Status Threats in the Age of Government-Led Self-tracking Campaigns

• In Event: 21081 - Section on Sociology of Body and Embodiment Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3: Bodies & Politics

Abstract

How do digital health technologies and related gamification techniques influence behavior when implemented on a national level by governments? Critical social analyses of these technologies have pointed to the datafication and atomization of lives as technologies surveil, exploit or inform individuals in personal and private initiatives. However, we should not assume that key dynamics – like questions of surveillance, health and social status – work in government-led programs the same way they do in previous research. As governments adopt these technologies, it is crucial that we understand how people engage with digital health technologies, such as FitBits and other wearables, when their data flows to their government.

Using Singapore’s National Steps Challenge as a case study, I conduct 24 semi-structured interviews and examine how participants of the NSC make sense of their participation. I find a surprisingly pervasive class anxiety permeating my interviews. My study reveals that fitness trackers are not just sources of health information on the body, but also signifiers of status and social position; when distributed by the government, these digital health technologies can classify participants in undesirable ways. This study shows that when governmentality works through objects of consumption, matters of distinction become a matter of public health policy.

Author

• Carmen Choong, University of Washington