How does one “locate” digital technology design and use in an interconnected world? In this Masterclass, we will explore the methodological challenges that come up when studying digital technologies as though their location in a place, a history and within power relations mattered. The narrative around these technologies has so persistently emphasised their universality, neutrality and disruptive qualities that even foregrounding place, historical continuities, or power asymmetries has presented challenges over the years. Additionally, not all understandings of place may be equally productive - for instance, treating a site as isolated or bounded might not be very helpful, especially in the “connected” world of today. This class will draw on the work of geographers and sociologists who have long thought about the methodological implications of using a “progressive sense of place” - i.e., an understanding of place as power-laden and as relational - in a globalised world. It will then examine how and to what extent these methodological forays and their forms of emplacing might be useful for studying digital technology design and use. 

This Masterclass is open to bachelor/ master students and PhD researchers. For more information and to apply please send an email  stating your name, contact details and study programme/ affiliation to gdc@uva.nl.   

Required Readings

• Burawoy, M. (2000). Introduction. In M Burawoy et al. (eds.) Global Ethnography: Forces, Connections and Imaginations in a Postmodern World. University of California Press, pp. 1-6, 24-35.
   
• Hart, G. (2004). Geography and development: critical ethnographies. Progress in Human Geography, 28(1), 91–100.
   
• Massey D (1994). A Global Sense of Place. In D Massey (ed) Space, Place and Gender. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
   
• Srinivasan, J (2022). Politics Denied: Constructing Efficient Markets with Mobile phones and Price Information. In The Political Lives of Information: Information and the Making of Development in India. Information Society Series. MIT Press, 61-86.

About The Speaker

Janaki Srinivasan is Associate Professor in Digital South Asian Studies at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and the Oxford Internet Institute, and a Governing Body Fellow at St Antony’s College.

Janaki’s research examines the political economy of information technology-based development initiatives. She uses ethnographic research to examine how gender, caste and class shape the use of such technologies. Her work has explored these interests in the context of Indian digital inclusion initiatives focused on community computer centres, mobile phones, identity systems and open information systems. Some of this work appeared in her recent monograph, The Political Lives of Information published by MIT Press. Janaki’s work on the politics of informational and digital exclusion is currently focussed on privacy and the algorithmic control of labour. For the past several years, as co-investigator on the Fairwork India team, she has been involved in researching and advocating for change in the precarious working conditions of gig workers in India.

Janaki was previously on the faculty at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore and convenor of its Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy. She has a PhD in Information Management and Systems from UC Berkeley and Master’s degrees in Physics and in Information Technology from IIT Delhi and IIIT Bangalore respectively.