Disentangling the temporalities of digital and predictive governance: Rhythmanalysis as a methodological framework

Abstract

This paper discusses and develops rhythmanalysis as a methodological approach to dis­entangle the temporalities of digital and predictive governance; that is, how governance evolves through temporal ordering effects produced with, and through, digital technologies. Whilst rhythmanalysis, as it has become broadly used in the social sciences over the past decades, primarily focuses on ‘lived’ (rhythmic) practices of people, we argue that rhythmanalysis can also be developed as a framework to investigate the temporalities of digital governance environments. Using the field of education and, more specifically, the case of Early Warning Systems in US schooling as a worked example, we show how such a framework allows one to approach temporalities through, first, identifying chronorhythms (defined by chrono­logical time), kairorhythms (defined by identifying and intervening in ‘right’ moments in time) and algorhythms (defined by the design of a technology). The second dimension is to analyze relations between those rhythms; more notably, synchronization (i.e., the coordination of rhythms in time), sychorization (i.e., the coordination of rhythms in space) and disruption (i.e., the altering or coming to a stop of particular rhythms). Finally, the framework includes visualization as a third dimension of rhythmic analysis, specifically through practices of selecting, drawing and world-making. Overall, this framework can inspire scholars interested in empirically disentangling temporal and predictive governance, within and beyond the field of education.