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From dishwashing to dishwasher cooking: on social positioning and how users are drawn towards alternative uses of existing technology

Author

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  • Ivano Cardinale
  • Jochen Runde

Abstract

Drawing on social positioning theory and using dishwasher cooking as our running example, we examine how users arrive at alternative uses of already-existing technological objects or what we will call ‘user innovations in function’. The first half of the paper provides an abstract account of three forms of structure: social structure, especially as represented by social positions; structures of cognition and action; and the structure of technological objects. The second half theorises user innovations in function as emerging at the nexus of these different forms of structure, with a view to highlighting (i) the pre-reflective and reflective modes of the agency involved; (ii) how these relate to what we call ‘tinkering’ and ‘reflection’ in user innovation; and (iii) the difference between ‘local’ and ‘non-local’ user innovations in function and their possible roots in tinkering or reflection.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivano Cardinale & Jochen Runde, 2021. "From dishwashing to dishwasher cooking: on social positioning and how users are drawn towards alternative uses of existing technology," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(4), pages 613-630.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:45:y:2021:i:4:p:613-630.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/beab026
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    Cited by:

    1. G. Venkatesh, 2022. "Dishwashers: Literature Review to Summarise the Multi-Dimensionality of Sustainable Production and Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Cardinale, Ivano, 2022. "On means and ends in structural economic analysis: Broadening the field of enquiry," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 450-457.

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