Indigenous/digital heterogeneities : an actor-network-theory approach
Author: Orticio, Gino C, g.orticio@qut.edu.au
Department: Department of Research and Commercialisation
University: Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Supervisor: Professor Gavin Kendall
Year of completion: 2013
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
Indigenous
, Digital
, Actor Network Theory
, Heterogeneities
Areas of Research:
Science and Technology
, Sociocybernetics
, Theory
Abstract
This thesis analysed the theoretical and ontological issues of previous scholarship concerning information technology and indigenous people. As an alternative, the thesis used the framework of actor-network-theory, especially through historiographical and ethnographic techniques. The thesis revealed an assemblage of indigenous/digital enactments striving for relevance and avoiding obsolescence. It also recognised heterogeneities- including user-ambivalences, oscillations, noise, non-coherences and disruptions - as part of the milieu of the daily digital lives of indigenous people. By taking heterogeneities into account, the thesis ensured that the data “speaks for itself” and that social inquiry is not overtaken by ideology and ontology.
