This study of computing in an economically transforming city in the north of England looks at how new information technologies effect and are affected by a historically vibrant working-class culture. Stressing the complex interplay between technology and culture, especially notions about work and labor, the authors examine how this dynamic is manifest in computer-related jobs, in social relationships, and in the reproduction of local culture. They analyze the structure of computing in Sheffield, placing it in the contexts of national state policy, world political economy, and the regional labor market, and they explore the processes of computing in relation to the reproduction of gendering, the rise of "labor freedom," and local attempts to influence the course of computerization. The experiences of the people in Sheffield and South Yorkshire have much to teach us about what technology does and what we can do to control it. Computing Myths, Class Realities will be of interest not only to anthropologists and sociologists but to all scholars interested in the social correlates of computing.

This chapter illustrates the value of a strongly materialist, Marxist approach in anthropology. In Marxist anthropology, one finds implicit analogues of both Sartrean and Habermasian dialectics. "Sartrean" views of social formation reproduction conceive of this process "holistically," while "Habermasian" views distinguish ontologically between cultural or semiotic processes and political economic ones; these are said to "interact" in social reproduction. There are dangers for Marxist anthropology in both the Habermasian and the Sartrean approaches to dialectics. Sandra Wallman's work implies the possibility of a kind of emic or semiotic empiricism as a way to a theory of work. The standard anthropological argument would proceed by establishing a particular ethnographic context and demonstrate how the construct developed illuminates this context better than competing constructs. The general tendency of contemporary Marxist approaches to work appears to be to avoid the dangers of either semioticist or political economist reductionisms by opting for an extremely broad concept of work.

This paper presents the results of research aimed at developing a methodology for the participatory design of social robots, which are meant to be incorporated into various social contexts (e.g. home, work) and establish social relations with people. In contrast to the dominant technologically driven robot development process, we aim to develop a socially robust and responsible approach to robot design using Participatory Design (PD) methods. The PD process builds on participants' self-identified issues and concerns, and develops robot concepts according to participants' interpretations of the capabilities and potential applications of robotic technologies. We present methodological insights from an ongoing PD project aimed at designing socially assistive robots with older adults diagnosed with depression and their therapists, and identify remaining challenges in this project. We particularly focus on supporting mutual learning between researchers and participants and on promoting active participation of older adults as “designers” (rather than consumers) as foundational aspects of PD. We conclude with reflections regarding how this work can contribute to the further development of social robots and relevant PD methodologies.

Purpose - In this paper, we examine the social stratification in the favelas, urban slums, both in general and how it correlates with technology. The analysis is based on Weberian stratification theory, since it provides for a broad understanding of the different factors that make up the digital inequalities. Methodology/approach - Based on a 10-month critical ethnographic research dealing with LAN houses and state supported telecenters in the favelas of Vitoria, Brazil, we analyze how the use of technology by residents of such marginalized areas expands our understanding of Weber's axes of stratification, namely class, status and political power. The data was drawn from user observations, Facebook interactions, and 76 semi-structured interviews. Findings - The drug cartel members belonged to the higher class of favela residents due to their access to material resources and ability to afford smartphones and data plans. However, in terms of status groups, they did not represent the pinnacle of the community. Where status was concerned, the highest stratum of the community was composed of the "Facebook's celebrities," the few teenagers who knew how to produce content online, such as images and videos. An additional axis of social differentiation, related to political power, was observed during the 2013 protests in Brazil. Favela residents arrived late to the event and found themselves "fighting" for demands stipulated previously by the organizers who belonged to upper classes. Originality/value - We highlight what access to ICTs can, and cannot, accomplish in a "highly disorganized," conflict-ridden, and institution-poor environment. With that we hope to encourage academics and practitioners to do a better job in developing appropriate policies and technologies.

The financial/social cataclysm beginning in 2007 ended notions of a great moderation and the view that capitalism had overcome its systemic tendencies to crisis. The subsequent failure of contemporary social formations to address the causes of the crisis gives renewed impetus to better analysis in aid of the search for a better future. This book contributes to this search by reviving a broad discussion of what we humans might want a post-capitalist future to be like. It argues for a comparative anthropological critique of capital notions of value, thereby initiating the search for a new set of values, as well as identifying a number of selected computing practices that might evoke new values. It articulates a suggestive set of institutions that could support these new values, and formulates a group of measurement practices usable for evaluating the proposed institutions. The book is grounded in contemporary social science, political theory, and critical theory. It aims to leverage the possibility of alternative futures implied by some computing practices while avoiding hype and technological determinism, and uses these computing practices to explicate one possible way to think about the future.