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The infrastructure of intimacy

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wilson, A
Published in: Signs
December 1, 2016

This essay brings together two different rubrics that are animating recent strands of critical analysis: intimacy and infrastructure. Its point is as simple as calling attention to a telephone wire—or these days, to a cell phone tower: that infrastructures are involved in social relations and, in many cases, shape the conditions for relational life. Intimate relations involve places—the example in this essay is the public latrine—or conduits— like the telephone or computer discussed below. But the infrastructure for intimacy reaches beyond the specific forms of the SMS or the WC. Tracing circuits of pipes and cables embeds intimate relations in unpredictable junctures of material and symbolic power.

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Published In

Signs

DOI

EISSN

1545-6943

ISSN

0097-9740

Publication Date

December 1, 2016

Volume

41

Issue

2

Start / End Page

247 / 280

Related Subject Headings

  • Gender Studies
  • 4702 Cultural studies
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 4405 Gender studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
  • 1699 Other Studies in Human Society
  • 1608 Sociology
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Wilson, A. (2016). The infrastructure of intimacy. Signs, 41(2), 247–280. https://doi.org/10.1086/682919
Wilson, A. “The infrastructure of intimacy.” Signs 41, no. 2 (December 1, 2016): 247–80. https://doi.org/10.1086/682919.
Wilson A. The infrastructure of intimacy. Signs. 2016 Dec 1;41(2):247–80.
Wilson, A. “The infrastructure of intimacy.” Signs, vol. 41, no. 2, Dec. 2016, pp. 247–80. Scopus, doi:10.1086/682919.
Wilson A. The infrastructure of intimacy. Signs. 2016 Dec 1;41(2):247–280.
Journal cover image

Published In

Signs

DOI

EISSN

1545-6943

ISSN

0097-9740

Publication Date

December 1, 2016

Volume

41

Issue

2

Start / End Page

247 / 280

Related Subject Headings

  • Gender Studies
  • 4702 Cultural studies
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 4405 Gender studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
  • 1699 Other Studies in Human Society
  • 1608 Sociology