Blockchain assemblages: whiteboxing technology and transforming infrastructural imaginaries

Karim Jabbar; Pernille Bjørn

doi:10.1145/3290605.3300496

Blockchain assemblages: whiteboxing technology and transforming infrastructural imaginaries

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper we unpack empirical data from two domains within the Blockchain information infrastructure: The cryptocurrency trading domain, and the energy domain. Through these accounts we introduce the relational concepts of Blockchain Assemblages and Whiteboxing. Blockchain assemblages comprise configurations of digital and analogue artefacts that are entangled with imaginaries about the current and future state of the Blockchain information infrastructure. Rather than being a black box, Blockchain assemblages alternate between being dynamic and stable entities. We propose Whiteboxing as the sociomaterial process which drives blockchain assemblages in their dynamic state to be (re)configured, while related artefacts and imaginaries are simultaneously transformed, creating dynamic representations. Whiteboxing is triggered during disconfirming events when representations are discovered as problematic. Complementing existing historical accounts demonstrating technologies in the making, the contribution of this paper, proposes whiteboxing as an analytical concept which allows us to unpack how contemporary technologies are created through entrepreneurial activities.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Number of pages	13
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Publication date	2019
Article number	266
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450359702
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300496
Publication status	Published - 2019
Event	2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2019 - Glasgow, United Kingdom Duration: 4 May 2019 → 9 May 2019

Conference

Conference	2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2019
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Glasgow
Period	04/05/2019 → 09/05/2019
Sponsor	ACM SIGCHI

Keywords

Assemblages
Blockchain
Cryptocurrency
Embeddedness
Entrepreneurship
Information infrastructures
Renewable energy
Sociomaterial

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1145/3290605.3300496

Cite this

Blockchain assemblages : whiteboxing technology and transforming infrastructural imaginaries. / Jabbar, Karim; Bjørn, Pernille.

CHI 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, 2019. 266.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

Jabbar, K & Bjørn, P 2019, Blockchain assemblages: whiteboxing technology and transforming infrastructural imaginaries. in CHI 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 266, Association for Computing Machinery, 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2019, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 04/05/2019. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300496

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abstract = "In this paper we unpack empirical data from two domains within the Blockchain information infrastructure: The cryptocurrency trading domain, and the energy domain. Through these accounts we introduce the relational concepts of Blockchain Assemblages and Whiteboxing. Blockchain assemblages comprise configurations of digital and analogue artefacts that are entangled with imaginaries about the current and future state of the Blockchain information infrastructure. Rather than being a black box, Blockchain assemblages alternate between being dynamic and stable entities. We propose Whiteboxing as the sociomaterial process which drives blockchain assemblages in their dynamic state to be (re)configured, while related artefacts and imaginaries are simultaneously transformed, creating dynamic representations. Whiteboxing is triggered during disconfirming events when representations are discovered as problematic. Complementing existing historical accounts demonstrating technologies in the making, the contribution of this paper, proposes whiteboxing as an analytical concept which allows us to unpack how contemporary technologies are created through entrepreneurial activities.",

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Blockchain assemblages: whiteboxing technology and transforming infrastructural imaginaries

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

UN SDGs

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