Come back public/private; (Almost) All is forgiven

Abstract

Abstract The aims of this study are two-fold. The case-study itself is about the integration of a communications technology (the domestic telephone) into a domestic space. The discussion centres on the negotiation of the construction of ‘private spaces’ for telephony by householders within the ‘public spaces’ of households. The article thus argues that private spaces—even within domestic spaces—are not given but must in fact be mobilised in tandem with mobile technologies. Secondly, the methodology here maps a similar argument. The article is based on autobiographical narrative and argues that feminist epistemologies can extend the reflexivity of the sociology of science and technology towards ‘responsible reflexivity’. Responsible reflexivity is about situated and embodied knowledge and explores the processes and inter-relationships of how public knowledge is produced from private lives. Whilst challenging conventional public/private dichotomies, both the subject and the methodology of this article also recall debate on how the public and private are interwoven in our everyday lives and in the research process.