An interdisciplinary approach in understanding internet as a practice : a case study of internet cafes in a small town

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2005
Uzuner, Demet
This study aims at understanding how Internet being a particular technology, integrates into daily practices in a small town. By doing this, it follows a theoretically informed ethnography based research concluding that the relationship between technology and society cannot be grasped by analysing both as separate entities. Hence, it attempts to develop a theoretical and methodological framework that is constantly aware of problems raised by dualistic assumptions analysing technology-society or human-nonhuman as separate entities one impinging upon other. It is this awareness that led the study to apply Bourdieu̕s concept of habitus and Latour̕s concept of actant into its field of inquiry. These two notions promote an understanding that takes into account the contingency of practices and provides researchers with the analytical means to comprehend technologies within the contexts of their أuseؤ. It is also denoted by the findings of the study that a particular ءtechnology̕ does not create a ءsocial impact̕ but as itself being social, it allows this already occurring practice to find an avenue for its expression.

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Citation Formats
D. Uzuner, “An interdisciplinary approach in understanding internet as a practice : a case study of internet cafes in a small town,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2005.