ICT practices by voluntary groups: A multi-setting study

Abstract

This poster describes my interdisciplinary doctoral research on information and communication technologies (ICTs) and voluntary sector organisations (VSOs). Despite the fact that ICTs proliferate within these organisations, the literature on the relationships between such technologies and voluntary contexts is scant in comparison to private and public domains. In particular, it is not clear how the specific characteristics of volunteers might affect the take-up and use of ICTs. Using the language and concerns of sociology of technology and by focusing on socio-technical dynamics of everyday ICTs practices, my research seeks to explore and conceptualise the ways such practices are constituted, maintained and re-produced by multiple actors and settings. The emerging themes of the research show that high turnover of volunteers and their different levels of engagement in VSOs shape the ICT-related practices. This poster also identifies the contribution of the study.