The glocalization of technocultures

On the basis of examples informedby empirical material, this issue of Glocalism will re-examine the forms of technoculture(s) in the contextof globalization, their dynamics of glocalization and the ambivalent logics of the pressure to globalize despite localconstraints, the complex interactions between culture and technology, in a series of contexts with varying depths ofdigitalization of culture. This approach aims at locating at the forefront of the reflection the “local” forms and forces, particularly culturalones, that were previously questioned essentially from point of view of the globalization of Western technocultures. It will also nourish the debate on the consistency of the contested term “technoculture” and assess the relevanceof an approach in terms of glocalization.

Argument

Studies on globalization and glocalization have mainly been interested in cybercultures or Internet culture: cultures born from new technologies and sources of cultural innovation in a context of high digitalization. But finally, little has been done for technocultures. The latter, unlike the former, are the result of the incorporation of digital into cultural forms or defined as “cultures influenced by technologies”: they can be extended to broad social categories (network culture and communication using Apps by groups of young people, connected cultures of professional communities of information or science, and their audiences); limited to particular groups with their own technical culture (engineers who recognize themselves in the “Silicon valley” culture); characterize sets of cultural elements with blurred contours defined by aesthetics and expressivity (the poetics, language and narratives of technologies) and the imagination of technologies (cyborg culture, technopagan communities, cultures of artificial intelligence, etc.). On the basis of examples informedby empirical material, this issue of “Glocalism” will re-examine the forms of technoculture(s) in the contextof globalization, their dynamics of glocalization and the ambivalent logics of the pressure to globalize despite local constraints, the complex interactions between culture and technology, in a series of contexts with varying depths ofdigitalization of culture. This approach aims at locating at the forefront of the reflection the “local” forms and forces, particularly cultural ones, that were previously questioned essentially from point of view of the globalization of Western technocultures. It will also nourish the debate on the consistency of the contested term “technoculture” and assess the relevanceof an approach in terms of glocalization.

Glocalism, a peer-reviewed, open-access and cross-disciplinary journal, is currently accepting manuscripts for publication. We welcome studies in any field, with or without comparative approach, that address both practical effects and theoretical import.

Submission guidelines

All papers should be sent to: davide.cadeddu@unimi.it

Articles can be in any language and length chosen by the author (abstract and keywords in English).

Deadline: January 31, 2022.

This issue (2022, 1) is scheduled to appear at April 2022.

Direction Committee

• Arjun Appadurai (New York University);
• Daniele Archibugi (Birkbeck, University of London);
• Seyla Benhabib (Yale University);
• Sabino Cassese (Scuola Normale Superiore);
• Manuel Castells (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya);
• Fred Dallmayr (University of Notre Dame);
• Anthony Giddens (London School of Economics and Political Science);
• Sheila Jasanoff (Harvard University);
• Hans Köchler (University of Innsbruck);
• Alberto Martinelli (Università degli Studi di Milano);
• Anthony McGrew (La Trobe University, Melbourne);
• Alberto Quadrio Curzio (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore);
• Roland Robertson (University of Pittsburgh and University of Aberdeen);
• Saskia Sassen (Co[1]lumbia University);
• Amartya Sen (Harvard University);
• Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Columbia University);
• Alain Touraine (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales);
• Salvatore Veca (Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori).