Jennifer Robertson

It may not seem like it when you glance at your Roomba, but robots are influencing gender roles, family, and even religion.  From Rosie to RoboCop, robots and gender have a connection in both science fiction and reality.  “Female” robots are often small, with almond shaped eyes and light colors, while “male” robots are burly, with angular shoulders and jaws.  Their jobs are different too.  “Female” robots often show up in hospitality and interactions with children or the elderly, while “male” robots are seen in security ...

Keynote Speaker, "The Nonhuman in Japanese Culture and Society: Spirits, Animals, Technology" conference.

September 24th 2018, University of Victoria

Japanese robotics is imagineering a future dominated by nostalgia and nationalism.

Anthropology-news.org, July 18th 2018

Keynote address for the first seminar of the Research Network for the Anthropology of Technology, "Changing Communities and New Collectivities Shaped by Technology." Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. May 3rd, 2018. 

Keynote speaker, "Aging Japan" closing conference.

Leiden Asia Centre, April 24th 2018

In humans and humanoid robots alike, gender—femininity, masculinity— constitutes an array of learned behaviors that are cosmetically enabled and enhanced. In humans, these behaviors are both socially and historically shaped, but are also contingent upon many situational influences, including individual choices. In this lecture, Dr. Robertson will explore the sex/gender dynamics informing the design and embodiment of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, especially humanoids in Japan. The argument she will make is that advanced technology does not necessarily promote...

This multidisciplinary book analyses the contradictory coexistence of consumerism and environmentalism in contemporary Japan. It focuses on the dilemma that the diffusion of the concepts of sustainability and recycling has posed for everyday consumption practices, and on how these concepts have affected, and were affected by, the production and consumption of art. Special attention is paid to the changes in consumption practices and environmental consciousness among the Japanese public that have occurred since the 1990s and in the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami...

The manga culture and the animism also contribute to the fact that Japanese maintain a relaxed handling of robots and artificial intelligence. "The dogma of 'playing God' does not exist there - because there is no God," explains Robertson, who has lived in Japan for 20 years. Unlike the concern about taking power by machines or losing jobs, which is being discussed more widely in Europe, she has the issue of surveillance in mind. At any rate, Alexa or Siri are not at home with her: "I do not need a device that switches my light...

Robophilosophy 2018 - Aarhus University  

February 16th, 2018

"Hegemonic Bipedalism: Cultures of Robotic Exoskeletons in Japan and the United States"

This paper explores the types of bodies privileged and enhanced by the makers of robotic exoskeletons and the premium placed on bipedalism. Differences and similarities, and areas of overlap, in the wearable robotics industries in Japan and the United States are explored along with comparisons of products aimed at local and global consumers. Interrogations about dominant constructions...

Japan is arguably the first postindustrial society to embrace the prospect of human-robot coexistence. Over the past decade, Japanese humanoid robots designed for use in homes, hospitals, offices, and schools have become celebrated in mass and social media throughout the world. 

In Robo sapiens japanicus, Jennifer Robertson casts a critical eye on press releases and public-relations videos that misrepresent robots as being as versatile and agile as their science-fiction counterparts. An ethnography and sociocultural history of governmental and academic...