Technique and Sensitivity: The Use of Old and New Technologies in Social Segregation Contexts ? Córdoba, Argentina

MARIA EUGENIA BOITO; GABRIEL GIANNONE; EMILIO J. SEVESO ZANIN

ISA eSymposium

International Sociological Association - National University of Singapore

Año: 2014 p. 1 - 14

[NOTA. EL ISSN NO CORRESPONDE A E-SYMPOSIUM. LA REVISTA NO CUENTA CON EL MISMO, A PESAR DE PERTENECER A LA ASOCIACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE SOCIOLOGÍA. FUE INCLUIDO ARTIFICIALMENTE CON EL PROPÓSITO DE DAR CUENTA DEL LA PUBLICACIÓN] The work plan, from which these considerations are made, deals with the consumption of old and new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in order to examine the social ways of regulating sensitivity. The research addresses the experience of subjects that live in contexts of urban social segregation -social housing complexes called ´Barrios-ciudad´. These are settings of ´popular habitat´ implemented by several governments of countries belonging to the Global South (like Argentina, Chile and Brazil), with specific features and dynamics of ghettoization. They are inhabited by social sectors expelled from cities. It is significant to point out that these urbanizations are located in Córdoba, the second largest city of the Argentine Republic in terms of number of inhabitants. This article is organized as follows: firstly, we present certain foundational concepts of our theoretical perspective, starting from W. Benjamin?s considerations about technique and sensitivity. Recognizing the sensitive nature of human activity, we tackle the states of feelings of the actors associated with the practices of technological consumption mentioned above. Secondly, we analyze a fundamental text of Raymond Williams: Television: Technology and Cultural Form that links the technological development to the structures of feeling in which the ´old´ (radio and TV) and new (essentially cell phone and its capacity to have access to social networks) inventions are inscribed. Our working hypothesis is that the nature of ´mobile privatizatio´ of experience (Williams, 2011) was already present in the old devices, and the new ones emphasize and generate forms of experience as a way of participating in social life that increasingly moves from mass society -as ´a society of the lonely multitudes´- to a society of individuals with more personalized and wearable technologies. Thirdly, we present some data gathered by a survey (carried out in April 2013) regarding the consumptions of new and old ICTs, and we interpret the data by employing the theoretical framework presented above. To conclude, we emphasize the epistemic and political significance of questioning sensitivity as an expression of a moment in relation to the technique/experience.