With the advent of digital devices and software, self-tracking practices have gained new adherents and have spread into a wide array of social domains. The Quantified Self movement has emerged to promote 'self-knowledge through numbers'.
'The internet is made of cats' is a half-jokingly made claim. Today, animals of all shapes and sizes inhabit our digital spaces, from the monitoring of wildlife and feral animals to wearable devices and RFID chips for livestock. In this book, Deborah Lupton explores how digital technologies and datafication are changing our relationships with other animals. Playfully building on the concept of 'The Internet of Things', it discusses the complex relationships and feelings that have developed between people and animals online and through the use of digital devices, from the rapid dissemination of images and information about animals on social media to employing animal-like robots as companions and care devices. It brings together a range of perspectives including sociology, cultural geography, environmental humanities, critical animal studies and internet studies to consider how these new digital technologies are contributing to major changes in human-animal relationships at both the micropolitical and macropolitical levels. As the book shows, while digital devices and media have strengthened people's relationships to other animals, these technologies can also objectify animals as things for human entertainment, therapy or economic exploitation. This original and engaging book will be of interest to scholars and students across the social sciences and humanities.
A Sociomaterial Analysis
Beyond its role as a protective covering against coronavirus infection, the face mask is the bearer of powerful symbolic and political power and arouses intense emotions. Adopting an international perspective informed by social theory, The Face Mask in COVID Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis offers an intriguing and original investigation of the social, cultural and historical dimensions of face-masking as a practice in the age of COVID
Exploring the profound societal changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, this book delves into the shifts in social norms, economic structures, and public health systems. It examines how communities adapted, highlighting resilience and innovation in response to unprecedented challenges. The narrative also addresses the disparities exposed by the crisis, providing insights into the future of societies as they navigate recovery and transformation in a post-pandemic world.
Risk asserts the ongoing importance of the analysis of risk in our age of permacrisis and mounting scepticism about experts and science, and calls for a 're-turn' to risk theory. This fully revised and expanded new edition includes a new chapter on risk information and denial in the context of the climate crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.