Seminar DESI
Bio
Chiara Rossitto is Associate Senior Lecturer of HCI at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University. She works in the area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). Her research is characterized by a combination of social theory, and empirical investigation of technology use and design. She has extensively worked with issues of technology-mediated mobility, cultural and social appropriation of place, and place-making processes. She is interested in the interplay between the political qualities of place, the design of information infrastructures, and people’s participation in local community-led initiatives and grassroots movements.
Abstract
In this talk I present the self-organizing network Hoffice – a merger between the wordshome and office – that brings together people who wish to co-create temporary workplaces. The Hoffice concept entails a co-working methodology, and a set of practices inherent in opening up one’s home as a temporary, shared workplace, with the help of existing social media platforms, particularly Facebook. I discuss both the practices of co-creating temporary workplaces, particularly for workers who lack a stable office and orchestrate flexible work arrangements, and the values and rhetoric enshrined in Hoffice. The findings draw attention to i) the practical arrangement of Hoffice events, ii) the participatory efforts to get individual work done, and 3) the co-creation of an alternative social model that encourages trust, self-actualization, and openness. To conclude, I discuss how Hoffice is already making change for its members, and how this is indicative of a politics of care.