Marcelo Thompson

I have just arrived at the Oxford Internet Institute, where I will enthusiastically face the challenge of pursuing my Doctorate of Philosophy in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences. Oxford’s weather symbolises a bit of my thoughts about the days to come. Sunny skies and the pouring rain alternate quite unpredictably, as if the rain came to polish old remains and the sun to shed new lights on my shoots – and then new rain, and then new sun, mimicking the (virtuous) cycle that Jennifer deBeer puts very nicely, between mirar hacia trás y seguir adelante. Things will evolve keeping lesser or larger fragments of the past, and so will we. Different hands, different authors, a single story – a chain novel that must be the best it can be.

A sensitive link: this points me to the collaborative development that happens within our very selves (between those who we were, are, and will be) and the community that surrounds us, in the definition of our “sources of meaning and experience” – those which Castells defines as our identities. Where do I begin in this networked world? Which forces, which vectors are implicated in the definition of who I am? These are questions that will be constantly revisited in this Blog, as I plan to spend the next years of my life studying the subject of human identity in the information age. Indeed, here you can expect to find a space for my (and your!) thoughts on how technology impacts the definition of the persons we are, from different perspectives: legal, cultural, political et al. I will post on the events I deem relevant, try to be up to date with interesting news, and, of course, portray the results of my ongoing research.

Stay tuned!