Automation and the imbrication of human and material agency : A sociomaterial perspective

• Automation is projected to transform many industries and work domains and enable both increased levels of safety and efficiency by reallocating many of the functions traditionally performed by operators. However, research on the relation between automation and work practice is lagging and needs to be further explored in order to ground the debate and design of automated work on a sound empirical basis reflecting work in actual organizational settings. In particular, research is needed that offers rich naturalistic representations of human automation interaction that accounts for the mutual shaping of human and material agency over time. The ethnographic workplace study reported in this paper draws on the sociomaterial practice perspective and on the theory of imbrication to analyze a case in which an automatic speed regulation system was installed onboard five large passenger ferries in order to improve the energy efficiency of the execution of voyages. The results show how the adoption, appropriation and use of automated technologies is inextricable from the local patterns of social interaction and collaboration. The study contributes with a deeper understanding of the relation and entanglement of the social and technological elements in human automation interaction.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Information Systems (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Arbetslivsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Work Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Mänsklig interaktion med IKT (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Human Aspects of ICT (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Annan teknik -- Interaktionsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Other Engineering and Technologies -- Interaction Technologies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Human automation interaction

Ethnography

Maritime

Energy efficiency

Sociomaterial

Human and material agency

Technology-in-practice

Sjöfartsvetenskap

Maritime Science

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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