Robotization and the domestic sphere

In: New media & society: an international and interdisciplinary forum for the examination of the social dynamics of media and information change, Band 20, Heft 8, S. 2673-2690

Abstract

The aim of this article is to advance theoretically the debate on the interrelation between robotization and the domestic sphere. I adopt a critical approach to the political economy about the diffusion of machines in the domestic sphere (unexpected and not predicted by the classical theories of capital) and the automation of everyday life, including that of the human body. In the first part, I focus on why robotics has shifted from the industrial sectors in the domestic sphere and on which features characterize today this sector. Then, I describe the trends that robotics has put in motion in the domestic sphere and Europeans' attitudes toward it. In the final part, I analyze the processes of automation that are taking place. I will conclude posing the problem of what kind of society we want to build and live in by introducing the social robots and which future perspectives emerge at social level.