Technology, Work, and Family: Digital Cultural Capital and Boundary Management

Abstract

In this essay, we develop a framework for understanding the evolving relationships between technology, work, and family. We focus primarily on the temporal, spatial, and relational boundaries between work and family and the ways in which technology is changing boundary management practices. We suggest that the ubiquity and power of communications technologies require active technology management and, specifically, the development of a form of cultural capital that we call digital cultural capital. We are concerned that the technological changes currently underway may deepen and reinforce social and economic inequalities in new and unanticipated ways. We endeavor to synthesize and connect the disparate bodies of research on these nascent issues and lay out an agenda for future lines of inquiry.