It is not surprising that HCI researchers are attracted to the role of technology in global processes as many of us already live inherently transnational lives. While the notion of global connectedness is hardly new, the issues that confront us are more than specific concerns for remote migration, distributed work, or developing nations. Rather, we argue that transnational HCI is a contemporary condition of the design and use of technological systems, both at home and abroad. This special issue of HumanComputer Interaction is dedicated to exploring how and why a transnational lens matters to the study, design, and development of computational systems. We consider this theoretical perspective in terms of both present technology use to construct and manage transnational relations and processes, and the possibilities such a lens opens for future research and design. The papers in this issue contribute to the field of HCI by bringing the principles developed in anthropology, sociology, and elsewhere to bear on the conversation in HCI, retooling them for our present context, while preserving the richness of their methodological orientation.Irina Shklovski (irsh@itu.dk, www.itu.dk/people/irsh) has a background in human-computer interaction and studies structural and substantive aspects of social relationships and networks to examine how people use technology in daily life and under conditions of strain; she is Associate Professor in Interaction Design and Digital Media and Communication research groups at the IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Janet Vertesi (jvertesi@princeton.edu, www.princeton.edu/sociology/faculty/vertesi) is a sociologist of science and technology with a background in Science and Technology Studies and Information Science; she studies large-scale, transnational collaborative systems on board NASA's spacecraft mission teams and is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Princeton University. Silvia Lindtner (lindtner@ics.uci.edu, www.ics.uci.edu/ lindtner) is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine and Fudan University. Drawing on ethnography and design methods, she studies cultures of technology production, with a particular focus on DIY maker culture and its intersections with manufacturing and tech entrepreneurialism in China.
WHY TRANSNATIONAL HCI?You're packing your suitcase for a transcontinental flight from Los Angeles to Copenhagen. You switched to a smartphone years ago, but because it is locked to a local carrier that charges absurd roaming fees, you never travel anywhere without your old brick phone. It may have no data plan and an 8-year-old list of outdated contacts, but it also permits a colorful assortment of SIM cards to swap in and out depending on the country you land in. You take a break from packing and point your browser to a website local to your hometown that is 10 years in your past and thousands of miles away in a different country. You check the weather and find out about the latest city council decisions, then write a post on the local bulletin boa...