François Bar Discusses "Mobile technology appropriation in a distant mirror: baroque infiltration, creolization and cannibalism" and Laura Robinson on "Parallel Systems and Cultural Difference in Art Auctions: French and American use of eBay"04.12.07 | |
Abstract: (Bar) In recent years, mobile phone penetration has increased dramatically throughout Latin America. But rising penetration numbers only tell part of the story. To fully grasp the social, economic and political impact of mobile telephony, we need to understand appropriation: the process through which mobile phone users go beyond mere adoption to make the technology their own and to embed it within their social, economic, and political practices.
The appropriation process fundamentally is a negotiation about power and control over the configuration of the technology, its uses, and the distribution of its benefits. Within the Latin American context, today’s negotiation surrounding mobile technological appropriation echoes earlier creative tensions about the appropriation of cultural objects, people, and ideas from abroad. This paper reviews existing theoretical approaches to the study of technology appropriation, re-considers them within the Latin American cultural context, and proposes a theoretical framework that can inform an in-depth study of the social, economic, and political impact of mobile phones in Latin America.
(Robinson) This study extends previous research into online auctions by introducing a comparative cross-cultural dimension and focusing on heterogeneous goods. Samples of artwork auctions taken from two independent eBay sites - eBay USA and eBay France - are analyzed in order to detect culturally specific patterns of seller and bidder behavior. In examining French and American online art auctions, the work illuminates culturally constructed approaches to parallel new media venues in that French and American users employ the same auction system in different ways. The analysis of these two samples reveals systematic differences in the types of art auctioned, winning bids, starting prices, and price dynamics, as well as bidders' "flocking" behavior and sellers' reliance on reserve auctions and other risk-management strategies. In elucidating these differences, the research builds upon previous work on high and low trust cultures to make a contribution to the body of work on the comparative cultural use of new media.