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‘Flash Mobs’ as Innovation

On a New Social Form of Technically Mediated Congregation

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Innovation Society Today

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Abstract

People congregate. This is a phenomenon as old as humanity itself. How gatherings come about, get organized, and actually happen depends on their specific time and place in history. Just like society or—with fewer preconditions—social co-existence in general, they are subject to ongoing transformations.

Writing this paper was made possible by the financial support from the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 1053 MAKI – Multi-Mechanisms Adaptation for the Future Internet. The present essay documents results from the subproject C04 User-centered perspective. The authors wish to thank Peter Noller, who directed the ethnographic field research for the Leipzig flash mob and made valuable contributions to the research design. They would also like to thank Katherin Wagenknecht and Matthias Schulz for their dedicated work and Matthias Krügl for producing the graphics. Wolfgang Effelsberg and Thorsten Strufe were also important collaborators at various points throughout the project; they provided keen insights related to content and process.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Deutschland

    Paul Gebelein & Thomas Paul

  2. TU Berlin, Berlin, Deutschland

    Martina Löw

Authors
  1. Paul Gebelein
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  2. Martina Löw
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  3. Thomas Paul
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Gebelein .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Soziologie, TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Werner Rammert

  2. Institut für Soziologie, TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Arnold Windeler

  3. Institut für Soziologie, TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Hubert Knoblauch

  4. Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH, Berlin, Germany

    Michael Hutter

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Gebelein, P., Löw, M., Paul, T. (2018). ‘Flash Mobs’ as Innovation. In: Rammert, W., Windeler, A., Knoblauch, H., Hutter, M. (eds) Innovation Society Today. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19269-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19269-3_11

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