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Measuring the Entrepreneur of Himself

Gendered Quantification in the Self-Tracking Discourse

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Lifelogging

Abstract

On the basis of different examples the article shows that the practices of self-tracking are essentially a rationalisation of self-optimization. As such they can be analysed adequately with the Foucauldian theorem of the entrepreneur of himself. Consequentially the techniques of quantification that are central to self-tracking can be understood as a form of management accounting that allows for rational self-optimization. This rationality is in turn embedded in processes of gendering and degendering which are analysed here by an extrapolation of the construction of masculinity in the self-tracking discourse. Because of its emphasis on self-realization and economic rationality this construction can be identified as an enterprising masculinity.

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Schaupp, S. (2016). Measuring the Entrepreneur of Himself. In: Selke, S. (eds) Lifelogging. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13137-1_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13137-1_14

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