Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SCRAPS (writing the Sleep CRisis: 24/7 cAPitalism and neoliberal Subjectivity)
Período documentado: 2021-09-01 hasta 2024-08-31
The project seeks to understand why the sleep crisis has gained so much traction in contemporary culture. It also explores what the stories we tell about sleep reveal about the way we live today. Arguably, the discourse of the sleep crisis voices anxieties about contemporary life, from the nature of twenty-first-century capitalism and the rhythms of work, to the affective impacts of the climate crisis. Culture highlights the political nature of sleep. Contrary to popular understandings, sleep isn’t a retreat from the world but is intertwined with the society where the sleeper sleeps, or fails to.
In addition to these research objectives, the Fellowship also sought to accelerate the professional development of the PI (Principal Investigator).
The MSCA grant was terminated early due to the PI obtaining a permanent position elsewhere. The effective duration of the grant was of 12 months, over which the PI exceeded the planned results and outputs. An overview of the main results and outputs is provided below.
Research results are being disseminated to the academic community through the following publications:
• De Cristofaro, D and Chiodo, S (2023), “Quantified Sleep: Self-Tracking Technologies and the Reshaping of 21st-Century Subjectivity”, Historical Social Research 48 (2): 176-193. https://dx.doi.org/10.12759/hsr.48.2023.21 This peer-reviewed article is available open access at https://re.public.polimi.it/handle/11311/1232687?mode=complete
• [Forthcoming] De Cristofaro, D, “Insomnia”, in A Cultural History of Sleep and Dreaming vol. 6, ed. by Robert Meadows and Christiane Solte-Gresser. London: Bloomsbury.
• An additional peer-reviewed article on the relationship between the sleep crisis and the climate crisis, as well as an edited collection based in part on the project conference (see below), are also forthcoming. A monograph is currently in progress.
The PI delivered papers at 4 international conferences and gave two talks at international research groups. She also organised an international multidisciplinary conference, “Sleep and Digital Health: Multidisciplinary Perspectives”, which took place online. For the programme of this multidisciplinary international conference see: https://www.writingsleep.com/events-sleep-and-digital-health-conference/
The PI has also worked to disseminate the results of the research to a non-academic audience. The main initiative in this sense is the “Sleep Stories” podcast series, available here: https://www.writingsleep.com/sleep-stories/. This successful podcast series was developed with, and launched at, Durham Book Festival 2021. It features 3 exclusive short stories written by major contemporary writers introduced by sleep experts, including the PI.
Beyond “Sleep Stories”, other initiatives aimed at the public dissemination of the project’s results included:
• “Il sonno è in crisi? Cosa ci dice la cultura contemporanea”, a talk at MeetMeTonight 2021, part of the European Researchers’ Night.
• “A Reading Guide to the Sleep Crisis”, public-facing article for The Posthumanist magazine, September 2022.
• “The Counter-Productive Promise of a ‘Sleep Goal’”, public-facing article for The Week magazine, March 2022.
Regular updates on the research have also been published on the project website (www.writingsleep.com) and social media:
• https://twitter.com/writing_sleep;
• https://www.facebook.com/writingsleep;
• https://www.youtube.com/@writingsleep/about.
In addition to the results summarised above, the Fellowship has allowed the PI to develop knowledge of new methodologies, in particular in the fields of philosophy of technology and STS, which has enhanced her track-record of successful interdisciplinary research. It is anticipated that the research will continue to inform the PI’s future projects and publications.
Communication activities to non-academic audiences have promoted better understanding of today’s sleep practices and the sleep crisis in the general public. The research has contributed to two of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: good health and wellbeing, as well as climate action.