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Qualitative Inquiry
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Beijing, 2006

International Connectivity the Way It Is Supposed to Be

Grant Kien

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, grantkien{at}uiuc.edu

This essay exemplifies the methodology of Global Technography, combining elements of autoethnography, photo essay, and actor-network theory to trace performative elements of global citizenship and global community facilitated by wireless mobile communications technology in the context of contemporary China. The result is a documentation of intensely personal and private communications practices even in highly public environments. Likewise, the personal nature of experience is shown to constitute public spaces even as they confuse and disrupt them. Mobile hyper-interconnectivity inspires both absurd and reassuring performances of culture and intimacy, while the reality of everyday life at street level demonstrates the fragility of hyper-mediated global connectivity.

Key Words: technology • performativity • cell phone • China

Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 14, No. 7, 1264-1271 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1077800408321720
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