Simon Perdrisat
Title: CASE STUDY OF SOCIOTECHNICAL IMAGINARIES IN THE MAKING: KLEROS DECENTRALIZED DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROTOCOL
Supervisor: Dr. Veiko Lember
Opponent: Dr. Alexandros Pazaitis
Defense: 19 January 2022
Abstract: In the current context of growing uncertainty about the future, researchers began investigating how future visions shape the present; how sociotechnical imaginaries actively shape our society. Today, the performativity of imagined futures is well understood. However, how particular visions come about and why they become performative is understudied. Using the theoretical framework of “technique of futuring” and “dramaturgical regimes”, this case study analyzes how Kleros stakeholders articulated and communicate discourse about the Kleros technology’s potentialities to better understand how imaginaries emerge. Exploratory research and participatory observations with dramaturgic analysis reveal that Kleros captures attention and financial capital, as well as builds communities using future narratives and imaginaries rather than the actual capabilities or practical usage of the technology. Specific discourse structures allow this imagined future to become authoritative while the technological artifact primarily serves the staging of this imagined future.
Keywords: Socio-technical imaginary, kleros, blockchain, technology policy
