The Routledge Companion to Media Anthropology
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London; New York: Routledge (2023), xxv, 617 pp.
Contains illustrations, index
Series: Routledge Anthropology Handbooks
ISBN 978-1-00-064314-5 (pdf); 978-1-03-200776-2 (print)
"Comprising 41 chapters by a team of international contributors, the companion is divided into three parts: histories; approaches; thematic considerations. The chapters offer wide-ranging explorations of how forms of mediation influence communication, social relationships, cultural practices, participation, and social change, as well as production and access to information and knowledge. This volume considers new developments, and highlights the ways in which anthropology can contribute to the study of the human condition and the social processes in which media are entangled." (Publisher description)
Introduction / Elisabetta Costa, Patricia G. Lange, Nell Haynes, Jolynna Sinanan, 1
PART I: HISTORIES
1 Media Anthropology and the Digital Challenge / Mark Allen Peterson, 17
2 Indigenous Media: Anthropological Perspectives and Historical Notes / Philipp Budka, 33
3 A Longitudinal Study of Media in Brazil / Conrad Phillip Kottak and Richard Pace, 47
PART II: APPROACHES
A. Media as Infrastructure
4 "Here, Listen to My CD-R": Music Transactions and Infrastructures in Underground Hip-Hop Touring / Anthony Kwame Harrison, 65
5 "Technology is Wonderful Until It Isn't": Community-Based Research and the Precarity of Digital Infrastructure / Jerome Crowder, Peggy Determeyer, and Sara Rogers, 77
6 Media Migration / Patricia G. Lange, 89
7 The Digitally Natural: Hypomediacy and the "Really Real" in Game Design / Thomas M. Malaby, 103
B. Media as Practice
8 Media Practices and Their Social Effects / John Postill, 119
9 Television is Not a Democracy: The Limits of Interactive Broadcast in Japan / Elizabeth A. Rodwell, 132
10 Producing Place through Play: An Ethnography of Location-based Gaming / Kyle Moore, 145
11 PhotoMedia as Anthropology: Towards a Speculative Research Method / Edgar Gómez Cruz, 157
12 Content-as-Practice: Studying Digital Content with a Media Practice Approach / Christoph Bareither, 171
C. Media as Materiality
13 The Materiality of the Virtual in Urban Space / Jordan Kraemer, 185
14 Anthropology and Digital Media: Multivocal Materialities of Video Meetings and Deafness / Rebekah Cupitt, 200
15 Cloudwork: Data Centre Labour and the Maintenance of Media Infrastructure / A.R.E. Taylor, 213
16 Media Anthropology and Emerging Technologies: Re-working Media Presence / Sarah Pink, Yolande Strengers, Melisa Duque, Larissa Nichols, and Rex Martin, 229
D. Media as Representation
17 #Everest: Visual Economies of Leisure and Labour in the Tourist Encounter / Jolynna Sinanan, 245
18 Postcolonial Digital Collections: Instruments, Mirrors, Agents / Haidy Geismar and Katja Müller, 258
19 Ethnographies of the Digitally Dispossessed / Heather Ford, 272
PART III: THEMATIC CONSIDERATIONS
A. Relationships
20 "Friends from WeChat Groups": The Practice of Friendship via Social Media among Older People in China / Xinyuan Wang, 289
21 Mediated Money and Social Relationships among Hong Kong Cross-boundary Students / Tom McDonald, Holy Hoi Ki Shum and Kwok Cheung Wong, 301
22 Narratives of Digital Intimacy: Romanian Migration and Mediated Transnational Life / Donya Alinejad and Laura Candidatu, 314
B. Social Inequality and Marginalisation
23 Mediating Hopes: Social Media and Crisis in Northern Italy / Elisabetta Costa, 331
24 Digital Inequality and Relatedness in India after Access / Sirpa Tenhunen, 343
25 In This Together: Black Women, Collective Screening Experiences, and Space-Making as Meaning-Making / Marlaina Martin, 355
26 Black Gamer’s Refuge: Finding Community within the Magic Circle of Whiteness / Akil Fletcher, 368
C. Identities and Social Change
27 Inking Identity: Indigenous Nationalism in Bolivian Tattoo Art / Nell Haynes, 381
28 Being Known and Becoming Famous in Kampala, Uganda / Brooke Schwartz Bocast, 395
29 The Hall of Mirrors: Negotiating Gender on Chilean Social Media / Baird Campbell, 410
D. Political Conservatism
30 Media Anthropology and the Crisis of Facts / Peter Hervik, 427
31 Conspiracy Media Ecologies and the Case for Guerilla Anthropology / Leighton C. Peterson and Jeb J. Card, 441
32 Researching Political Trolls as Instruments of Political Conservatism in Turkey: A Historical Framework and Methodological Reflections on a Discourse Community / Erkan Saka, 454
33 Performing Conservatism: A Study of Emerging Political Mobilisations in Latin America using "Social Media Drama" Analysis / Raúl Castro-Pérez, 465
E. Surveillance
34 Algorithmic Violence in Everyday Life and the Role of Media Anthropology / Veronica Barassi, 481
35 Queer and Muslim? Social Surveillance and Islamic Sexual Ethics on Twitter / Benjamin Ale-Ebrahim, 492
36 Queer Sousveillance: Publics, Politics, and Social Media in South Korea / Alex Wolff, 505
F. Emerging Technologies and Contemporary Challenges: Data, AI and VR
37 The Algorithmic Silhouette: New Technologies and the Fashionable Body / Heather A. Horst and Sheba Mohammid, 519
