Serge Proulx
Research project
Interdisciplinary perspectives on ‘participatory’ uses of the social Web
Project summary
The aim of the project is to create an interdisciplinary confrontation between recent studies from the Information and Communication Sciences (ICS) and media sociology concerning the so-called participatory uses of the social Web, with: on the one hand, certain contemporary currents in Science & Technology Studies (STS); and on the other, certain contemporary advances in political philosophy stemming from the application of pragmatist philosophy that question and problematize democratic forms of participation. From an empirical point of view, I will draw on two ethnographic surveys in which I have participated since 2009, focusing on two community organizations in the Montpellier region that have chosen to use participatory Web tools to develop their activities and achieve their goals of technical and cognitive democratization: Tela Botanica and Outils-Réseaux. The interdisciplinary confrontation staged here lies not only at the junction of CIS, STS and political philosophy, but also at the interface between the life sciences and the humanities and social sciences.
