Maxigas

Research Overview

Maxigas seeks answers to philosophical questions through empirical investigations from a broad Science and Technology Studies perspective. His research interests include the sociology of technology users; critiques of liberalism, capitalism and modernity; as well as the role of (classical) cybernetics in the intellectual trajectory and everyday practices of the human and natural sciences. He developed the twin concepts of unfinished artefacts and architectures in order to challenge ideological discourses around open technologies and collaborative production. He uses qualitative and quantiative methods such as historically informed ethnography, object biographies and technical interrogation to investigate technoscientific and technopolitical controversies. His work on hacking addresses critique and recuperation in technological cycles; generations of shared machine shops; the contemporary significance of “old new media”.

Qualifications

• Phd in the Interdisciplinary Study of Network and Knowledge Societies, Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Open University of Catalunya (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC), Barcelona
• Masters in Sociology and Social Anthropology, Central European University (CEU), Budapest
• Masters and Bachelors in English Philology, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest
• Masters and Bachelors in Film History and Film Theory, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest
• Masters and Bachelors in Aesthetics, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest

PhD Supervision Interests

I am broadly interested in supervising students on topics related to questions of technology and social change, such as sociology of innovation, online ethnography, data and algorithms, media archaeology, media ecology, media theory, cybernetics, information security, hacking, smart cities, collaborative production, collaborive consumption, history of technology, software studies, technology and social change, engineering cultures, technology and identity, technology non-use, detox, techno-utopianism, techno-dystopianism.