News
“Gender and Technology at Work: From Workplace Studies to Social Justice in Design”
Ellen Balka (Simon Fraser University, British Columbia)
Ina Wagner (University of Siegen)
Anne Weibert (University of Siegen)
Volker Wulf (University of Siegen)
The book Gender and Technology at Work: From Workplace Studies to Social Justice in Design was published by Cambridge University Press in April 2024.
The book Gender and Technology at Work: From Workplace Studies to Social Justice in Design, auhtored by our member Volker Wulf (project B04) and his co-authors Ellen Balka, Ina Wagner and Anne Weibert brings together the vast research literature about gender and technology to help designers understand what a gender perspective and a focus on intersectionality can contribute to designing information technology systems and artifacts, and to assist organizations as they work to develop work cultures that are supportive of women and marginalized genders and people. Drawing on empirical and analytical studies of women’s work and technology in many parts of the world, the book addresses how to make invisible aspects of work visible; how to recognize women’s skills without falling into the trap of gender stereotyping; how to engage in improving working conditions; and how to defend care of life situations and needs against a managerial logic.
It addresses challenges for design, including many overlooked and undervalued aspects, such as the complexities involved in human–machine interactions, as well as the need to create safe spaces for research subjects.
- Explores how work in relation to technology is mediated in complex ways by ethnic, cultural, and class backgrounds as well as issues of sexuality
- Presents views about how to build pathways to gender equality in design, addressing wider structural issues that need to be addressed when working towards design justice
- Takes an interdisciplinary approach, including literature from the social sciences, ergonomics, health sciences, computer science, and design disciplines
Reviews & endorsements
“This expansive volume conveys how decades of feminist scholarship on women, work, and technology can inform artifact and system design in ways that promote social justice. It is enriched by the collaboration of a multidisciplinary, multinational team of authors who weave their own stories and those of other feminist technologists into the narrative.”
Carol J. Haddad, Professor Emerita of Technology Studies, Eastern Michigan University
“A captivating deep dive into the intersection of gender, technology, and workplace culture. The authors masterfully integrate extensive research, providing essential guidance for designing user-centric IT systems and promoting inclusive workplaces. A pivotal guide for creating a more equitable tech world.”
Nicola Marsden, Professor of Social Informatics, Heilbronn University, Author of Retaining Women in Tech: Shifting the Paradigm
“This book provides a very welcome and sensitive appraisal of the gender-technology relationship in an ever faster-paced era of change in both domains. It is conceptually comprehensive and politically engaged, restoring authority and agency to those conventionally overlooked and marginalised in technological design processes. A must-read for all those interested in the challenges of achieving social justice in technology design.”
Juliet Webster, Work and Equality Research, London
“Balka, Wagner, Weibert & Wulf’s expertise and established commitment to participatory design (PD) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) provides a rich history of feminist scholarship in gender and technology studies that has shaped this field. Interspersed with interviews from eleven feminist pioneers in PD, CSCW, HCI and STS, they offer provocations, ethical-political perspectives and inspiration for burgeoning intersectional and interdisciplinary research and practice in gender, work and system design, data feminism, critical data studies, and data justice and design justice.”
Leslie Regan Shade, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Volker Wulf is Professor at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen and is pricipal investigator of the CRC 1187 “Media of Cooperation” project “B04 – Digital Publics and Social Transformation in the Maghreb”. Ellen Balka is a Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. Ina Wagner is affiliated to the University of Siegen, Germany after retiring as professor at the Vienna University of Technology, Vienna. Anne Weibert is a research associate at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen.
Cambridge University Press is the publishing division of the University of Cambridge, one of the world’s leading research institutions and winner of 81 Nobel Prizes. Cambridge University Press is committed by its charter to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible across the globe. They are publishing academic-level research, reference and higher education textbooks across a wide range of disciplines under the Cambridge University Press imprint.
“–1.153 Characters. Towards A Queerfeminist Infrastructural Critique of Wikipedia”
Hannah Schmedes (Ruhr University Bochum)
In June 2024, our SFB member Hannah Schmedes (B09) published an article worth reading in the journal FKW // Zeitschrift für Geschlechterforschung und visuelle Kultur 74 (2024) entitled “-1.153 Characters. Towards A Queerfeminist Infrastructural Critique of Wikipedia”, in which she explores the concealed biases, power dynamics, and inequalities within Wikipedia’s infrastructural framework.
Hannah Schmedes is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Media Studies at the Ruhr University Bochum. She is a researcher in the project “B09 – Bicycle Media. Cooperative Media of Mobility” in the DFG-funded CRC 1187 “Media of Cooperation”.
