Harmless Embedding: How sustainability is inscribed into digital technologie
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2025-07-29
Author(s)
Abstract
The focus of digital sustainability research has often been limited to optimizing software, neglecting the underlying assumptions and resulting practices embedded in its use. This study broadens the scope of analysis by introducing a qualitative study of a case in which digital technology is leveraged to operationalize sustainability within a firm we call NewsPort. We ask: How does the deployment of technologies that create, use, transmit, or source electronic data transform sustainability-related practices in organizations? To answer the question, we theorize the process of Harmless Embedding, which operates through three parallel mechanisms: (1) extracting, (2) appeasing, and (3) enhancing. Extracting entails resource-bound data identification, reducing and streamlining. Appeasing describes the integration of decarbonization into existing workflows and rationale. Enhancing anchors and spreads practices within organizations and catalyzes them within and across organizations. This study holds implications for digital sustainability literature, as it demonstrates how efforts to deploy digital technologies to promote sustainability can reinforce existing patterns rather than driving transformation.
Language
English
Keywords
digital sustainability
harmless embedding
inscription
techno-solutionism
Event Title
AOM 2025 Annual Meeting
Event Location
Kopenhagen
Event Date
25.-29.07.2025
Contact Email Address
chris.schaefer@unisg.ch