Course:LIBR559A/Sanders, R. (2017)

From UBC Wiki

Citation

Sanders, R. (2017). Self-tracking in the digital era: Biopower, patriarchy, and the new biometric body project. Body and Society, 23(1), 36-63. doi: 10.1177/1357034X16660366

Annotation

This article takes a feminist and Foucauldian perspective in supporting and critiquing digital self-tracking devices, and how this technology can potentially lead to a society of biopower and patriarchy. The author believes that knowing more about oneself can facilitate better self-care, but also leads to increased surveillance and regulatory authority over a device user’s body, which comes from a Foucauldian perspective. She also sees digital self-tracking technology as an enforcer of “normative femininity” and “post-feminist patriarchal power”, which demonstrates a feminist and anti-neoliberal perspective. (p. 1). It is also argued that digital self-tracking devices are designed from a male’s perspective, and the relationship that women have with their body is not considered in the design of the technology. With a male-centric design that has propagated throughout society, women using self tracking devices will be encouraged to achieve optimal bodily physique as a social norm. She argues these points through case examples.

Biopower is a Foucauldian concept where a nation state is regulating its population’s human bodies, and the author considers digital self-tracking devices to be one such way of achieving biopower. Although citizens would be taking responsibility for their own health, biopower is still a form of governmental control and surveillance. Patriarchy is defined, especially in the post-feminist era, as reinforcing the traditional gender roles, which the author also views as a consequence of self-tracking devices. The author also makes an interesting point that self-tracking technologies could be used in a subversive and authority-resisting manner, and also calls for more research to explore this area.

Two digital self-tracking case examples are analyzed, covering obesity panic and fashion media, in order to demonstrate the resulting biopower-facilitating and patriarchal effects of the technology. However, there are aspects in the author’s analysis that represent her personal opinion rather than an opinion grounded in theory. She does acknowledge her own biases in the conclusion of the article though, and calls for more studies to be conducted using critical theory on the regulatory and gender-normative effects of self-tracking technology.

This article is important for librarians dealing with health-related data, who should definitely be considering the potential regulatory and patriarchal effects that accompany the collection of health data. Although the article may appear somewhat alarmist at times, using a Foucaldian and feminist theoretical framework can help librarians to understand the societal consequences of any health-related technologies.

Areas/Topics/Keywords

Self-tracking devices, feminism, Foucauldian theory, health technology

Page author: Maddy Walter