FKW // Zeitschrift für Geschlechterforschung und visuelle Kultur analyzes visual representations and discourses in their social and gender-political significance. FKW thus combines art and cultural theory, image and media studies, gender-specific, political and methodological issues to create a critical cultural history of the visual. Questions about constructions in the field of visual culture, about mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, symptomatic subject designs and unreflected objectifications are at the forefront of the critical interest in representation. From a perspective that understands knowledge and understanding as dynamic processes that are always changing, FKW sees itself as a platform for constructive debate and discussion that aims to provide food for thought and critically accompany ways of rethinking.
Convergence 30 (1) Special Issue on „Critical Technical Practice(s) in Digital Research“
Daniela van Geenen (University of Siegen)
Karin van Es (University Utrecht)
Jonathan Gray (King’s College London)
Our CRC-Member Daniela van Geenen (A03), together with Karin van Es and Jonathan Gray, edited the special issue “Critical Technical Practice(s) in Digital Research”, which has now been published in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 30 (1).
Save the date: the editors will (soft) launch the issue at the CRC research forum on 10 July, 2 to 4 pm CEST with some short presentations. You can join the event either online or in Siegen! Contact Daniela van Geenen.
Links to the articles and the living literature collection (Zotero group) can be found here.
In this special issue, the authors turn to ideas of and approaches to critical technical practices (CTPs) as entry points to doing critique and doing things critically in digitally mediated cultures and societies. They explore the pluralisation of ‘critical technical practice’, starting from its early formulations in the context of AI research and development (Agre, 1997a, 1997b) to the many ways in which it has resonated and been taken up by different publications, projects, groups, and communities of practice, and what it has come to mean. Agre defined CTP as a situational, practical, and constructive way of working: ‘a technical practice for which critical reflection upon the practice is part of the practice itself’ (1997a: XII). Communities of practice in which the notion has been adopted, adapted, and put to use range from human–computer interaction (HCI) to media art and pedagogy, from science and technology studies (STS) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) to digital humanities, media studies and data studies. This special issue serves as an invitation to (re)consider what it means to use this notion drawing on a wider body of work, including beyond Agre. In this introduction, they review and discuss CTPs according to (1) Agre, (2) indexed research, and (3) contributors to this special issue. They conclude with some questions and considerations for those interested in working with this notion.
The issue is at the same time timely and timeless, featuring contributions by Tatjana Seitz (A01) & Sam Hind; Michael Dieter; Jean-Marie John-Mathews, Robin De Mourat, Donato Ricci and Maxime Crépel; Anders Koed Madsen; Winnie Soon and Pablo Velasco; Mathieu Jacomy and Anders Munk; Jessica Ogden, Edward Summers and Shawn Walker; Urszula Pawlicka-Deger; Simon Hirsbrunner, Michael Tebbe and Claudia Müller-Birn; Bernhard Rieder, Eric Borra and Stijn Peters; Carolin Gerlitz (A03 & Speaker of the CRC 1187), Fernando van der Vlist and Jason Chao; Daniel Chavez Heras; and Sabine Niederer and Natalia Sanchez Querubin.
Daniela van Geenen is a lecturer in Data Journalism and Visualization at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and is also a Ph.D. candidate at the DFG CRC 1187 “Media of Cooperation” and member of the project “A03 – Navigation in Online/Offline Spaces” at the University of Siegen Karin van Es is associate professor Media & Culture Studies and project lead Humanities at Data School at Utrecht University. Jonathan Gray is Reader in Critical Infrastructure Studies at the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London.
Convergence is an international peer-reviewed academic journal which was set up in 1995 to address the creative, social, political and pedagogical issues raised by the advent of new media technologies. As an international research journal, it provides a forum both for monitoring and exploring developments in the field and for encouraging, publishing and promoting vital innovative research. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach and published six times a year, Convergence has developed this area into an entirely new research field.
The 3rd phase (2024-2027) of the SFB 1187 Media of Cooperation focuses on sensor media’s scaling performance. The CRC’s research program covers the entire spectrum of this scaling performance, from the level of the body and micro-interaction to distributed situations of sensor data, transnational surveillance, and global data infrastructures.
“Scales of Cooperation” discusses the CRC’s cross-scale understanding of cooperation, starting from micro-situational cooperation practices to the cooperation of transnational infrastructures with their data and data practices. The SFB aims to develop a media theory of this cooperatively composed scaling performance, leading to a final conference and publication of the CRC in 2027.
To this end, the SFB will launch a first lecture series on “Scales of Sovereignty” in the summer semester of 2024, which will examine different scalings of the claim to sovereignty of various actors from the local to the global level—starting from individual media situations to the political-regulatory level of the European Union and beyond.
