TP 7 (Sub-)Project Description

WP 7 NACHOS | Area: Culture & Ethics

Key research question of the sub-project: 

What role do technical innovations play in transnational socialisation processes?

 

WP 7: What role do technical innovations play in transnational socialisation processes? (PI: Prof. Dr Stefanie Börner | Co-PIs: Prof. Dr Kersten Roth, Prof. Dr Elmar Lukas)

 

Technological and social innovations are increasingly taking place in supra- and transnational contexts, as evidenced, for example, by EU research funding, international climate policy efforts and countless transnational collaborations. Transnational public spheres, work contexts and ways of life often rely on digital tools and modes of communication, as well as virtual forms of exchange, because, as constituent aspects of transnational socialisation and participation processes, they no longer take place exclusively in person. Transnational social contexts could therefore be particularly conducive to innovation and play a pioneering role, enabling communication and implementation strategies to be derived from these experiences that help to reduce the acceptance issues associated with technical innovations. At the same time, the project also addresses the reservations and strategies of key stakeholders who are averse to innovation.

As a counterpoint to profit-oriented companies, the project focuses on civil society organisations in the non-profit sector, as well as local and supranational administrations as representatives of the public sector (covering topics such as e-governance; e-forms in the field of transnational social security; AI-based fraud prevention). Accordingly, the project examines the significance of technical innovations in transnational contexts from a sociological perspective: What role do digital services and media and communications infrastructures play in transnational NGOs and the public sector? What framework conditions influence the acceptance and success of such integration? The aim is to analyse digitalisation and transnationalisation as interpenetrating processes, along with their prerequisites, forms and social consequences. For example, publicly funded advice centres for migrant workers from the EU and third countries face the choice of using cost-effective digital translation devices or employing staff with the necessary language skills (often migrants themselves). How are the advantages and disadvantages of both strategies addressed, and what impact does this have on social relationships and the funding structures and objectives of the European Social Fund?

Drawing on two case studies, the project examines the interplay between transnationalisation and digitalisation, addressing the challenges, problems and fears on the one hand, and the opportunities, synergies and enabling effects on the other, in order to highlight the implications for transnational socialisation processes. Methodologically, the study employs a combination of traditional qualitative interview studies (structured interviews and focus groups) and participant observation, drawing on the approach of multi-sited ethnography.