The digitalization of the social situation—a sociological exploratory experiment

Reichmann, Werner

doi:10.1007/s11614-019-00355-2

Cited by 4 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Developing her ideas via ethnographic studies of financial infrastructures and the daily work of international traders, Knorr Cetina argues that Goffman's framework is unable to capture a number of contemporary social practices, especially those that are global in scope and technologically mediated. With the advance of communications technology such as the internet, mobile phones, computer screens, and video conferences, social situations are “extended, enriched and transformed” beyond bodily co-presence ( Reichmann 2019 , 238). 7 “The simplest reason for this,” Knorr Cetina argued a decade before Covid-19,…”

Section: Diplomacy Social Interaction and The Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diplomacy Social Interaction and The Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Synthetic situations, however, “rarely occur in empirically ‘pure forms’ but are often mixed with elements from offline, unmediated, and naked situations” ( Reichmann 2019 , 424). For example, the embodied co-presence of bankers on the trading floor of a particular bank is conditioned by the virtual presence across a global market network of computer terminals ( Reichmann 2019 ; see Grabher et al 2018 ). Even though the traders are individually placed in physical conditions “separate for each participant,” their practice is concentrated on the “attention demanding global situation” of live market updates displayed as “running lines of text and numbers and running (live) pictures, figures, and graphs” ( Knorr Cetina 2009 , 47, 72).…”

Section: Diplomacy Social Interaction and The Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement

Eggeling

Adler‐Nissen

2021

Global Studies Quarterly

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What happens to the diplomatic encounter when it is digitally mediated? This article investigates how multilateral diplomats, who understand themselves as bringing people and polities together, cope with and resist the move to online settings, replacing handshakes with touchless greetings in videoconferences. Our starting point is the Covid-19 pandemic, but the article theorizes the effects of digital technological mediation already under way years before. Translating Knorr Cetina's notion of “synthetic situation” into the discipline of international relations (IR), we address how the very composition of diplomatic interaction is undergoing transformation. Building on immersive and remote fieldwork, among ambassadors, attachés, interpreters, and journalists constituting the field of European Union diplomacy, our argument speaks to IR debates on international practice, face-to-face interactions, digital technologies, and the political sociology of diplomacy. We show how practicing diplomacy online and with restrictions on in-person meetings involves (re)constructions of its dramaturgy, props, symbols, and authenticity as well as “heroic” fantasies of duty and exceptionalism; we analyze how diplomacy is practiced in “screen worlds” through scopic media enabling “response presence” or virtual co-presence across geographic and professional/private sites; and we trace how resistance to syntheticism emerges as screen fatigue spreads. Overall, we find that the pandemic has accelerated the ongoing transformation of diplomacy from “naked” face-to-face interactions to digitally mediated “synthetic situations,” producing new interpretations of who is “essential” in diplomacy. We conclude by questioning the term “digital diplomacy,” suggesting that virtual practices are in fact not simply “online” but embodied offline, and sometimes actively resisted. In the screen world, diplomats’ bodies (and home offices) become key sites of IR. ¿Qué sucede con los encuentros diplomáticos cuando son mediados de manera digital? En este artículo se investiga cómo los diferentes diplomáticos, que se caracterizan por ser el nexo entre la gente y el sistema gubernamental, se enfrentan y se resisten a ser parte de un entorno online en el que se reemplazan los apretones de manos con videoconferencias. Nuestro punto de partida es la pandemia de COVID-19, pero el artículo teoriza los efectos de la mediación tecnológica digital que ya se viene viendo desde hace unos años. Trasladando la noción de “situación sintética,” propuesta por Knorr Cetina, a la disciplina de Relaciones Internaciones, abordamos cómo la composición de la interacción diplomática está experimentando una transformación. Sobre la base del trabajo de campo inmersivo y remoto, entre embajadores, agregados, intérpretes y periodistas que constituyen el campo de la diplomacia de la Unión Europea, nuestro argumento habla acerca de los debates de RRII de práctica internacional, las interacciones cara a cara, las tecnologías digitales y la sociología política de la diplomacia. Mostramos cómo la práctica de la diplomacia en línea y con restricciones en las reuniones en persona implica (re)construcciones de su dramaturgia, así como también fantasías “heroicas” de deber y excepcionalismo; analizamos cómo se lleva a cabo la diplomacia en el “mundo de la pantalla” a través de medios escópicos que dan lugar a la copresencia virtual en sitios geográficos y profesionales/privados; y hablamos de cómo el mundo se resiste al sintetismo a medida que se expande la fatiga causada por las pantallas. En general, descubrimos que la pandemia ha acelerado la transformación de la diplomacia, que ya se venía dando, pasando de ser interacciones cara a cara “desnudas” a “situaciones sintéticas” mediadas digitalmente, lo que da lugar a generar nuevas interpretaciones de quién es “esencial” en la diplomacia. Concluimos cuestionando el término “diplomacia digital” y sugerimos que las prácticas virtuales no son simplemente “en línea,” sino que se materializan fuera de línea y, a veces, el mundo se resiste a ellas activamente. En el mundo de la pantalla los organismos diplomáticos (y las oficinas) se convierten en lugares clave cuando hablamos de relaciones internacionales. Qu'advient-il d'une rencontre diplomatique lorsqu'elle a lieu numériquement? Cet article étudie la manière dont les diplomates multilatéraux, qui se voient comme réunissant peuple et polities, font face et résistent au passage aux environnements en ligne qui remplacent les poignées de main par des vidéoconférences. Notre point de départ est la pandémie de COVID-19, mais cet article théorise les effets du passage au numérique qui avait déjà commencé des années auparavant. Nous transposons la notion de « situation synthétique » de Knorr Cetina dans la discipline des relations internationales et nous abordons la manière dont la composition même des interactions diplomatiques est en train de se transformer. Nous nous sommes appuyés sur un travail de terrain mené à distance auprès d'ambassadeurs, d'attachés, d'interprètes et de journalistes constituant le champ de la diplomatie de l'Union Européenne, et notre argument contribue aux débats de RI portant sur la pratique internationale, les interactions en tête-à-tête, les technologies numériques et la sociologie politique de la diplomatie. Nous montrons la manière dont la pratique de la diplomatie en ligne, avec restrictions des réunions en personne, implique des (re)constructions de sa dramatrugie ainsi que des « heroic fantasys » du devoir et de l'exceptionnalisme. Nous analysons également la manière dont la diplomatie est pratiquée dans le « monde des écrans » par le biais de médias scopiques permettant la coprésence virtuelle sur différents sites géographiques et professionnels/privés. Enfin, nous retraçons la mesure dans laquelle une résistance au synthétisme s'opère tandis que la fatigue face aux écrans s'accentue. Globalement, nous constatons que la pandémie a accéléré la transformation de la diplomatie qui était déjà en cours et qui consiste en un passage des interactions en tête-à-tête « à visage nu » à des « situations synhtétiques » numériques produisant de nouvelles interprétations relatives aux personnes jugées « essentielles » ou non en diplomatie. Nous concluons par un questionnement sur le terme de « diplomatie numérique » en suggérant que les pratiques virtuelles sont non seulement « en ligne » mais également incarnées hors ligne et qu'elles font parfois l'objet d'une résistance active. Dans le monde des écrans, les institutions (et les bureaux à domicile) des diplomates deviennent des sites clés de relations internationales.

