This article discusses the meaning of judgment in engineering and engineering education, and it d... more This article discusses the meaning of judgment in engineering and engineering education, and it does so by introducing the work of political thinker Hannah Arendt. The argument presents Arendt's non-cognitivist account of judgment as a counterpoint to prevailing conceptions of engineering judgment. Moreover, it suggests that Arendt's unique perspective on what it means to be human in the context of modern technoscience is relevant to the discussion on the place of the humanities and liberal arts in engineering education.
She Ji: The journal of design, economics and innovation, 2023
This article conceptualizes the relation between design, economics, and innovation. Rather than c... more This article conceptualizes the relation between design, economics, and innovation. Rather than connecting design to economics through the notion of value, it explores how economics construes negative side-effects of market activities. Aligning itself with recent She Ji contributions that tie design to the economic sociology of Michel Callon, this article argues that markets assume a constant process of managing such side-effects. The invention of car safety and the development of safety design features in 1950s Sweden illustrate this. Automotive design through safety innovations can be seen as a design process that transcended the clear separation between business and politics assumed by neoclassical economics. This article argues that this phenomenon is a concern for design scholars as well as social scientists. I assert that it is important to explore this line of inquiry by investigating design processes in different economic settings.
This article presents material from a small-scale ethnographic study of a community of windsurfer... more This article presents material from a small-scale ethnographic study of a community of windsurfers that use GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to monitor and share their performance online. Following recent debates within Surveillance Studies, these practices are categorised as a form of coveillance. The argument explores the subjectivity produced by the introduction of GPS technology and social media usage in the context of windsurfers. Suggesting that this form of coveillance is yielding a particular consumer culture among its members, the article explores how the GPS-social-media assemblage boosts the desire to consume.
In an economy of rapidly mutating consumer preferences, new forms of surveillance have been devel... more In an economy of rapidly mutating consumer preferences, new forms of surveillance have been developed within contemporary business. Increasingly, so-called “panspectric” techniques of predicting consumption choices, and tracking the shifting customer desires, are proving crucial for corporations trying to compete on the market place. Using the Deleuzian concepts of “assemblage” and “societies of control” as a point of departure, this paper explores how a new societal “diagram” is currently actualised in the marketing practices of contemporary corporations. This diagram emerges as the result of the concatenation of technological architectures (increased digital logging of everyday behaviours and data mining) and new perspectives on the human constitution; perspectives that dovetail nicely with contemporary social theory. Thus, social scientists are already complicit in the emergence of new modes of marketing-cum-surveillance.
She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovati... more This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovation-social means and social ends-do not align. Some academics have noted the anti-social, anti-political, and anti-inventive effects emerging from the spread of microfinance practices. We discuss the tendency for social design and innovation literature to focus on design processes rather than outcomes, and introduce ideas from realist political theory to account for the corruptibility of social innovations. We suggest that designers can prevent the corruption of social outcomes by shifting from idealist "what if" scenarios to realist "who whom?" questions instead.
This paper reviews how scholars within "aesthetic managment" have critiqued mainstream,... more This paper reviews how scholars within "aesthetic managment" have critiqued mainstream, marketing-led Design Management. The text argues that while this approach does have its merits, it ultimately fails to create the kind of creative economy that it purports to endorse. Rather, by stressing the unique and transcendent creative powers of the auteur, it simply invents yet another authority that yields
This article revisits Maurizio Lazzarato's 1994 text on the 'strategies of the political entrepre... more This article revisits Maurizio Lazzarato's 1994 text on the 'strategies of the political entrepreneur' in the context of Noko Jeans, a recent Sweden-based venture to produce jeans in North Korea, while simultaneously influencing the political regime in the country. After a brief introduction to the venture in question, the article reviews Lazzarato's discussion on political entrepreneurship, which interrogates how such entrepreneurial action concurrently generates consumer interest and political discussion, thus blurring the boundary between business and politics. The article then discusses Lazzarato's theoretical points in light of the empirical case of Noko Jeans, first on an analytical level, then in relation to a recent event in which the founders were interviewed. The review thus aims at a re-evaluation of Lazzarato's work, suggesting that his conceptualisation of political entrepreneurship may prove useful when describing phenomena such as Noko Jeans.
