Abstract
The project identifies and maps the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) linked to care practices that are developed or contracted by public institutions within the framework of the National Care Policy 2021-2031. More than an inventory of digital tools, the goal is to understand them from the perspective of the social production of technology, which involves recognizing that their design and implementation are processes mediated by social actors, institutions, and communities that interact in specific historical contexts. Care, understood as the set of activities aimed at sustaining life and ensuring physical, social, and emotional well-being, is intertwined with technology in multiple ways: from mediating diagnoses and coordinating services to providing remote or educational support. In this intersection, ICTs are not neutral but are situated artifacts that materialize power relations, social values, and institutional decisions. The social production approach allows for an analysis of how these technologies are inserted into social and economic structures, constitute socio-technical networks, and generate controversies, disputes, and discursive closures regarding their meanings, scope, and uses. The methodology involves mapping and characterizing governmental initiatives, as well as analyzing their material properties and content, in order to make visible the ways in which technological innovation is articulated with care practices and with the right to care as a fundamental pillar of citizenship.
Presenters
Luisa Ochoa-ChavesTeacher and Researcher, Center for Communication Research (CICOM), University of Costa Rica (UCR), San José, Costa Rica
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
ICTs, Care, Costa Rica, Social production, Technological innovation, Public policy
