Attuning smart home scripts to household and energy care

Abstract

Past techno-feminist studies have shown that smart home technologies (SHTs) have inadvertently increased household demand for energy and reinforced gender disparities. This confirms the need to gauge any changes in smart home visions, given that the domestication of SHTs depends on accurate and reliable technology and messages to householders. To determine whether smart home visions are now supporting more gender-equitable household practices and energy efficiency, a content analysis of marketing materials (n = 36) is presented. In the context of domestication and the concept of agency scripts, the results show that smart home visions continue to disregard diverse household types and fail to address either energy efficiency or the housework burdens placed on women. This triggers an enquiry into the negative implications for both women’s wellbeing and energy-saving goals. Feminist care ethics indicate how smart home visions can be attuned to promote gender-equitable household practices and energy reduction. By accenting the mutual interdependence between humans and technologies and developing a household care practice approach, a realignment of smart home visons towards a care ethic is proposed. Strategies for repurposing SHTs as technologies of care that care for householders and the environment are offered in conclusion. Practice relevanceThis research reveals that current smart home principles continue to circumvent energy-efficiency goals and reinforce the gender disparities implicated in the household adoption, integration and management of SHTs. The smart home industry and government policy are advised to develop and implement ethical smart home principles designed to shape the technology in ways that foster gender-equitable household practices and energy reduction. A realignment of smart home visions is advocated towards principles of caregiving, tailored specifically to the objectives of serving the care needs of householders and the environment. A series of strategies is proposed for practitioners and policymakers to facilitate the repurposing of SHTs as care technologies.