Scales of Sovereignty – Summer Term 2024
Digitale Politik und postdigitale Souveränität: Zwischen Technokratie, Öffentlichkeit und medialer Kontrolle?
15.05.24 | 4.15-5.45 PM | Hybrid
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Stephan Packard (Universität zu Köln)
The Double Alignment Problem – On the Transfer of Sovereignty between Humans and AI
28.05.24 | 4.15-5.45 PM | Hybrid
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Roberto Simanowski
The Double Alignment Problem Continued (part of Werkstatt Media Practice Theory)
29.05.24 | 10.00-11.30 AM | Hybrid
Workshop mit Prof. Dr. Roberto Simanowski
The Semi-Souvereign Fifth Estate
12.06.24 | 4.15-5.45 PM | Hybrid
Lecture by Prof. Dr. William Dutton (Michigan State University)
Regulating Sovereignty in Cyberspace
29.05.24 26.06.24 (new date) | 4.15-5.45 PM | Hybrid
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Yik Chan Chin (Beijing Normal University)
All events take place in hybrid form (on site and via Webex).
University of Siegen
Campus Herrengarten
Herrengarten 3
D-57072 Siegen
Room AH-A 217/218
Please register here if you want to attend online.
June 27, 2024 14:00-19:00 / June 28, 2024 9:00-13:00
In advance: individual telephone conversation to discuss reference to your own project and materials.
The aim of this master class is to experience the experimental approach of camera ethnography and to try out arranging research (with reference to Wittgenstein) together by referring to the diversity of research fields which will be represented in the workshop. Participants are encouraged to bring some of their own research material to this workshop.
Filming as an epistemic practice
In our everyday use of media, we simply believe that we can capture something with a camera and share it with each other. However, if we assume that the goal of research is to get beyond the state of what is known and seen so far, then we are dealing with epistemic things that are not yet visible at first and therefore cannot just be recorded with a camera. With this consideration, Bina E. Mohn, the founder of camera ethnography, refers to the sociological laboratory studies of the 1980s and 1990s. Starting from a premise of the not (yet) visible marks the departure from strategies of camera use that assume visibility exists a priori. Camera ethnography offers a manageable representation-critical approach based on a situated methodology and can be understood as a continuous reflexive process of working on visibility and seeing. Camera ethnography lends itself particularly well to the study of nonverbal practices and socio-material constellations. Furthermore, camera ethnography is particularly suitable for an adoption of the format “übersichtliche Darstellung” (Wittgenstein): In this context, filmic arrangements serve as an attempt to answer the question of how social practices can be lived, named, and understood here and now, and there and then. For viewers of camera-ethnographic publications, this offers an opportunity to discover unexpected things about the diversity and possibility of social phenomena and practices.
The basic book by Bina E. Mohn „Kamera-Ethnographie. Ethnographische Forschung im Modus des Zeigens. Programmatik und Praxis“ has been published in 2023, is open access and underpins this master class. Important references of the camera-ethnographic approach include Bruno Latour (science-in-the-making), Karin Knorr-Cetina (epistemic cultures), Hans-Jörg Rheinberger (experimental systems), Clifford Geertz (“thick description”), Ludwig Wittgenstein (language games and “übersichtliche Darstellung”), and Karen Barad (agential realism and intra-action).
Requirements for participation
- Experience in ethnographic fieldwork, regardless of the medium
- Readiness to change perspectives and media and to experiment.
Registration for the master class
Contact and registration: wiesemann@erz-wiss.uni-siegen.de
Registration deadline: May 15, 2024. Participation will be bindingly confirmed by the organizers by May 20, 2024. Please briefly answer these questions when registering:
- Which research project am I currently working on and which practices in this field am I particularly interested in?
- What questions do I have about media ethnographic theory and practice?
- Which materials would I like to bring to the master class on camera ethnography?
Bina will be available to make more detailed arrangements with each of you via telephone.
Venue
Campus Lower Castle
US-S 001 / 002
Obergraben 25
Siegen
Jutta Wiesemann, Principal Investigator of project B05 “Early childhood and smartphones”, was a studio guest on the ‘Lokalzeit’ programme on 14 March 2024. The regional WDR programme presented the Krümelkiste, a tablet using daycare centre in Arnsberg, among other things. In the subsequent discussion with the presenter, Wiesemann emphasised the importance of digital education and the associated need to develop media education concepts for daycare centres.
Jutta Wiesemann is a professor of educational science specialising in primary and pre-school education and researches sensory practices in digital childhoods at the CRC.
The WDR programme is available in the ARD-Mediathek. It is only available in German.