På senare år har begrepp som "socialt entreprenörskap" och "socialt företagande" börjat cirkulera... more På senare år har begrepp som "socialt entreprenörskap" och "socialt företagande" börjat cirkulera i den svenska samhällsdebatten. Detta kapitel kommer att, i det första avsnittet, specificera vad socialt entreprenörskap och socialt företagande är, och framförallt undersöka hur dessa importerade begrepp har landat i en svensk kontext.
Panopticism is waning; panspectrocism is the nascent social diagram that organizes our lives. Hei... more Panopticism is waning; panspectrocism is the nascent social diagram that organizes our lives. Heineken and Wal−Mart use pattern recognition and computer−assisted predictions of future behaviours to secure their markets. Google, the panspectric corporation par excellence, tells us that the company wants to know what you'll want to do tomorrow. This brings renewed poignancy to Gabriel Tarde's contagion−centric thought, write Kullenberg and Palmås.
... (75) [8] Instead, Tarde wants sociology to be brought down from the dizzy heights of grand b... more ... (75) [8] Instead, Tarde wants sociology to be brought down from the dizzy heights of grand but vague causes, to real and precise acts of infinitesimal size (79). ... In this way,Tarde turned sociology into a form of epidemiology, stating that ...
She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovati... more This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovation-social means and social ends-do not align. Some academics have noted the anti-social, anti-political, and anti-inventive effects emerging from the spread of microfinance practices. We discuss the tendency for social design and innovation literature to focus on design processes rather than outcomes, and introduce ideas from realist political theory to account for the corruptibility of social innovations. We suggest that designers can prevent the corruption of social outcomes by shifting from idealist "what if" scenarios to realist "who whom?" questions instead.
This article discusses the meaning of judgment in engineering and engineering education, and it d... more This article discusses the meaning of judgment in engineering and engineering education, and it does so by introducing the work of political thinker Hannah Arendt. The argument presents Arendt's non-cognitivist account of judgment as a counterpoint to prevailing conceptions of engineering judgment. Moreover, it suggests that Arendt's unique perspective on what it means to be human in the context of modern technoscience is relevant to the discussion on the place of the humanities and liberal arts in engineering education.
She Ji: The journal of design, economics and innovation, 2023
This article conceptualizes the relation between design, economics, and innovation. Rather than c... more This article conceptualizes the relation between design, economics, and innovation. Rather than connecting design to economics through the notion of value, it explores how economics construes negative side-effects of market activities. Aligning itself with recent She Ji contributions that tie design to the economic sociology of Michel Callon, this article argues that markets assume a constant process of managing such side-effects. The invention of car safety and the development of safety design features in 1950s Sweden illustrate this. Automotive design through safety innovations can be seen as a design process that transcended the clear separation between business and politics assumed by neoclassical economics. This article argues that this phenomenon is a concern for design scholars as well as social scientists. I assert that it is important to explore this line of inquiry by investigating design processes in different economic settings.
This article presents material from a small-scale ethnographic study of a community of windsurfer... more This article presents material from a small-scale ethnographic study of a community of windsurfers that use GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to monitor and share their performance online. Following recent debates within Surveillance Studies, these practices are categorised as a form of coveillance. The argument explores the subjectivity produced by the introduction of GPS technology and social media usage in the context of windsurfers. Suggesting that this form of coveillance is yielding a particular consumer culture among its members, the article explores how the GPS-social-media assemblage boosts the desire to consume.
