Genomic stuff: Governing the (im)matter of life

Emphasizing the context of what has often been referred to as “scarce natural resources”, in particular forests, meadows, and fishing stocks, Elinor Ostrom’s important work Governing the commons (1990) presents an institutional framework for discussing the development and use of collective action with respect to environmental problems. In this article we discuss extensions of Ostrom’s approach to genes and genomes and explore its limits and usefulness. With the new genetics, we suggest, the biological gaze has not only been turned inward to the management and mining of the human body, also the very notion of the “biological” has been destabilized. This shift and destabilization, we argue, which is the result of human refashioning and appropriation of “life itself”, raises important questions about the relevance and applicability of Ostrom’s institutional framework in the context of what we call “genomic stuff”, genomic material, data, and information

Understanding sustainability through the lens of ecocentric radical-re?exivity : implications for management education

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate around sustainability by proposing the need for an ecocentric stance to sustainability that reflexively embeds humans in—rather than detached from—nature. We argue that this requires a different way of thinking about our relationship with our world, necessitating a (re)engagement with the sociomaterial world in which we live. We develop the notion of ecocentrism by drawing on insights from sociomateriality studies, and show how radical-reflexivity enables us to appreciate our embeddedness and responsibility for sustainability by bringing attention to the interrelationship between values, actions and our social and material world. We examine the implications of an ecocentric radically reflexive approach to sustainability for management education

Internet of things and automation of imaging: beyond representationalism

It is no doubt that the production of digital imagery invites for the major update of theoretical apparatus: what up until now was perceived solely or primarily as the stable representation of the world gives way to the image understood in terms of “the continuous actualization of networked data”[1] or “networked terminal”.[2] In my article I would like to argue that analysis of this new visual environment should not be limited to the procedures of data processing. What also invites serious investigation is acknowledging the reliance of contemporary media ecology on wireless communication which according to Adrian Mackenzie functions as “prepositions (‘at,’ ‘in,’ ‘with,’ by’, ‘between,’ ‘near,’ etc) in the grammar of contemporary media”.[3] It seems especially important in the case of the imagery accompanying some instances of internet of things, where the considerable part of networked imagery is produced in a fully automated and machinic way, as illustrated with my main example, Air Quality Egg.[4] This crowdsourced air pollution monitoring platform consists of networked sensors transmitting signals and data which are then visualized as graphs and maps through the IoT service provider, Xively. Such examples prompt the need for a major reconfiguration of the theory of digital image beyond the constraints of representationalism[5] and also beyond what has already been named “new aesthetic”.[6] In my opinion focusing not so much on the ontology of digital imagery as on its ontogenesis plays a key role in such undertaking. In other words, the main point of interest shifts from image’s being in the world to its becoming with and in the world. Hence I would like to propose the processual and relational concept of image as energy exchange, to some extent inspired the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon, yet with a strong posthumanist twist. Such metaphor allows for another step needed to transform how we think about production of digital imagery: shifting the focus from purely human intentionality to the machinic, hybrid and distributed agencies. [1] R.Marie, I. Hoelzl, Softimage. Towards a New Theory of the Digital Image, Intellect, Bristol – Chicago 2015, loc. 146 (Kindle version) [2] Ibid. [3] A. Mackenzie, „Wirelessness as the Experience of Transition”, „Fibreculture Journal” 13/2008, online: http://thirteen.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-085-wirelessness-as-experience-of-transition/ Retrieved: December 10, 2015. [4] http://airqualityegg.com/ Retrieved: December 10, 2015. [5] The recent critique of representationalism stems from at least a few sources, including performative theory and posthumanism, por. S. Kember, J. Zylinska, Life After New Media. Mediation as a Vital Process, MIT Press, Cambridge – London 2012; Ch. Salter, Entangled. Technology and the Transformation of Performance, MIT Press, Cambridge – Londyn 2010. See also: N. Thrift, Non-representational Theory. Space, Politics, Affect, Routledge, London - New York 2008; B. Anderson, P. Harris, The Promise of Non-Representationalist Theories [w:] idem, ed., Taking-Place: Non-Representational Theories and Geography, Ashgate, Farnham – Burlington 2010. [6] D. M. Berry, M. van Dartel, M. Dieter, M. Kasprzak, N. Muller, R. O’Reilly, J.L. De Vincente, New Aesthetic, New Anxieties, V2, Amsterdam 2012, http://v2.nl/publishing/new-aesthetic-new-anxieties Retrieved: November 29, 2015; J. Bridle, „#sxaesthetic”, 15. 03. 2012, http://booktwo.org/notebook/sxaesthetic/ Retrieved: November 20, 2015; J. Bridle, http://new-aesthetic.tumblr.com

Maintaining places of social inclusion : Ebola and the emergency department

We introduce the concept of places of social inclusion—institutions endowed by a society or a community with material resources, meaning, and values at geographic sites where citizens can access services for specific needs—as taken-for-granted, essential, and inherently precarious. Based on our study of an emergency department that was disrupted by the threat of the Ebola virus in 2014, we develop a process model to explain how a place of social inclusion can be maintained by custodians. We show how these custodians—in our fieldsite, doctors and nurses—experience and engage in institutional work to manage different levels of tension between the value of inclusion and the reality of finite resources, as well as tension between inclusion and the desire for safety. We also demonstrate how the interplay of custodians’ emotions is integral to maintaining the place of social inclusion. The primary contribution of our study is to shine light on places of social inclusion as important institutions in democratic society. We also reveal the theoretical and practical importance of places as institutions, deepen understanding of custodians and custodianship as a form of institutional work, and offer new insight into the dynamic processes that connect emotions and institutional work