Regimes of Information and the Paradox of Embeddedness: An Introduction

Abstract

This introduction outlines the problematic that has served as the basis for this special issue. Interaction weaves the fabric of social life in the form of events that are usually embedded in a series of particulars, variously referred to as contexts or situations. At the same time, actors, and the contexts in which they are embedded, are constituted by social rules, role systems, and normative frameworks that transcend situated encounters. Furthermore, most interactive events involve a range of resources and technological capabilities that recur across contexts and situations. This special issue deals with how the multivalent involvement of information and communication technologies in social practice alters this basic problematic. It entails six research articles that investigate particular social practices and the ways each of these practices are refigured by the deepening involvement of information and communication technologies. This special issue also features an invited perspective piece by distinguished philosopher Albert Borgmann.

Keywords:

• embeddedness
• information and communication technologies
• interaction
• practice
• structure
• technological capabilities

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We are indebted to Shoshana Zuboff for her comments on an earlier version of this introduction.