[Air-l] academics steering away

[Barry Wellman]

In a recent discussion, an Aussie colleague said:

"On the whole, with the exception of legal writers arguing about whether
such control is good or bad, academics seem to have steered away from the
issues involved of how these things actually work.  I'm not for example
able, at this moment, to do more than posit that things are less
controlled than they used to be (most of the complaints seem to arise
between 1994 and 1997), however this may not be the case."

I really wondered about "steering away" which really says "deliberately
avoids" (you have to actively "steer").

It actually sounds as a hot and researchable topic -- see sociological-ish
journal _Surveillance and Society_.

I really think this -- and many similar -- case is a situation of so many
things worth studying and not enough time or people to study them.  So not
steering away, just not getting around to do.

Having just come over 2 years prep and 6 weeks writing our first big
Connected Lives paper, I am wearily aware of the gap between bright idea
and reasonable paper.

 Barry
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  Barry Wellman         Professor of Sociology        NetLab Director
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman

  Centre for Urban & Community Studies          University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue    Toronto Canada M5S 2G8    fax:+1-416-978-7162
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