“There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality
How do people negotiate commitments to engaging in joint activity while at the same time anticipating and managing the inherent risks of collaboration? We explore this question through the ethnographic example of a hackathon, a collaborative software-design competition. We focus specifically on the...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Wiley/American Anthropological Association
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105274 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-7066 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8534-5950 |
| _version_ | 1826199748254629888 |
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| author | Le, Audrey Semel, Beth Michelle Jones, Graham M. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program Le, Audrey Semel, Beth Michelle Jones, Graham M. |
| author_sort | Le, Audrey |
| collection | MIT |
| description | How do people negotiate commitments to engaging in joint activity while at the same time anticipating and managing the inherent risks of collaboration? We explore this question through the ethnographic example of a hackathon, a collaborative software-design competition. We focus specifically on the earliest and, in many ways, most uncertain phase of collaboration, in which commitment and activity simultaneously emerge: team formation. We analyze mercurial allegiances in terms of a technoliberal participation ideology closely associated with the mores of the digital economy, which paradoxically emphasizes intensive project-based collaboration but limited interpersonal responsibility. We examine the verbal and nonverbal resources (such as stance-taking, politeness, reported speech, humor, and gesture) that prospective teammates use to modulate expressions of commitment, and the ways in which they pursue self-interested projects while maintaining social relatedness in order to accomplish joint activity in a context of social volatility.
Abstract
Comment les individus négocient-ils des engagements pour participer à une activité conjointe tout en anticipant et gérant les risques inhérents à la collaboration? Nous étudions cette question à travers l'exemple ethnographique d'un « hackathon », un concours de programmation informatique collaborative. Nous nous concentrons particulièrement sur la formation de l'équipe qui est la première phase de la collaboration, à bien des égards la plus incertaine, et d'où l'engagement et l'activité émergent simultanément. Nous analysons les allégeances volatiles en termes d'une idéologie de la participation étroitement liée aux mœurs de l'économie numérique, ces solidarités temporaires soulignent paradoxalement une collaboration à forte intensité mais une responsabilité interpersonnelle limitée. Nous examinons les ressources verbales et non-verbales (telles que la prise de position, la politesse, le discours rapporté, l'humour, et la gestuelle) utilisées par des coéquipiers potentiels pour moduler les expressions d'engagement ainsi que les façons dont ils poursuivent des intêrets personnels tout en maintenant des rapports sociaux, ceci dans le but d'accomplir une activité conjointe dans un contexte de volatilité sociale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:25:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/105274 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:25:07Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Wiley/American Anthropological Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1052742023-01-28T02:06:02Z “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality Le, Audrey Semel, Beth Michelle Jones, Graham M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society Jones, Graham M Semel, Beth Michelle How do people negotiate commitments to engaging in joint activity while at the same time anticipating and managing the inherent risks of collaboration? We explore this question through the ethnographic example of a hackathon, a collaborative software-design competition. We focus specifically on the earliest and, in many ways, most uncertain phase of collaboration, in which commitment and activity simultaneously emerge: team formation. We analyze mercurial allegiances in terms of a technoliberal participation ideology closely associated with the mores of the digital economy, which paradoxically emphasizes intensive project-based collaboration but limited interpersonal responsibility. We examine the verbal and nonverbal resources (such as stance-taking, politeness, reported speech, humor, and gesture) that prospective teammates use to modulate expressions of commitment, and the ways in which they pursue self-interested projects while maintaining social relatedness in order to accomplish joint activity in a context of social volatility. Abstract Comment les individus négocient-ils des engagements pour participer à une activité conjointe tout en anticipant et gérant les risques inhérents à la collaboration? Nous étudions cette question à travers l'exemple ethnographique d'un « hackathon », un concours de programmation informatique collaborative. Nous nous concentrons particulièrement sur la formation de l'équipe qui est la première phase de la collaboration, à bien des égards la plus incertaine, et d'où l'engagement et l'activité émergent simultanément. Nous analysons les allégeances volatiles en termes d'une idéologie de la participation étroitement liée aux mœurs de l'économie numérique, ces solidarités temporaires soulignent paradoxalement une collaboration à forte intensité mais une responsabilité interpersonnelle limitée. Nous examinons les ressources verbales et non-verbales (telles que la prise de position, la politesse, le discours rapporté, l'humour, et la gestuelle) utilisées par des coéquipiers potentiels pour moduler les expressions d'engagement ainsi que les façons dont ils poursuivent des intêrets personnels tout en maintenant des rapports sociaux, ceci dans le but d'accomplir une activité conjointe dans un contexte de volatilité sociale. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant BCS-1258640) 2016-11-09T21:13:51Z 2016-11-09T21:13:51Z 2015-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 10551360 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105274 Jones, Graham M., Beth Semel, and Audrey Le. “‘There’s No Rules. It’s Hackathon.’: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 25, no. 3 (December 2015): 322–345. © 2015 American Anthropological Association. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-7066 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8534-5950 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jola.12104 Journal of Linguistic Anthropology Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Wiley/American Anthropological Association American Anthropological Association |
| spellingShingle | Le, Audrey Semel, Beth Michelle Jones, Graham M. “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality |
| title | “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality |
| title_full | “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality |
| title_fullStr | “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality |
| title_full_unstemmed | “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality |
| title_short | “There's no rules. It's hackathon.”: Negotiating Commitment in a Context of Volatile Sociality |
| title_sort | there s no rules it s hackathon negotiating commitment in a context of volatile sociality |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105274 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-7066 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8534-5950 |
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