Digitalization and Social Change

Kristine Ask is an Associate Professor in Science and Technology Studies (STS), at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. She researches emergent user practices and communities online, spanning from games to social media and memes. Dr. Ask has a particular interest in internet culture that is dismissed as frivolous or mundane.Roger A. Søraa is an Associate Professor in Science and Technology Studies (STS), at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. His research focus is on automation, robotization, and the digitalization of society—how humans and technology relate to each other. Dr. Søraa is especially interested in the social domestication of technology and how different groups are impacted by technology.

• PrefaceSection 1Chapter 1: Getting lost in a the digital1.1 Limited or liberated by ubiquitous digital technology? 1.2 It Could Be Otherwise (ICBO) – the foundation of critical thinking1.3 Opening the black box1.4 A response to political and corporate solutionism1.5 Digitalization as a topic for Science and Technology Studies (STS) 1.6 A critical sociotechnical perspective1.7 The structure of the book1.8 ConclusionReferencesChapter 2: What is "digitalization," exactly? 2.1 Digitalization as technological fix2.2 Defining digitalization2.3 Defining digitalization as a political act in itself2.4 A digitalized world2.5 Digitalization as a sociotechnical process2.6 ConclusionReferencesSection 2Chapter 3: A sociotechnical perspective on digitalization3.1 What is a sociotechnical perspective on digitalization? 3.2 What do we mean by "technology"? 3.3 Technologies and their agency3.4 Why technological determinism is a dead end3.5 Technological reductionism3.6 How social determinism is equally problematic3.7 ConclusionReferencesChapter 4: Domestication: User perspectives on technology4.1 A user perspective on technology4.2 Domestication theory4.3 The dimensional model of domestication4.4 The history of domestication4.5 Strengths and weaknesses of domestication theory4.6 Re-domestication and dis-domestication4.7 What non-users can teach us about the use of technology4.8 Normativity and use4.9 ConclusionReferencesChapter 5: Script: Technology’s manual for use5.1 Script as technology’s manual5.2 The historical and theoretical position of script theory5.3 How do you do a script analysis? 5.4 Making scripts through technology development5.5 ConclusionReferencesChapter 6: Technologies as normality machines6.1 A thought experiment on a student app6.2 Technology as inclusion or exclusion? 6.3 Scripting the use and users to create differences6.4 The digital divide6.5 ConclusionReferencesChapter 7: Digital technologies in the past and present7.1 Becoming a communication society7.2 What comes after the communication society? 7.3 Digitalization and some sample diagnoses of the times7.4 ConclusionReferencesSection 3Chapter 8: Digitalization of health: Networks of care and technology8.1 In search of good health: Robots to the rescue? 8.2 Digital technology for better health? 8.3 Talking flowerpots: Welfare technology in the home8.4 Exergames: Gamifying health8.5 Support groups in social media: Communities for mental health8.6 Digitalization makes the actor network of health visible8.7 ConclusionReferencesChapter 9: Digitalization of work: Automation, responsibility, and reskilling9.1 Two visions of future work9.2 From animal laborans to homo faber9.3 Automating workers? 9.4 Who operates self-service checkouts? 9.5 The digital stopwatch and the attempt to automate care work9.6 Craftspeople at construction sites working with robots9.7 What will we do in the future—and how will we do it? 9.8 ConclusionReferencesChapter 10: Digitalization of control: Surveillance, automation, and algorithms10.1 Control through surveillance and digital tracking10.2 Control of animals using virtual fences10.3 Care, technology, and the desire for boundaries when surveilling children10.4 Predictive police algorithms: Surveillance of data sets and predictions of the future10.5 Life in a surveillance society: What digitalization does to surveillance10.6 ConclusionReferencesChapter 11: Digitalization of culture: Remix, community, and prosumers11.1 SKAM and transmedia storytelling11.2 Remix culture as the foundation of digital culture11.3 Understanding where remix culture comes from: Participatory culture and networked publics11.4 Memes: Collective creativity, both serious and humorous11.5 Fan fiction: When fans take ownership of the story11.6 Twitch.tv and livestreaming games: How innovative gamers made one of the world’s biggest platforms11.7 Discussion: Prosumers’ new cultural expressions11.8 ConclusionReferencesChapter 12: Digitalization of the self: Selfies, influencers and the quantified self12.1 Picture perfect? What "Instagram vs. reality" can teach us about being fakeness and authenticity online12.2 From anonymity to persistent identities on the internet12.3 Frontstage, backstage, and the cyborg’s theater12.4 Selfies: The cyborg’s self-portrait? 12.5 Influencers: The professionalized digital self12.6 The quantified self: Believing in a countable and optimized self12.7 Discussion: The cyborg’s expanded toolbox12.8 ConclusionReferencesSection 4Chapter 13: Digitalization summarized13.1 Part 1: A critical perspective on digitalization13.2 Part 2: Theoretical Tools13.3 Part 3: Empirical case studies13.4 Digitalization as social change13.5 A user perspective on digitalization13.6 Critical thinking about digitalizationChapter 14: Analytical cheat sheet: A guide for thinking critically about digitalization14.1 Interpretative flexibility14.2 Delegation14.3 Actor-network14.4 Script14.5 DomesticationChapter 15: Methods cheat sheet: How to study digitalization15.1 Research question: What are you going to find out? 15.2 Choosing method: How are you going to find it? 15.3 Tips for getting good data15.4 From data to analysis