusions: Author identifies three main theoretical premises of CDS: (1) A critique of market-oriented instrumental rationality; (2) Rejection of the idea that data is independent from the research process; (3) Rejection of the concept of raw data. Article discusses intellectual roots of CDS. It is argued that CDS derive from constructivist sociology of knowledge, and science and technology studies. Originality/Value: The article brings together theoretical literature and empirical studies from diverse disciplinary fields to examine theoretical bases of CDS and situates it in its intellectual context. It stresses the need of critical view of data and data processing, which is especially important in the big data area. CDS are recognized in cultural studies and media studies (however poorly discussed in related Polish scholarship), but they remain almost absent in Information Studies, which would benefit from it.

scholarly journals Trois regards sur la notion de « culture chinoise »

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Basile Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Interactional Expertise ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Studies

Abstract Chinese studies are going through a period of reforms. This article appraises what could constitute the theoretical and methodological foundations of contemporary sinology today. The author suggests an approach of “Chinese culture” by drawing from recent frameworks of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The paper starts with current debates in Asian studies, followed by a historical overview of the concept of culture in anthropology. Then, two short case studies are presented with regard to two different STS approaches: studies of expertise and experience and the notion of interactional expertise, and the framework of waves and forms. A general argument is thereby sketched which suggests how “Chinese culture” can be understood from the perspective of materiality.

Queere Praktiken der Reproduktion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Charlotte Dionisius
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Feminist Science ◽  
Technology Studies

Ein, zwei, drei oder vier Elternteile, »Sponkel«, »Mapas« und lesbische Zeugungsakte - wer oder was Familie ist und wie sie gegründet wird, hat sich vervielfältigt. Sarah Charlotte Dionisius rekonstruiert aus einer von den Feminist Science and Technology Studies inspirierten, queertheoretischen Perspektive, wie lesbische und queere Frauen*paare, die mittels Samenspende Eltern geworden sind, Familie, Verwandtschaft und Geschlecht imaginieren und praktizieren. Damit wirft sie einen heteronormativitätskritischen Blick auf die sozialwissenschaftliche Familienforschung sowie auf gesellschaftliche und rechtliche Entwicklungen, die neue Ein- und Ausschlüsse queerer familialer Lebensweisen mit sich bringen.

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