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Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance?

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance? / Bloomfield, B P; Latham, Yvonne; Vurdubakis, T.
In: Sociology, Vol. 44, No. 3, 06.2010, p. 415-433.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Bloomfield, BP, Latham, Y & Vurdubakis, T 2010, 'Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance?', Sociology, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 415-433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038510362469

APA

Bloomfield, B. P., Latham, Y., & Vurdubakis, T. (2010). Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance? Sociology, 44(3), 415-433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038510362469

Vancouver

Bloomfield BP, Latham Y, Vurdubakis T. Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance? Sociology. 2010 Jun;44(3):415-433. doi: 10.1177/0038038510362469

Author

Bloomfield, B P ; Latham, Yvonne ; Vurdubakis, T. / Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance?. In: Sociology. 2010 ; Vol. 44, No. 3. pp. 415-433.

Bibtex

@article{a59bc5da36d74a09b40491b495501755,
title = "Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance?",
abstract = "Borrowed from ecological psychology, the concept of affordances is often said to offer the social study of technology a means of re-framing the question of what is, and what is not, {\textquoteleft}social{\textquoteright} about technological artefacts. The concept, many argue, enables us to chart a safe course between the perils of technological determinism and social constructivism. This article questions the sociological adequacy of the concept as conventionally deployed. Drawing on ethnographic work on the ways technological artefacts engage, and are engaged by, disabled bodies, we propose that the {\textquoteleft}affordances{\textquoteright} of technological objects are not reducible to their material constitution but are inextricably bound up with specific, historically situated modes of engagement and ways of life.",
keywords = "affordances , body , disabilities , sociomateriality , technology",
author = "Bloomfield, {B P} and Yvonne Latham and T Vurdubakis",
year = "2010",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1177/0038038510362469",
language = "English",
volume = "44",
pages = "415--433",
journal = "Sociology",
issn = "0038-0385",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Bodies, technologies and action possibilities: when is an affordance?

AU - Bloomfield, B P

AU - Latham, Yvonne

AU - Vurdubakis, T

PY - 2010/6

Y1 - 2010/6

N2 - Borrowed from ecological psychology, the concept of affordances is often said to offer the social study of technology a means of re-framing the question of what is, and what is not, ‘social’ about technological artefacts. The concept, many argue, enables us to chart a safe course between the perils of technological determinism and social constructivism. This article questions the sociological adequacy of the concept as conventionally deployed. Drawing on ethnographic work on the ways technological artefacts engage, and are engaged by, disabled bodies, we propose that the ‘affordances’ of technological objects are not reducible to their material constitution but are inextricably bound up with specific, historically situated modes of engagement and ways of life.

AB - Borrowed from ecological psychology, the concept of affordances is often said to offer the social study of technology a means of re-framing the question of what is, and what is not, ‘social’ about technological artefacts. The concept, many argue, enables us to chart a safe course between the perils of technological determinism and social constructivism. This article questions the sociological adequacy of the concept as conventionally deployed. Drawing on ethnographic work on the ways technological artefacts engage, and are engaged by, disabled bodies, we propose that the ‘affordances’ of technological objects are not reducible to their material constitution but are inextricably bound up with specific, historically situated modes of engagement and ways of life.

KW - affordances

KW - body

KW - disabilities

KW - sociomateriality

KW - technology

U2 - 10.1177/0038038510362469

DO - 10.1177/0038038510362469

M3 - Journal article

VL - 44

SP - 415

EP - 433

JO - Sociology

JF - Sociology

SN - 0038-0385

IS - 3

ER -