Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Scholars have different views about how mobile phone use has modified human cultures in the context of our increasingly globalized, linked-up world. Morley (2017:165-167) emphasizes human agency, the mundanity of new technologies, and the difference in adaption patterns across cultures in suggesting that the mobile phone is simply a new tool for achieving pre-existing, often cultural and local, needs. Similarly, Castells et al (2006:71) suggest that both mobile phone use and acceptance of public phone conversations is high in nations with ‘collective, sociable cultures’, while the norms of individualistic cultures may inhibit public phone conversations. In this research, I will apply Morley and Castells et al’s ideas to investigating how people perceive mobile phone use in the context of existing cultural norms about gatherings, interruptions, and respect in Tehran, Iran. In particular, I am interested in how individuals describe the experience of their meetings and gatherings with friends, family members, and colleagues being interrupted by their own and others’ mobile phone alerts, especially incoming calls. Qualitative data was collected from semi-structured face-to-face interviews with mobile phone users in Tehran until theoretical saturation is observed. The results of this research, comprising a discussion of the key themes raised in the interviews, is relevant to wider debates about mobile phone use and the culture of Iran, communications technologies in different cultural contexts, and cultural stability and change in an interconnected, globalized world.