Department of Anthropology involved in landmark study of the global smartphone

Dr Pauline Garvey
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - 10:45

Maynooth anthropologist Pauline Garvey participates in ‘landmark study’ of the global smartphone in the project the Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Ageing, led by University College London.

Ireland was one of nine countries which featured in the research project, along with field sites across the world.  The comparative project called The Global Smartphone was published on 6th May and compares the work of all 11 researchers in 9 countries. Its findings have already featured in 19 international newspapers in UK, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, France, Greece, Israel and USA amongst others, as well as TV and radio including the BBC World Service, Euronews and Sky News.

The Irish research is entitled Ageing with Smartphones in Ireland: When Life Becomes Craft and is available for free download here 
An RTE Brainstorm article discussing our Irish findings can be found here: What do smartphones teach us about ageing in Ireland, 5/05/21 

For discussion of the Global Smartphone, see the Guardian piece Smartphone is now ‘the place where we live’, anthropologists say 10/05/21
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/10/smartphone-is-now-the-place-where-we-live-anthropologists-say

See also The Sunday Times piece on our findings: On the Same Sofa but Worlds Apart, 9/05/21: 
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/on-the-same-sofa-but-worlds-apart-thanks-to-our-phones-lbx0px29j