The particular politics of the home : Domestication and parental practices of digital games in everyday life

Abstract: The masters thesis The particular politics of the home - domestication and parental practices of digital games in everyday life aims at providing a closer look at how games played on phones, consoles or computers are regulated within the everyday of family life. Through semi-structured interviews with nine parents, the author creates understanding for how digital games are not only tied to the moral project of the home, but have their values negotiated in relation to public discourses around games, focused on the perceived harmful aspects. The study is theoretically informed by a conceptual framework built on the works of Roger Silverstone, Eric Hirsch and David Morley (the moral economy), Michel de Certeau (everyday tactics), Deborah Chambers (media imaginary) and Anthony Giddens (ontological security). Positioned in the cross-roads of moral panics and domestication theory, the thesis deals with both the domestication process of digital games as media technology, as well as the social construction of digital games and their perceived harms. What is found, are that the meanings of digital games are evaluated as active or non-active in relation to the building of the moral project of the home, visible through varying forms of negotiations and tactics of regulations. The families in this study use tactics in the everyday to construct moral continuities, which are ’defended’ from the perceived harms of digital games. Digital games are also identified as inhabiting properties of distancing, potentially creating divisions between individuals in the home, which also calls for parental regulation. The thesis does see a way forward, as the inclusion of these ’wild’ technologies and content into the moral project do not need to hinge on public discourses of harm. In an acceptance of digital games containing these discourses, they need not be evaluated solely on these terms.