In an economy of rapidly mutating consumer preferences, new forms of surveillance have been devel... more In an economy of rapidly mutating consumer preferences, new forms of surveillance have been developed within contemporary business. Increasingly, so-called “panspectric” techniques of predicting consumption choices, and tracking the shifting customer desires, are proving crucial for corporations trying to compete on the market place. Using the Deleuzian concepts of “assemblage” and “societies of control” as a point of departure, this paper explores how a new societal “diagram” is currently actualised in the marketing practices of contemporary corporations. This diagram emerges as the result of the concatenation of technological architectures (increased digital logging of everyday behaviours and data mining) and new perspectives on the human constitution; perspectives that dovetail nicely with contemporary social theory. Thus, social scientists are already complicit in the emergence of new modes of marketing-cum-surveillance.
She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovati... more This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovation-social means and social ends-do not align. Some academics have noted the anti-social, anti-political, and anti-inventive effects emerging from the spread of microfinance practices. We discuss the tendency for social design and innovation literature to focus on design processes rather than outcomes, and introduce ideas from realist political theory to account for the corruptibility of social innovations. We suggest that designers can prevent the corruption of social outcomes by shifting from idealist "what if" scenarios to realist "who whom?" questions instead.
This paper reviews how scholars within "aesthetic managment" have critiqued mainstream,... more This paper reviews how scholars within "aesthetic managment" have critiqued mainstream, marketing-led Design Management. The text argues that while this approach does have its merits, it ultimately fails to create the kind of creative economy that it purports to endorse. Rather, by stressing the unique and transcendent creative powers of the auteur, it simply invents yet another authority that yields
This article revisits Maurizio Lazzarato's 1994 text on the 'strategies of the political entrepre... more This article revisits Maurizio Lazzarato's 1994 text on the 'strategies of the political entrepreneur' in the context of Noko Jeans, a recent Sweden-based venture to produce jeans in North Korea, while simultaneously influencing the political regime in the country. After a brief introduction to the venture in question, the article reviews Lazzarato's discussion on political entrepreneurship, which interrogates how such entrepreneurial action concurrently generates consumer interest and political discussion, thus blurring the boundary between business and politics. The article then discusses Lazzarato's theoretical points in light of the empirical case of Noko Jeans, first on an analytical level, then in relation to a recent event in which the founders were interviewed. The review thus aims at a re-evaluation of Lazzarato's work, suggesting that his conceptualisation of political entrepreneurship may prove useful when describing phenomena such as Noko Jeans.
På senare år har begrepp som "socialt entreprenörskap" och "socialt företagande" börjat cirkulera... more På senare år har begrepp som "socialt entreprenörskap" och "socialt företagande" börjat cirkulera i den svenska samhällsdebatten. Detta kapitel kommer att, i det första avsnittet, specificera vad socialt entreprenörskap och socialt företagande är, och framförallt undersöka hur dessa importerade begrepp har landat i en svensk kontext.
Panopticism is waning; panspectrocism is the nascent social diagram that organizes our lives. Hei... more Panopticism is waning; panspectrocism is the nascent social diagram that organizes our lives. Heineken and Wal−Mart use pattern recognition and computer−assisted predictions of future behaviours to secure their markets. Google, the panspectric corporation par excellence, tells us that the company wants to know what you'll want to do tomorrow. This brings renewed poignancy to Gabriel Tarde's contagion−centric thought, write Kullenberg and Palmås.
... (75) [8] Instead, Tarde wants sociology to be brought down from the dizzy heights of grand b... more ... (75) [8] Instead, Tarde wants sociology to be brought down from the dizzy heights of grand but vague causes, to real and precise acts of infinitesimal size (79). ... In this way,Tarde turned sociology into a form of epidemiology, stating that ...
She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovati... more This article introduces designers to the dilemma that arises when twin aspects of social innovation-social means and social ends-do not align. Some academics have noted the anti-social, anti-political, and anti-inventive effects emerging from the spread of microfinance practices. We discuss the tendency for social design and innovation literature to focus on design processes rather than outcomes, and introduce ideas from realist political theory to account for the corruptibility of social innovations. We suggest that designers can prevent the corruption of social outcomes by shifting from idealist "what if" scenarios to realist "who whom?" questions instead.
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Papers by Karl Palmås