Job advertisement:
SHK/WHB position in SFB subproject A04
For the subproject A04 “Normal Interruptions of Service. Structure and Change of Public Infrastructures” in the Collaborative Research Center 1187 “Media of Cooperation” we are looking for a student assistant (SHK) (m/f/d) or a research assistant with a bachelor’s degree (WHB) (m/f/d) as of April 1st under the following conditions:
- 9 hours per week
- Temporary for 16 month
- Employment on the basis of the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz
Your tasks:
- Performing scientific support activities
- Support with preparatory work for research
Your profile:
- Matriculation in the BA or MA Social Sciences program
- Interest in working in an academic environment
- Confident handling/independent work with MS Office
- Structured work, enjoy teamwork, initiative and a sense of responsibility
We look forward to receiving your application by 05.03.2024.
You can find more information about the project here: https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/projects/a04
Job advertisement in the job portal of the University of Siegen: https://jobs.uni-siegen.de/content/HK/?locale=de_DE
Your contact person:
Damaris Lehmann, M.A.
damaris.lehmann[æt]uni-siegen.de
Job advertisement:
SHK position in SFB subproject B06
In the sub-project B06 “Un-/desired Observation in Interaction: Smart Environments, Language, Body, and Senses in Private Households” of the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1187 “Media of Cooperation” we are looking for a student assistant (SHK) (m/f/d) as of August 1st, 2024 under the following conditions:
- Up to 5 hours per week, with the possibility of an increase from 2025
- Initially limited to one year, with the possibility of extension
- Employment on the basis of the German Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act
Your tasks:
- Preparation and transcription of audiovisual data material
- Assistance with research and investigation (including literature research and management, planning field visits)
- Support in the organization of events (including the planning and practical implementation of conferences and workshops)
- Assistance in the preparation of scientific publications (e.g. proofreading, formatting work)
Your profile:
- Ideally, knowledge in the field of conversation-analytical transcription according to GAT2 and corresponding software (Folker, Exmaralda Audacity or similar) or willingness to familiarize yourself with it
- Enrollment in a (preferably linguistic) Bachelor’s degree program at a German university
- Interest in working in an academic environment
- Confident scope/independent work with MS Office
- Very good knowledge of English
- Structured work, enjoy teamwork, initiative and a sense of responsibility
We look forward to receiving your application by 31.05.2024.
You can find more information about the project here https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/projekte/b06/
Please send your application documents (cover letter, curriculum vitae in tabular form, certificates) in a single pdf file to Mr. Hector.
Your contact person:
Tim Moritz Hector, M.A.
tim.hector[æt]uni-siegen.de
Der SFB und die Universität Siegen nimmt Abschied von Prof. Dr. Volkmar Pipek.
Am 6. Januar 2024 verstarb nach langer, schwerer Krankheit im Alter von 56 Jahren Prof. Dr. Volkmar Pipek. Prof. Pipek war von 2006 bis 2013 zunächst als Juniorprofessor im Fach Wirtschaftsinformatik der Fakultät III an der Universität Siegen tätig bevor er zum 1. Februar 2013 zum Universitätsprofessor für „Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Media” berufen wurde. Mit ihm verliert der SFB und die Universität einen international renommierten Forscher und guten Freund.
Einen ausführlichen Nachruf und eine Gedenkseite für Prof. Pipek finden Sie hier
Unser tief empfundenes Mitgefühl gilt seiner Familie und Freund*innen.
We are looking for a scientific coordinator at our CRC as soon as possible under the following conditions: 100% = 39,83 hours, Pay grade 13 TV-L, limited until 31.12.2027.
Your tasks include, among others, designing and organising the curricular programme, jointly developing the scientific programme and organisational structure of a Critical Data School, moderating and realizing central CRC events, organising and planning of the event programme for the internal graduate school, coordinating the work of the CRC’s Executive Board and working on your own scientific contribution to area of digital media research, for example in the field of data studies, sensor media, AI, data-intensive media or similar.
If you have completed an academic degree with a doctorate (preferably in the field of cultural and/or social media research) and proven academic expertise in the CRC’s field of research, are interested in the organisation and implementation of large-scale scientific projects and are keen to contribute to an interdisciplinary team, we warmly invite you to submit your applications. The application deadline is 19 February.
Further information and application details can be found here.
We offer a PhD research position in media studies (TVL 13, 65%, limited until 31 December 2027) as part of our new sub-project “Bicycle Media:”, led by Julia Bee.
You will be working on the project, conducting cooperative field research on bicycle collectives, organising scientific events and participating in cooperative PR works with researchers and civil actors.
If you have completed an academic degree (e.g. media studies, social sciences or anthropology/ethnology), are interested in mobility in the context of climate justice and are keen to contribute to an interdisciplinary team, we warmly invite you to submit your applications. The application deadline is 7 February.
Further information and application details can be found here.
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