The Sociology of Self-Tracking and Embodied Technologies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Wissinger
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
The Body ◽  
Critical Race Studies ◽  
Quantified Self ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Wearable Technologies ◽  
Race Studies ◽  
Body Self

This chapter outlines how scholars have examined wearable technologies’ role in troubling boundaries of interest to sociologists: work/leisure, public/private, nature/culture, body/self. It offers an overview of the kinds of technologies scholars have studied, then highlights three groups of analyses: those that treat wearables as facilitators of body/self interactions; others that investigate them as data gathering devices that open the body to concerns about big data; and finally, those that argue that these devices’ design obscures highly gendered and raced functions and content. The sections treat these studies’ contribution to debates about the quantified self movement, issues in technology with privacy and surveillance, and feminist critiques of technology; and the chapter concludes with a discussion of critical race studies, arguing for the key role sociologists could play in engaging with wearables from this perspective moving forward.

scholarly journals Ghosts of white methods? The challenges of Big Data research in exploring racism in digital context

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205395172110489
Author(s):  
Kaarina Nikunen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
Big Data Analytics ◽  
Critical Race Studies ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Studies ◽  
Critical Data ◽  
Racist Discourse ◽  
Epistemological Basis

The paper explores the potential and limitations of big data for researching racism on social media. Informed by critical data studies and critical race studies, the paper discusses challenges of doing big data research and the problems of the so called ‘white method’. The paper introduces the following three types of approach, each with a different epistemological basis for researching racism in digital context: 1) using big data analytics to point out the dominant power relations and the dynamics of racist discourse, 2) complementing big data with qualitative research and 3) revealing new logics of racism in datafied context. The paper contributes to critical data and critical race studies by enhancing the understanding of the possibilities and limitations of big data research. This study also highlights the importance of contextualisation and mixed methods for achieving a more nuanced comprehension of racism and discrimination on social media and in large datasets.

Is the future of leadership development wearable? Exploring self-tracking in leadership programs

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-116
Author(s):  
Marian N. Ruderman ◽  
Cathleen Clerkin
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Quantified Self ◽  
Feedback Systems ◽  
Leadership Programs ◽  
Wearable Technologies ◽  
Opportunities For Learning ◽  
Growth And Change ◽  
Body Self

This practice forum explores how the “quantified self movement” can contribute to developing leaders by offering new approaches to assessment and feedback. Often associated with wearable technologies (digital technologies worn on the body), self-tracking sensors and feedback systems help individuals assess how they interface with the world, automatically capturing and monitoring data for learning, growth, and change. The authors make the case that such tools can create ongoing opportunities for learning intrapersonal qualities relevant to leadership. In particular, they offer insights about using self-tracking to manage responses to stress and fatigue and for the delivery of verbal presentations. The exploration also notes concerns about the use of technological devices for development purposes. The authors conclude by offering a summary of six factors to consider before using self-tracking tools for leadership development, and by identifying four aspects of self-tracking approaches that would benefit from more I-O psychologist involvement.

scholarly journals Antidiscrimination Meets Integration Policies: Exploring New Diversity-Related Challenges in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Tina Magazzini
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Studies ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Race Studies ◽  
Managing Diversity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Migrant Integration ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Contemporary European societies are increasingly diverse. Migration both within and to Europe has contributed over the past decades to the rise of new religious, racial, ethnic, social, cultural and economic inequality. Such transformations have raised questions about the (multi-level) governance of diversity in Europe, thus determining new challenges for both scholars and policy-makers. Whilst the debate around diversity stemming from migration has become a major topic in urban studies, political science and sociology in Europe, Critical Race Studies and Intersectionality have become central in US approaches to understanding inequality and social injustice. Among the fields where ‘managing diversity’ has become particularly pressing, methodological issues on how to best approach minorities that suffer from multiple discrimination represent some of the hottest subjects of concern. Stemming from the interest in putting into dialogue the existing American scholarship on CRT and anti-discrimination with the European focus on migrant integration, this paper explores the issue of integration in relation to intersectionality by merging the two frames. In doing so, it provides some observations about the complementarity of a racial justice approach for facing the new diversity-related challenges in European polity. In particular, it illustrates how Critical Race Studies can contribute to the analysis of inequality in Europe while drawing on the integration literature.

scholarly journals Thinking feminist and gender studies now

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lene Myong ◽  
Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen ◽  
Mathias Klitgård ◽  
Ingvil Hellstrand
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Feminist Studies ◽  
Critical Race Studies ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Studies ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The University

The field of gender studies is changing and solidifying at the same time. What kinds of developments can we trace in contemporary gender studies, and what is at stake for gender studies now? What are important questions for/in the field? How come gender studies in Norway (and the rest of Scandinavia) tend to shoulder or “house” adjacent fields that also deal with questions of power and difference, such as critical race studies for example? Why are we working in/with gender studies, and how do we contribute towards advancing gender and feminist studies in theory, teaching, politics and practice? In this roundtable, scholars in the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Stavanger grapple with these questions through examples from our own research and teaching. The purpose for this roundtable is to continue our local discussions and thinking with the field of gender studies nationally and internationally.

Challenging boundaries to expand frontiers in gender and policy studies

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Lombardo ◽  
Petra Meier
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Critical Race Studies ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Policy Studies ◽  
Race Studies ◽  
Advance Knowledge ◽  
Normative Political Theory

Gender and policy studies needs to face challenges and cross boundaries if the discipline is to develop. This article argues that gender and policy studies needs to explicitly foreground the centrality of politics – the analysis of power – in approaching policy. The discipline confronts boundaries in relation to inclusivity, diversity and relevance. Inclusive gender equality demands challenging the hegemonising and marginalising boundaries in the field, which contributes to its relevance by placing politics and power centre stage. Openness to the diversity of gender and policy approaches, a more systematic and thoughtful application of intersectionality, cooperation with LGBTQI+, critical race studies and normative political theory provide opportunities to challenge boundaries and advance knowledge. We argue that explicit reflexivity about power dynamics and knowledge production, employing a plurality of approaches, will better equip the discipline to navigate major challenges and crises, and offer more nuanced democratic and egalitarian societal contributions.

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