Journal Articles by Jonah Bossewitch
The rapid explosion of information technologies in recent years has contributed to a substantive ... more The rapid explosion of information technologies in recent years has contributed to a substantive change in the social dimensions of information sharing, and is forcing us to revise substantially our old assumptions regarding the knowledge/power dynamic. In this article, we discuss a range of strategic information-management options available to individuals and institutions in the networked society, and contrast these ‘blueprints’ to Foucault’s well-known Panopticon model. We organize these observations and analyses within a new conceptual framework based on the geometry of ‘information flux,’ or the premise that the net flow of information between an individual and a network is as relevant to power dynamics as the nature or volume of that information. Based on this geometrical model, we aim to develop a lexicon for the design, description, and critique of socio-technical systems.
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Papers by Jonah Bossewitch
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1991
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SSRN Electronic Journal
Urgent public attention is needed to make sense of the expanding use of algorithmic and data-driv... more Urgent public attention is needed to make sense of the expanding use of algorithmic and data-driven technologies in the mental health context. On the one hand, well-designed digital technologies that offer high degrees of public involvement and can be used to promote good mental health and crisis support in communities. They can be employed safely, reliably and in a trustworthy way, including to help build relationships, allocate resources, and promote human flourishing. On the other hand, there is clear potential for harm. The list of ‘data harms’ in the mental health context is growing longer, in which people are in worse shape than they would be had the activity not occurred. Examples in this report include the hacking of psychotherapeutic records and the extortion of victims, algorithmic hiring programs that discriminate against people with histories of mental healthcare, and criminal justice and border agencies weaponising data concerning mental health against individuals. Issues also come up not where technologies are misused or faulty, but where technologies like biometric monitoring or surveillance work as intended, and where the very process of ‘datafying’ and digitising individuals’ behaviour – observing, recording and logging them to an excessive degree – carry the potential for inherent harm. Public debate is needed to scrutinise these developments. Part 1 charts the rise of algorithmic and data-driven technology in the mental health context. It outlines issues which make mental health unique in legal and policy terms, particularly the significance of involuntary or coercive psychiatric interventions in any analysis of mental health and technology. The section makes a case for elevating the perspective of people with lived experience of profound psychological distress, mental health conditions, psychosocial disabilities, and so on, in all activity concerning mental health and technology. Part 2 looks at prominent themes of accountability. Eight key themes are discussed – fairness and non-discrimination, human control of technology, professional responsibility, privacy, accountability, safety and security, transparency and explainability, and promotion of public interest. International law, and particularly the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is also discussed as a source of data governance. Case studies throughout show the diversity of technological developments and draw attention to their real-life implications. Many case studies demonstrate instances of harm. The case studies also seek to ground discussion in the actual agonies of existing technology rather than speculative worries about technology whose technical feasibility is often exaggerated in misleading and harmful ways (for example, Elon Musk’s claim that his ‘AI-brain chips will “solve” autism and schizophrenia’). This resource is meant for diverse audiences, including advocates and activists concerned with mental health and disability, service users and those who have experienced mental health interventions and their representative organisations, clinical researchers, technologists, service providers, policymakers, regulators, private sector actors, academics, and journalists.
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Source code for the Footprints database. Footprints is a project to develop a database that track... more Source code for the Footprints database. Footprints is a project to develop a database that tracks individual books through time and space to uncover patterns of trade and learning throughout the Jewish communities of Europe, Asia and the Americas during the modern period.
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Source code for the Footprints database. Footprints is a project to develop a database that track... more Source code for the Footprints database. Footprints is a project to develop a database that tracks individual books through time and space to uncover patterns of trade and learning throughout the Jewish communities of Europe, Asia and the Americas during the modern period.
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New Media & Society, 2012
The rapid explosion of information technologies in recent years has contributed to a substantive ... more The rapid explosion of information technologies in recent years has contributed to a substantive change in the social dimensions of information-sharing, and is forcing us to revise substantially our old assumptions regarding the knowledge/power dynamic. In this article, we discuss a range of strategic information-management options available to individuals and institutions in the networked society, and contrast these ‘blueprints’ to Foucault’s well-known panopticon model. We organize these observations and analyses within a new conceptual framework based on the geometry of ‘information flux’, or the premise that the net flow of information between an individual and a network is as relevant to power dynamics as the nature or volume of that information. Based on this geometrical model, we aim to develop a lexicon for the design, description and critique of socio-technical systems.
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Since the early 1970s software developers have used specialized tools, “version control systems”,... more Since the early 1970s software developers have used specialized tools, “version control systems”, to help them manage and control changes to software code across contributors and time. In the early days, these tools were focused on tracking the history of changes to discrete files, but they have progressed significantly, and are now used to help coordinate projects involving massive numbers of contributors, and ever more intricate experiments. Software continues to grow more complicated and vast, and teams are more distributed and dispersed. Accordingly, developers have reflexively refined their workflows and processes, often visible in the form of the tools used to support these collaborations. In the past few years “distributed version control systems ” (DVCS) have dramatically increased in popularity. There is a fascinating culture emerging around DVCS, facilitated by software, but responding to (and suggesting) shifts in collaboration styles. As with earlier generations of versi...
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Community Mental Health
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Practicing Anthropology
This article describes digital bricolage as a way to study the digital history of a social moveme... more This article describes digital bricolage as a way to study the digital history of a social movement organization. Drawing from our separate research projects on The Icarus Project (TIP), we describe our respective strategies as a health humanities scholar and a journalist to trace the organization's evolution; and our research findings describe TIP's gradual shift from grassroots leadership to professional staff. In tracing TIP's digital evolution, we argue that digital bricolage can contribute to our understanding of digital organizing tactics used in modern health social movements.
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Teaching and Learning With Video Annotations, 2011
In the context of teaching about digital mediain graduate and undergraduate courses such as New ... more In the context of teaching about digital mediain graduate and undergraduate courses such as New Media and Global Affairs, Technology and the City, Innovation and Design and Everyday Experience[1] at The New SchoolI have also been able to teach through digital media, ...
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Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 2010
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Abstract The rapid explosion of information technologies in recent years has contributed to a sub... more Abstract The rapid explosion of information technologies in recent years has contributed to a substantive change in the social dimensions of information sharing, and is forcing us to revise substantially our old assumptions regarding the knowledge/power dynamic. In this ...
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Journal Articles by Jonah Bossewitch
Papers by Jonah Bossewitch