Figurations of Mediation: Social Movements, Collective Actions and Social Change in the Media Manifold

Presented at the IV ISA Forum of Sociology.
Alberto Lusoli, Frederik Lesage
Simon Fraser University

Transcript

1. (MICHEL CALLON)
   Social Movements, Collective Actions and
   Social Change in the Media Manifold
   FIGURATIONS OF MEDIATION
   Feb. 23 2021 - IV ISA Forum of Sociology
   Alberto Lusoli, Frederik Lesage
   Simon Fraser University
   

   View Slide

2. MEDIA, MEDIA
   EVERYWHERE!
   

   View Slide

3. FOREGROUNDING
   MEDIA
   INFRASTRUCTURES
   

   View Slide

4. MEDIA AS
   MULTISTABLE OBJECTS
   As in a gestalt shift, in studies of social movements media
   can be presented as, among other things, field sites,
   objects of study and research instruments.
   On multistability:
   Ihde, D. (1990). Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth. Bloomington, IN:
   Indiana University Press.
   Photo: Hootsuite HQ.
   Vancouver
   

   View Slide

5. “TWITTER
   REVOLUTIONS”
   Copyright: Seymour Chwast, The New Yorker, Oct.4th 2010
   

   View Slide

6. FIGURATIONS OF
   MEDIATION
   Media manifold: A many-dimensional space
   that cannot be experienced in all its complexity
   but only actualized in downscaled
   representations.
   On Media Manifold:
   Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2016). The Mediated Construction of
   Reality. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
   

   View Slide

7. Photo: Coworking space, Vancouver, October 2018
   The following case study is taken
   from an ethnographic investigation
   of digital and hi-tech workers in
   Vancouver, Canada.
   FREELANCING
   IN VANCOUVER
   

   View Slide

8. THROUGH MEETUP
   In the early stages of the research, we used
   Meetup in a mostly instrumental fashion.
   Inspired by previous network ethnography
   studies (Neff, 2012), we set out to map the
   Vancouver startup collectivity through
   Meetup by using it to identify where people
   were gathering.
   

   View Slide

9. IN MEETUP
   Meaningful exchanges between members
   of the community were also taking place in
   Meetup. Our experience of Meetup shifted
   to encompass that of a field in itself; with
   its own online interactions, topics, and
   norms.
   

   View Slide

10. OF MEETUP
    Meetup as a platform that was itself the
    object of consideration in everyday
    interactions. As such, we examined how
    Vancouver digital workers, as users of
    Meetup, incorporated it as part of their
    everyday interactions.
    Photo: Startup Weekend Hackathon. Nov.2014
    

    View Slide

11. Photo: Startup entrance hall, Vancouver. November 2018
    WITH MEETUP
    Thanks to the experience we had gained
    dealing with Meetup data, we could
    position ourselves within the community as
    “Meetup experts”.
    This allowed us to establish connections
    and conversations with people who might
    not otherwise have been interested in
    speaking to us.
    

    View Slide

12. research blog:
    HTTPS://LABORA.CO
    Alberto Lusoli, Frederik Lesage
    alusoli@sfu.ca
    flesage@fu.ca
    Thanks to all photographers who released their work in
    the public domain using Creative Common:
    Photo credits: Gabby K, Daria Shevtsova, Gian Cescon.
    All other photos used in this presentation were taken by
    Alberto Lusoli and distributed under Creative Common
    license.
    

    View Slide

13. THANK
    YOU
    research blog:
    HTTPS://LABORA.CO
    Alberto Lusoli, Frederik Lesage
    alusoli@sfu.ca
    flesage@fu.ca
    Thanks to all photographers who released their work in
    the public domain using Creative Common:
    Photo credits: Gabby K, Daria Shevtsova, Gian Cescon.
    All other photos used in this presentation were taken by
    Alberto Lusoli and distributed under Creative Common
    license.
    

    View Slide