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Abstract Vernacular earthen architecture presents a series of relevant conservation challenges that involve designing solutions for different kinds of alterations and degradations. Other challenges of a social nature simultaneously arise and are related, among other factors, to the participation of local communities and the actions of different institutional actors. Understanding these phenomena has generally been approached from perspectives that take technical considerations and social dynamics as separate fields. The current global context has resulted in an acceleration of changes in these dynamics, in terms of both techniques and management models, giving rise to the need to develop comprehensive conceptual and methodological approaches through which these challenges should be addressed jointly by recombining the technical and the social. This paper will analyse the main problems affecting vernacular architectures in three communities in northern Argentina, where earthen techniques have been very relevant. We will reflect on various potentially useful theoretical frameworks, incorporating concepts from the anthropology of technology and methodological approaches from an ethnography of conservation as a way to work with multiple ontologies.

Following the line of inquiry developed in the field of the anthropology of technology, the series of exhibitions I developed at the Musée des arts et métiers in Paris around the theme of "Curating Work" explores the methodological strategies that can be used as a curator to bring back people and bodily knowledge within a technical collection of one of the oldest museums of technology in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Health is one of the growing sectors. Expenditure growth on average is about 2.5% a year (OECD, 2015) most notably led by the impact of ageing population. One of the areas with the fastest growth due to the "ageing-boom" is that the senior care. Technology investment is necessary to cope with the surge of patients. Internet of Things is one of those solutions. Too few studies have analyzed the organizational impact of these technologies. We propose a model confounding organizational perspective and anthropology. We seek to understand how the diversity of technological tools can give meaning to their implementation in the organization. Based on experts' statements and analysing weak signals, we suggest three trends: the Internet of Things strengthens patients' autonomy; it fights against the negative image of Senior care and ensures continuity between homecare services and institutionalization. The Internet of Things strengthens the bureaucratic aspect of Senior care, which in certain respects sound like highly bureaucratic organization where control becomes dominant. The duty of monitoring, control and transparency is enhanced by disempowering professionals and changing the tasks of Senior care directors whose supervisory task has grown major. The Internet of Things can strengthen an opposite organizational model based on technical and human networks. Highlights • Technology investment is necessary to cope with the surge of patients in senior care. • Internet of Things is one of those solutions. • However, too few studies have analyzed the organisational impact of these technologies. • We propose a model confounding organizational perspective and anthropology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]