Postdigital Intimacies
Focus of our research
The CPC’s research into postdigital intimacies explores the reshaping of subjectivity by digital technologies. As the digital is now invisibly naturalised in how we think, act and feel, paying attention to the postdigital has the potential to change, fundamentally, how we understand ourselves, others and the world around us. Drawing on feminist theory, the Centre’s researchers explore how this new intimacy is performed and experienced across a range of spaces and through a variety of media forms, screens and practices, from Instagram to Femtech. Our aim is to study how we value life - what it means to live a good life - when the old distinctions between the digital and non-digital, and even the public and private, no longer apply.
Key Researchers
Dr Adrienne Evans
Dr Adrienne Evans is Professor of Gender and Culture in the Centre for Postdigital Cultures at Coventry University, UK, where she leads the Postdigital Intimacies cluster. Her research focuses on accounts of intimacy in the context of a postfeminist sensibility, and is interested in exploring how digital feeling shapes expectations of the ‘good life’. In her research, she is interested in creating new ways of thinking about notions of the good life, wellbeing and positivity through digital technology in relation to the vulnerabilities these concepts engender, by seeking to stimulate more inclusive, equitable and feminist-inspired ways of being in the world. She is co-author of Technologies of Sexiness (2014), Postfeminism and Health (2018), Postfeminism and Body Image (2022), and Digital Feeling (2023). She is PI of the AHRC network Postdigital Intimacies and the Networked Public-Private, CI on the Marsden Fund (New Zealand) project “Exploring the possibilities of menstruation and perimenopause tracking apps for people with diverse embodied experiences”. Dr Evans is available for press and expert media requests including radio, television, podcasts, and public speaking.
Dr Lindsay Balfour
Dr Lindsay Balfour is Assistant Professor of Digital Media in the Centre for Postdigital Cultures at Coventry University. Her research draws on the relationship between gender, health, technology, and violence, and engages industry and policy stakeholders within the ecosystem known as FemTech (Feminine Technologies). Her work offers wider benefits concerning the global health of those who identify as women, such as those outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals regarding Women and Girls, and in particular targets focusing on sexual and reproductive health. She is author of Hospitality in a Time of Terror (2017), The Digital Future of Hospitality (2023) and the forthcoming collection FemTech: Intersectional Interventions (2023). Dr Balfour is available for press and expert media requests including radio, television, podcasts, and public speaking.
Dr Marcus Maloney
Dr Marcus Maloney is Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Centre for Postdigital Cultures, Coventry University. His research focuses on men and masculinities online; 'culture wars' in digital spaces; video game narratives, cultures, and communities; and postdigital intimacies and socialities. Marcus has published widely in these areas, including articles in Cultural Sociology, New Media & Society, and Games and Culture. His most recent book is Gender, Masculinity and Video Gaming: Analysing Reddit’s r/gaming Community (Palgrave 2019). Dr Maloney is available for press and expert media requests including radio, television, podcasts, and public speaking.
Dr Sarah Merry
Dr Sarah Kate Merry is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Postdigital Cultures at Coventry University. Sarah’s background is in information studies, with a focus on the impact of the Internet on social interaction; her research interests include friendship creation and maintenance online, non-participating membership of online communities, and research ethics. Her current work focuses on the benefits of ‘lurking’ (non-participatory presence) in online mental health support groups, and the value of online community for newly-diagnosed neurodivergent people. Dr Merry is available for press and expert media requests including radio, television, podcasts, and public speaking.
Image credit: In Neon Lights, Ari Hi on Unsplash.
