{"product_id":"how-artifacts-afford-isbn-9780262554107","title":"How Artifacts Afford","description":"\u003cb\u003eA conceptual update of affordance theory that introduces the mechanisms and conditions framework, providing a vocabulary and critical perspective.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTechnological affordances mediate between the features of a technology and the outcomes of engagement with that technology. The concept of affordances, which migrated from psychology to design with Donald Norman's influential 1988 book, \u003ci\u003eThe Design of Everyday Things\u003c\/i\u003e, offers a useful analytical tool in technology studies—but, Jenny Davis argues in \u003ci\u003eHow Artifacts Afford\u003c\/i\u003e, it is in need of a conceptual update. Davis provides just such an update, introducing the \u003ci\u003emechanisms and conditions framework\u003c\/i\u003e, which offers both a vocabulary and necessary critical perspective for affordance analyses.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe mechanisms and conditions framework shifts the question from \u003ci\u003ewhat\u003c\/i\u003e objects afford to \u003ci\u003ehow\u003c\/i\u003e objects afford, \u003ci\u003efor whom\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eunder what circumstances\u003c\/i\u003e. Davis shows that through this framework, analyses can account for the power and politics of technological artifacts. She situates the framework within a critical approach that views technology as materialized action. She explains how \u003ci\u003erequest\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003edemand\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eencourage\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ediscourage\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003erefuse\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eallow\u003c\/i\u003e are mechanisms of affordance, and shows how these mechanisms take shape through variable conditions—\u003ci\u003eperception\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003edexterity\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ecultural and institutional legitimacy\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePutting the framework into action, Davis identifies existing methodological approaches that complement it, including critical technocultural discourse analysis (CTDA), app feature analysis, and adversarial design. In today's rapidly changing sociotechnical landscape, the stakes of affordance analyses are high. Davis's mechanisms and conditions framework offers a timely theoretical reboot, providing tools for the crucial tasks of both analysis and design.Table of Contents\u003cbr\u003eSeries Foreword ix\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments xvii\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1: Introduction 1\u003cbr\u003eA Trolley Problem of a Particular Sort 1\u003cbr\u003eAffordances 6\u003cbr\u003eOperationalizing Affordances: The Mechanisms and Conditions Framework 11\u003cbr\u003eHow Afforances Matter 14\u003cbr\u003eSituating the Text 15\u003cbr\u003eOutline of the Book 21\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2: A Brief History of Affordances 25\u003cbr\u003eOrigins in Ecological Psychology 27\u003cbr\u003eAfforances Spread 29\u003cbr\u003eObjects, Subjects, and Contexts 34\u003cbr\u003eSustained Critiques 39\u003cbr\u003ePathways Forward 41\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3: Politics and Power 45\u003cbr\u003eThe Medium Is the Message: McLuhan on Technologies as Objects of Study 47\u003cbr\u003eActor-Network Theory: Overcoming Technological Determinism 50\u003cbr\u003eThe Politics of Artifacts 53\u003cbr\u003eTechnology as Materialized Action: Technological Efficacy and Human Agency 56\u003cbr\u003eChapter Summary 60\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4: Mechanisms of Affordance 63\u003cbr\u003eRequests and Demands 66\u003cbr\u003eEncourage, Discourage, and Refuse 71\u003cbr\u003eAllow 80\u003cbr\u003eChapter Summary 83\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5: Conditions of Affordance 87\u003cbr\u003ePerception 91\u003cbr\u003eDexterity 94\u003cbr\u003eCultural and Institutional Legitimacy 96\u003cbr\u003eChapter Summary 100\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6: Affordances in Practice 105\u003cbr\u003eCritical Technocultural Discourse Analysis 108\u003cbr\u003eThe Walkthrough Method and App Feature Analysis 110\u003cbr\u003eValues Reflection 116\u003cbr\u003eAdversarial Design 118\u003cbr\u003eChapter Summary 121 \u003cbr\u003eChapter 7: Conclusion 123\u003cbr\u003eBig Question 1: How Do We Identify and Equalize Digital Inequalities? 128\u003cbr\u003eBig Question 2: How Do Social Media Affect Sociality and Psychological Well-being? 129\u003cbr\u003eBig Question 3: How Do Information Economies Affect Political Life? 130\u003cbr\u003eBig Question 4: How Will Driverless Cars Affect Urban Infrastructures? 130 \u003cbr\u003eBig Question 5: How Do Medical Technologies Afford Embodied Relations to Health? 131\u003cbr\u003eMoving Forward 132\u003cbr\u003eNotes 135\u003cbr\u003eBibliography 161\u003cbr\u003eIndex 181Jenny L. Davis is a sociologist at the Australian National University.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233239249125,"sku":"NP9780262554107","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262554107.jpg?v=1767729290","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/how-artifacts-afford-isbn-9780262554107","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}