We are exploring if and how our experiences of care across society are affected through sociodigital arrangements and what opportunities this might create for how care is understood and can be reimagined for multiple futures.

Debates about the place of digital technologies in the futures of care are often characterised by contrasting visions - promises of cheaper ways to provide better care are pitched against dystopic fears of being monitored, quantified and individualised.

This approach is unhelpful and often focusses on potential harms or benefits of the emerging technologies without giving sufficient attention to the meaning, organisation and practices of care in everyday life.

In contrast, we think about who/ what is doing the caring, how, in what setting and using what technologies? In this way we aim to understand the integrated challenges and opportunities of the sociodigital futures of care in particular for children, young people and their families.

Find out more: Caring Domain.

Sociodigital practices of entertainment and communication have undergone significant change in recent years and are the topic of intense speculation about their futures.

At the same time, the relationships between digitalisation and everyday life are profoundly implicated in wider discussions of environmental sustainability as well as fundamental processes of social and economic change. Taking the home as a key site of consumption we are interested in how everyday practices shape and are shaped by sociotechnical systems, as well as the environmental impacts of these systems.

Find out more: Consuming Domain.

Around the world, new technologies are driving speculative investment in educational platforms and approaches to learning.  AI, robotics and wearable tech, as well as immersive technologies and superfast wireless networks, are changing the way we learn and creating new possible sociodigital futures.

From Immersive environments in museums and public arts settings to looking at use of AI and big data, we are exploring the sociodigital futures of learning and education.

Through this work we aim to create alliances with educators, activists and others building the agency of marginalised communities to shape the direction of sociodigital futures in education.

Find out more: Learning Domain.

The mobility of people and goods is profoundly implicated in inequality and sustainability. It is a field where global logistics meets justice.

Our research looks at how digital technologies shape the movement of people and things, and considers the different futures that are made possible or closed down as a result of sociodigital changes.

We will be focusing our research on future border technology programmes including the Home Office's Future Borders and Immigration System and Data Futures, and Defra's Biosecurity, Borders and Trade Programme.

Find out more: Moving Domain.

Organising has always been shaped by technology. Whether we consider pottery and weapons, or medicines and transport, or new products and services, how humans organise is always a story of the entanglement of human bodies and non-human materials. 

In a digital era, organising can now be effectively distributed across time and space, allowing action at a distance and temporal co-ordination. These forms of collection and dispersal can be used by powerful actors, such as states and corporations, as well as grassroots organisations, such as communities and activists. 

We’re exploring the ways in which sociodigital arrangements are shaping the futures of organisations and organising. We don't assume that the 'effects' of technology on work are inevitable, but rather that we need to be better understand what sorts of futures are emerging or become likely.

Find out more: Organising Domain.