معرفی
Karin Fast is a Professor of Media and Communication Research at Karlstad University, Sweden. She is affiliated with the prioritized interdisciplinary Centre for Geomedia Studies and serves as coordinator of its research infrastructure. Her work focuses on mediatization theory, post-digital capitalism, digital disconnection, and geomedia studies, with a specialization in spatial and class-based analyses of media practices. She holds a PhD from Karlstad University (2012) and has held roles including Programme Director of the Master's Programme in Geomedia Studies.
Her research explores topics such as media non-use, digital detox industries, and the mediatization of workspaces like coworking spaces. Recent projects include analyses of disconnectivity norms (Digitox, funded by the Norwegian Research Council) and a study of coworking spaces as post-digital territories (Hot Desks in Cool Places, funded by the Swedish Research Council). She has collaborated with institutions including the University of Oslo and Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Key themes in her work include the intersection of media, space, and social inequality, with a focus on class, habitus, and capital. Her publications span journals like New Media & Society, Convergence, and Space and Culture, as well as edited volumes such as The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection (2024). She has supervised numerous PhD and master’s students and teaches at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including courses in feminist geographies and geomedia studies.
Her research infrastructure includes the Geomedia Panel (longitudinal interview study) and quantitative projects like Measuring Mediatization. She also leads grant-funded projects addressing digital reliance in workplaces and urban spaces, emphasizing the socio-spatial dimensions of media use and disconnection.
