This text explores the evolution of digital inequality, highlighting how emerging phenomena pose new challenges to digital inclusion, particularly with the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life. (read more...)
As I became acquainted with social studies of science and technology, particularly through anthropological research, I realized it opened new doors for me, offering fresh perspectives and new possibilities for conducting scientific research. During my graduate studies, I sought to bring together two fields that had always intrigued me: the anthropology of health and the social studies of science and technology. In recent years, I have focused specifically on the regulation of cannabis derivatives for therapeutic use in Brazil. This topic, which naturally sparks heated debates and strong opinions, is fraught with controversies (Latour, 2012), especially regarding cannabis’s historical role, nationally and internationally, as both a recreational drug and a medicine. To delve deeper into these controversies, I decided to conduct research that would focus on public health discourses and scientific practice around cannabis, incorporating the Brazilian debate on public safety. The discussion of health and public safety is deeply tied to the unique position cannabis holds in Brazil. When legislators or civil society engage in debates about cannabis, distinctions between recreational and therapeutic uses often blur. One form of use tends to receive greater moral acceptance, while the other is frequently disqualified. Thus, any conversation about regulating cannabis as a health technology must consider its social and political classifications and the perceptions surrounding it. (read more...)
On Saturday of Labor Day Weekend 2020, a situation was rapidly deteriorating north of Fresno, California. Sometime around 6pm on September 5, the Creek Fire started, gained momentum, and burned north (Gabbert 2020a). The fast-moving fire blocked the road from campgrounds in the area, stranding hundreds of campers visiting Mammoth Pool Reservoir. Quietly circling overhead was an MQ-9 Reaper, observing the apocalyptic looking situation. The sensors attached to the bottom of the MQ-9 Reaper could see through the billowing clouds of smoke. The California Air National Guard crew flying the MQ-9 was looking for something: a landing spot for evacuations (Solman 2020). (read more...)
Publishing is confusing and complicated. There are often barriers to understanding it fully. And the process is very rarely fully transparent. So, I’m sharing my experiences of the publishing process, and talk about why I, as a PhD student in STS, chose to go with a trade publisher over an academic one when my book went to auction. This is Part 2 of a series on publishing in academia. In Part 1 of this series I describe how I got my agent, and discuss whether or not academics need agents. (read more...)
For some time now, my colleagues and I at Labirinto (Labyrinth, Laboratory of Socio-anthropological Studies on Technologies of Life, State University of Campinas, Brazil) have been discussing and practicing feminist ways of doing academic research. For us, this goes far beyond prioritizing feminist readings. That’s important, but we’re trying to build practices that are articulated with what we believe politically and what we want for the university and the world. One important point is to create a welcoming working environment based on careful personal interactions that avoid as much as possible reproducing the classist, racist, and misogynist ways of working that are so common in the academic power structure. Another point is to think about how we can experiment with methodological proposals that are open to difference. Figuration, especially in Donna Haraway’s proposals, is one such experiment. This is a do-it-yourself manual on how to create figurations and inhabit feminist STS research. It is the result of these discussions in the Labyrinth, and also of my doctoral thesis. (read more...)
Publishing is confusing and complicated. There are often barriers to understanding it fully. And the process is very rarely fully transparent. So, I’m sharing my experiences of the publishing process, how I got my agent, and discuss whether or not academics need agents. “Do Academics Need Agents?” is Part 1 of a series on publishing in academia. In Part 2 of this series, I talk about why I, as a PhD student in STS, chose to go with a trade publisher over an academic one when my book went to auction. (read more...)
The warm December sun had only recently risen over Miami Beach when I found myself in the bustling halls of Art Basel Miami 2021, one of the world’s most prestigious international art fairs. As an anthropologist and tech entrepreneur, I wasn’t there just to admire the art—though there was plenty to admire. I was there to observe and make sense of the intricate dance between artists, gallerists, and collectors in this temporary, high-stakes marketplace. Art fairs like Art Basel Miami are annual events where galleries from around the world converge to showcase and sell their artists’ work. For a few days, the fair becomes the epicenter of the global art market, with thousands of works on display and millions of dollars changing hands. Collectors, curators, consultants, and art enthusiasts flock to these events, creating a frenzy of activity as deals are struck and reputations are made. As I walked through the crowded aisles, the stark contrasts were impossible to ignore. The fair’s layout itself told a story of hierarchy and influence in the art world. Established galleries like Gagosian commanded prime locations near the entrance, their spacious booths bustling with activity. These high-end galleries had paid premium rates for their coveted spots, and it showed in their positioning and the attention they received. Their displays exuded an air of exclusivity, with artwork unlabeled—a silent statement that if you didn’t already know the piece, perhaps you didn’t belong. (read more...)
Read the transcript here. This was meant to be a podcast about making podcasts. But in the end, this podcast is really just a conversation between two people who used to be close friends. It rambles and meanders. It doesn’t always stick to a coherent point. I wondered then whether it could also be academically useful. Relevant to conversations in anthropology? Or even interesting to anyone other than me? This podcast is a conversation with Thuy Nguyen, founder of the Berkeley Community Acupuncture clinic and licensed TCM practitioner who has her own podcast, You Are Medicine. We first started talking about what it’s like for her to make a podcast back in March, on a long drive together from Bakersfield, California to Window Rock, Arizona. Thuy runs acupuncture pop-up clinics and is training interns as part of her Navajo Healing Project there and she invited me to spend a weekend (read more...)
