Unsafe Ground

This paper discusses how everyday technologies contribute to the enaction of disability, in particular by continually frustrating the formation of a general sense of ease in the world. It suggests that bodies have a fundamental relationality, within which technology comprises a central aspect; and...

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Autor principal: Jonathan Paul Mitchell
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Publicado: The Royal Danish Library 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/e9b4356b3b144b658d3a44ee5fffed70
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:e9b4356b3b144b658d3a44ee5fffed702021-11-29T16:52:57ZUnsafe Ground10.7146/kkf.v31i2.1278732245-6937https://doaj.org/article/e9b4356b3b144b658d3a44ee5fffed702021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://tidsskrift.dk/KKF/article/view/127873https://doaj.org/toc/2245-6937 This paper discusses how everyday technologies contribute to the enaction of disability, in particular by continually frustrating the formation of a general sense of ease in the world. It suggests that bodies have a fundamental relationality, within which technology comprises a central aspect; and that the very entity called the human is constituted through relationships with technologies. Then, it considers two ways that the organisation of technology is involved in the realisation of both ability and disability. First, it describes how the distribution of technological resources for activity are centred around bodies that are attributed normality and correctness, which also de-centres bodies falling outside this category: the former are enabled to act while the latter are not. Second, it proposes that ability and disability also involve habit: activities that have not only been repeated until familiar, but in which body and technologies can be forgotten. That typical bodies are centred allows them to develop robust habitual relationships with technological environments in which body and technologies can recede from attention, and crucially, to acquire a sense that their engagements will generally be supported. Atypical bodies, as de-centred, lack this secure ground: they cannot forget their relations with environments, and cannot simply assume that these will support their activity. This erodes bodily confi dence in a world that will support the projects, whether ordinary or innovative, that constitute a life. Jonathan Paul MitchellThe Royal Danish LibraryarticleSocial SciencesHDAENNBSVKvinder, Køn & Forskning, Vol 31, Iss 2 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language DA
EN
NB
SV
topic Social Sciences
H
spellingShingle Social Sciences
H
Jonathan Paul Mitchell
Unsafe Ground
description This paper discusses how everyday technologies contribute to the enaction of disability, in particular by continually frustrating the formation of a general sense of ease in the world. It suggests that bodies have a fundamental relationality, within which technology comprises a central aspect; and that the very entity called the human is constituted through relationships with technologies. Then, it considers two ways that the organisation of technology is involved in the realisation of both ability and disability. First, it describes how the distribution of technological resources for activity are centred around bodies that are attributed normality and correctness, which also de-centres bodies falling outside this category: the former are enabled to act while the latter are not. Second, it proposes that ability and disability also involve habit: activities that have not only been repeated until familiar, but in which body and technologies can be forgotten. That typical bodies are centred allows them to develop robust habitual relationships with technological environments in which body and technologies can recede from attention, and crucially, to acquire a sense that their engagements will generally be supported. Atypical bodies, as de-centred, lack this secure ground: they cannot forget their relations with environments, and cannot simply assume that these will support their activity. This erodes bodily confi dence in a world that will support the projects, whether ordinary or innovative, that constitute a life.
format article
author Jonathan Paul Mitchell
author_facet Jonathan Paul Mitchell
author_sort Jonathan Paul Mitchell
title Unsafe Ground
title_short Unsafe Ground
title_full Unsafe Ground
title_fullStr Unsafe Ground
title_full_unstemmed Unsafe Ground
title_sort unsafe ground
publisher The Royal Danish Library
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/e9b4356b3b144b658d3a44ee5fffed70
work_keys_str_mv AT jonathanpaulmitchell unsafeground
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