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Posts from May 2023

Lecture: Von der Cyber Anthropologie zur Digitalen Anthropologie

Lecture: Von der Cyber Anthropologie zur Digitalen Anthropologie published on No Comments on Lecture: Von der Cyber Anthropologie zur Digitalen Anthropologie

On invitation of Christoph Bareither, I gave a lecture on the formations, the differences and similarities of cyber anthropology and digital anthropology for the colloquium “Digital Anthropology” at the University of Tübingen, Germany (in German). The talk built on a text published in 2019 for the edited volume Ritualisierung – Mediatisierung – Performance. Find the chapter as PDF file below:

Budka, P. (2019). Von der Cyber Anthropologie zur Digitalen Anthropologie. Über die Rolle der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie im Verstehen soziotechnischer Lebenswelten. In M. Luger, F. Graf & P. Budka (Eds.), Ritualisierung – Mediatisierung – Performance (pp. 163-188). Göttingen: V&R Unipress/Vienna University Press. https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737005142.163

Lecture Abstract

Anhand ausgewählter wissenschaftstheoretischer und -historischer Aspekte zeichnet Philipp Budka in seinem Vortrag die Entwicklung sowie die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede der Forschungsfelder der Cyber Anthropologie und der Digitalen Anthropologie nach. Beide sind bestrebt, zu einem besseren Verständnis komplexer soziotechnischer Systeme in unterschiedlichen Gesellschaften beizutragen. Während die Cyber Anthropologie – der Kybernetik folgend – sich nicht nur mit kommunikationstechnischen, sondern auch mit biologisch-technischen Grundlagen und Veränderungen von Systemen und Organisationsformen befasst, fokussiert die Digitale Anthropologie dezidiert auf digitale Technologien, Medien oder Infrastrukturen. Wie Budkas Vortrag verdeutlicht, gestaltet die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie die interdisziplinäre Auseinandersetzung mit den komplexen Beziehungen zwischen Mensch, Technik und Technologie – sowie die damit verbundenen Phänomene, Prozesse und Praktiken – entscheidend mit.

Internet café in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photo by Philipp Budka)

Presentation: Cultural dimensions of digital ethics

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Budka, P. (2023). Cultural dimensions of digital ethics: Anthropological notes and perspectives. Presentation at Academies for Global Innovation and Digital Ethics (AGIDE) Workshop, Vienna, Austria: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 17-18 April.

From the AGIDE workshop brochure:

“The digital transformation is changing the way we live, the way our societies and economies function, and is shifting global power relations. Moreover, it has brought about an unprecedented degree of global interconnectedness. In cooperation with other Academies of Sciences worldwide, Academies for Global Innovation and Digital Ethics (AGIDE) seeks to embrace the socio-cultural variety of perspectives from all over the world and to further explore differences and similarities without forcing uniformity or consensus. The first AGIDE workshop will focus on the main questions of the project, that is, how various regions and cultures experience digitalization and whether particular ethical challenges arise due to various cultural dimensions. A series of renowned international speakers were invited to investigate, beyond stereotypes, in which ways cultural dimensions influence how technologies are welcomed, perceived and dealt with. Three main questions were were identified to guide the discussions at the workshop:

1) What is your vision of a ‘good digital future’ within your cultural context or region?

2) When you step out of the ‘bubble’ of the expert community, what are the views of lay people you meet ‘outside’?

3) What is the most annoying cultural stereotype with regard to approaches to digitization? Why do you find it annoying and what would you change about that stereotype?”

I commented on these questions by providing an anthropological perspective.

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