Domestication is an approach which considers media appropriation processes in detail, looking at media technologies as doubly articulated and integrated into moral economies. Originally developed for the study of household contexts, the domestication framework has increasingly been used to study the appropriation of mobile media in diverse contexts. The article summarizes this development briefly to then suggest that another concept – of mediated mobilism – might be a useful extension to study mobile media and mobility in future.

A b s t r A c tj Questions of change have always been at the forefront of the social sciences. The article addresses the question of the adequacy of media and communication studies theories through looking at change in both a concrete environment and more generally in terms of linking this example with wider debates concerning social changes in the world of work. The example stems from a study on Wi-Fi cafe environments, in which work does play an important role. To introduce this topic, the article begins by discussing cafe environments overall and Wi-Fi cafes in particular, as well as the seemingly old-fashioned concept of telework. It then briefly presents the study as such, before discussing possible frameworks: the question of the public sphere on the one hand and of concpets such as 'digital bohème' to describe emerging work forms on the other hand. The latter is taken to be the more appropriate framework. This is also the answer to the question of which media and communication studies theories appear to be adequate for analysing such changes. j

AbstractThe domestication concept, originally developed in Britain in the context of media appropriation in households’ everyday life, has seen a relatively high uptake in the Nordic countries from early on. This was by far not only an application of the concept, but an alternative interpretation with different emphases. I introduce two major strands of this uptake in this article: the Norwegian science and technology studies interpretation, and the primarily Finnish consumer and design research interpretation. These case studies will help answer the question of the degree of Nordicness in these interpretations of the domestication approach. In a last instance, the article aims to address the question what the current – and hopefully future – state of domestication research in the Nordic countries could look like.

No abstract

No abstract