Building an Apparatus: Disclosing Affectivity in Sociomaterial Research

Abstract

The study of sociomateriality in Information Systems (IS) research is recording increasing impact and interest. Primarily focused on the entanglement of the social and the material, we argue that IS literature on sociomateriality lacks a proper account of the affective configurations that transform a sociomaterial practice in a place of salience to the individual or organization. To bridge this gap, we propose an integrative theoretical framework to “disclose” affectivity in sociomateriality, as well as guidance to build a research apparatus and a diffractive approach as a research methodology. We build on affectivity research from the enactivist approaches to cognition, philosophy, and phenomenology. To illustrate our contribution, we relate to research on the digital practices of criminal courts in Chile. IS researchers and practitioners will benefit from (1) a robust theoretical foundation that extends sociomaterial studies as well as (2) the advancing of research methods and new research possibilities

Publication
Proceedings of the 41st International Conference on Information Systems