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Section: Diplomacy Social Interaction and The Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diplomacy Social Interaction and The Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diplomacy Social Interaction and The Synthetic Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Synthetic Situation in Diplomacy: Scopic Media and the Digital Mediation of Estrangement

Eggeling

Adler‐Nissen

2021

Global Studies Quarterly

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“…As a theoretical basis for our paper, we use Goffman's (1964, 1966, 1983) and Goffman and Best (1967/2005) theory of interaction order, that has been refined further in the context of technology‐mediated interactions (e.g., Cetina 2009; Reichmann 2019). Moreover, we utilize the theory of the interaction order and disruption developed by Tavory and Fine (2020) by focusing on the practical ways in which actors negotiate breach and rupture in interaction.…”

Section: Interaction Order and Synthetic Situationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conducting Sensitive Interviews Online

Kähäri,

Edelman

2023

Symbolic Interaction

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We explore the role of embodied messages for the interaction order when conducting sensitive biographical research online. Our analysis indicates that mediated situations take shape continuously and are extremely open to different kinds of interaction orderings, including disruptions. Interaction in online interviews is influenced by increased fluidity and intensity caused by the synthetic situation. For the researcher, this results in extra effort in restructuring the main activity and re‐establishing the expressive order. Moreover, the inability to be physically present in affective interview situations created virtual private mental spaces where interaction of intense emotions was partly restricted.

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“…There are several challenges facing digital sociology, among which the following are to be highlighted:  Its integration in the interdisciplinarity needed for the study of the digital (15,20,21);  Mobilize in an articulated logic the macro, meso and micro social levels (22)(23)(24)(25);  Study the dark side or negative effects of the digital, such as privacy and security (2,3,26,27); …”

Section: Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%