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Welcome, I'm Gregory Donovan and this is my research wiki. I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Psychology and a Certificate candidate in Interactive Technology & Pedagogy at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York (more...). This particular cyberspace has been constructed to help me organize, develop, and archive research productions. Explore as you like, though you may find some areas periodically password protected.
| Gregory Donovan | contact | c.v. | web: gregorydonovan.org research blog: cyberenviro.org flickr: cyberenvironmentalism del.icio.us: gregory.donovan youtube: cyberenvironment |
[edit] Active Research Projects
- Young People, Cyberspace and Political Engagement
- Union Square Park Ethnography
- Building A Digital File
- Shoestring Democracy
[edit] Young People, Cyberspace and Political Engagement
TAGS: cyberspace, informationalism, young people, media literacy, surveillance, censorship, semantic web, safety, security, open-source, intellectual property, play, citizen power, hacktivism, e-monitoring, privatization
This project explores the intersectionality of young people, cyberspace, and political engagement in the post-9/11 Security State. Drawing on a number of case studies which situate young people within technological environments, the social reproduction engendered by informationalism and privatization is analyzed and critiqued in this attempt. Of concern are surveillance and censorship practices imposed by state and corporate governance -- particularly when such practices are rationalized by narratives which play off of public insecurity over the safety of young people in cyberspace. As young people’s playful engagements with the technological environment have made clear, these narratives present a false dichotomy by typecasting young people as either victims or criminals and neglecting their role as actors. Finally, drawing upon my research with young people, this project aims to develop a constructive methodology for identifying the opportunities for and practices of reworking the Net and its claims on children’s time, space, and subjectivity.
- An extended abstract titled Cookie Monsters: Hacking It In The Security State has been accepted for review for the "Children in Technological Environments" special issue of Children, Youth and Environments. This is article will be co-authored by myself and Cindi Katz.
- This project is the subject of my 2007-08 fellowship at the Center for Place Culture and Politics.
- A proposal for this project was presented at the University of Surrey's Young People, New Technology and Political Engagement Conference in Summer 07. That presentation can be found here.
- Working Paper.
[edit] Union Square Park Ethnography: Public Space and Citizen Power
TAGS: public space, privatization, informationalism, surveillance, censorship, safety, security, citizen power, hybrid space, neoliberalism, critical mass, public-private partnerships, governance
I've been conducting an ethnography of Union Square Park (NYC) since spring of 2006. This project explores the role privatization and informationalism has played in the repurposing of the park from an organizational space for political engagement to a "passing-through-park" for tourists, commuters and wireless communication. An early presentation of this project was delivered at Columbia University's Divided Cities Conference in Fall 06. A recent presentation of this project was delivered at the Association of American Geographers Conference in Spring 08.
- Repurposing The Square: Digital Symptoms of a Park’s Privatization - Presentation prepared for the “Negotiating Conflicts Over Public Space” Panel; Divided Cities Conference; Columbia University; October 2006
- Passive Park: Space, Communication, and Citizen Power In Union Square Park - Presentation prepared for the “Space-Time II: Affect, Struggle... Everyday” Panel; Association of American Geographers Conference; Boston; April 2008
- Working Paper
[edit] Building A Digital File: Intellectual Craftsmanship In The Informational Age
TAGS: cyberspace, informationalism, craftsmanship, open-source, intellectual property, pedagogy, epistemology, research blog
I have setup a research blog to assist me in preparing for my dissertation. The research blog is meant to function as a space for the aggregation and semantic organization of information relevant to my research interests. In addition, the blog will provide a space to process and interpret such information. Bruno Latour's concept of a "circulating reference" and C. Wright Mills' concept of "intellectual craftsmanship" serve as inspirations for this project.
- My research blog can be viewed here.
- Working Paper
[edit] Shoestring Democracy: NYC Co-ops
TAGS: privatization, safety, security, participation, representation, community
This research project began as comparison between cooperative housing and gated communities in the United States to explore the possible role private governance and collective private ownership plays in social segregation/integration and political engagement/disengagement. 25 interviews were conducted (by myself, Jen Gieseking & Bikki Tran) with middle class co-op residents in NYC and are being compared to 25 interviews (previously conducted by Setha Low) with middle class gated community residents in the NYC area. While this is a group research project funded through the Public Space Research Group, my focus has been on the processes of education, participation and representation within these 2 residential private governance structures. I presented the preliminary findings of this group project at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in Summer 07.
- Low, S., & Donovan, G. (2007). Shoestring Democracy: Private Governance in Coops and Gated Communities in New York City. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the Private Urban Governance & Gated Communities Research Network.
- Working Paper