38 Unlocking Heritage In Situ: Tourist Places and Augmented Reality in Estonia / Christian S. Ritter, 532
39 Precarity, Discriminiation and (In)Visibility: An Ethnography of "The Algorithm" in the YouTube Influencer Industry / Zoë Glatt, 544
40 AI Design and Everyday Logics in the Kalahari / Nicola J. Bidwell, Helen Arnold, Alan F. Blackwell, Charlie Nqeisji, |Kun Kunta, and Martin Ujakpa, 557
41 Ethnography of/and Virtual Reality / Lisa Messeri, 570
Afterword / Eric W. Rothenbuhler, 581
PART I: HISTORIES
1 Media Anthropology and the Digital Challenge / Mark Allen Peterson, 17
2 Indigenous Media: Anthropological Perspectives and Historical Notes / Philipp Budka, 33
3 A Longitudinal Study of Media in Brazil / Conrad Phillip Kottak and Richard Pace, 47
PART II: APPROACHES
A. Media as Infrastructure
4 "Here, Listen to My CD-R": Music Transactions and Infrastructures in Underground Hip-Hop Touring / Anthony Kwame Harrison, 65
5 "Technology is Wonderful Until It Isn't": Community-Based Research and the Precarity of Digital Infrastructure / Jerome Crowder, Peggy Determeyer, and Sara Rogers, 77
6 Media Migration / Patricia G. Lange, 89
7 The Digitally Natural: Hypomediacy and the "Really Real" in Game Design / Thomas M. Malaby, 103
B. Media as Practice
8 Media Practices and Their Social Effects / John Postill, 119
9 Television is Not a Democracy: The Limits of Interactive Broadcast in Japan / Elizabeth A. Rodwell, 132
10 Producing Place through Play: An Ethnography of Location-based Gaming / Kyle Moore, 145
11 PhotoMedia as Anthropology: Towards a Speculative Research Method / Edgar Gómez Cruz, 157
12 Content-as-Practice: Studying Digital Content with a Media Practice Approach / Christoph Bareither, 171
C. Media as Materiality
13 The Materiality of the Virtual in Urban Space / Jordan Kraemer, 185
14 Anthropology and Digital Media: Multivocal Materialities of Video Meetings and Deafness / Rebekah Cupitt, 200
15 Cloudwork: Data Centre Labour and the Maintenance of Media Infrastructure / A.R.E. Taylor, 213
16 Media Anthropology and Emerging Technologies: Re-working Media Presence / Sarah Pink, Yolande Strengers, Melisa Duque, Larissa Nichols, and Rex Martin, 229
D. Media as Representation
17 #Everest: Visual Economies of Leisure and Labour in the Tourist Encounter / Jolynna Sinanan, 245
18 Postcolonial Digital Collections: Instruments, Mirrors, Agents / Haidy Geismar and Katja Müller, 258
19 Ethnographies of the Digitally Dispossessed / Heather Ford, 272
PART III: THEMATIC CONSIDERATIONS
A. Relationships
20 "Friends from WeChat Groups": The Practice of Friendship via Social Media among Older People in China / Xinyuan Wang, 289
21 Mediated Money and Social Relationships among Hong Kong Cross-boundary Students / Tom McDonald, Holy Hoi Ki Shum and Kwok Cheung Wong, 301
22 Narratives of Digital Intimacy: Romanian Migration and Mediated Transnational Life / Donya Alinejad and Laura Candidatu, 314
B. Social Inequality and Marginalisation
23 Mediating Hopes: Social Media and Crisis in Northern Italy / Elisabetta Costa, 331
24 Digital Inequality and Relatedness in India after Access / Sirpa Tenhunen, 343
25 In This Together: Black Women, Collective Screening Experiences, and Space-Making as Meaning-Making / Marlaina Martin, 355
26 Black Gamer’s Refuge: Finding Community within the Magic Circle of Whiteness / Akil Fletcher, 368
C. Identities and Social Change
27 Inking Identity: Indigenous Nationalism in Bolivian Tattoo Art / Nell Haynes, 381
28 Being Known and Becoming Famous in Kampala, Uganda / Brooke Schwartz Bocast, 395
29 The Hall of Mirrors: Negotiating Gender on Chilean Social Media / Baird Campbell, 410
D. Political Conservatism
30 Media Anthropology and the Crisis of Facts / Peter Hervik, 427
31 Conspiracy Media Ecologies and the Case for Guerilla Anthropology / Leighton C. Peterson and Jeb J. Card, 441
32 Researching Political Trolls as Instruments of Political Conservatism in Turkey: A Historical Framework and Methodological Reflections on a Discourse Community / Erkan Saka, 454
33 Performing Conservatism: A Study of Emerging Political Mobilisations in Latin America using "Social Media Drama" Analysis / Raúl Castro-Pérez, 465
E. Surveillance
34 Algorithmic Violence in Everyday Life and the Role of Media Anthropology / Veronica Barassi, 481
35 Queer and Muslim? Social Surveillance and Islamic Sexual Ethics on Twitter / Benjamin Ale-Ebrahim, 492
36 Queer Sousveillance: Publics, Politics, and Social Media in South Korea / Alex Wolff, 505
F. Emerging Technologies and Contemporary Challenges: Data, AI and VR
37 The Algorithmic Silhouette: New Technologies and the Fashionable Body / Heather A. Horst and Sheba Mohammid, 519
38 Unlocking Heritage In Situ: Tourist Places and Augmented Reality in Estonia / Christian S. Ritter, 532
39 Precarity, Discriminiation and (In)Visibility: An Ethnography of "The Algorithm" in the YouTube Influencer Industry / Zoë Glatt, 544
40 AI Design and Everyday Logics in the Kalahari / Nicola J. Bidwell, Helen Arnold, Alan F. Blackwell, Charlie Nqeisji, |Kun Kunta, and Martin Ujakpa, 557
41 Ethnography of/and Virtual Reality / Lisa Messeri, 570
Afterword / Eric W. Rothenbuhler, 581
