Abstract
Library and information studies has yet to see a committed theoretical analysis of the social, relational, and political workings of love, as a force that both explicitly and implicitly underpins practices and rhetoric within our discipline. Understanding the “force” that is love requires analysis of social, or collective, relations. As such, love provides a distinctive lens onto structures and power dynamics that can illuminate and address divergent challenges within LIS and the world at large. This paper draws on selected literature in order to present such an analysis for the first time.
Mary Greenshields
University Library, University of Lethbridge
Mary Greenshields is a librarian at the University of Lethbridge. Her research focuses on love, information literacy, feminism, and the places they meet.
Sarah Polkinghorne
University of Alberta Libraries, University of Alberta & Swinburne University of Technology (Australia)
Sarah Polkinghorne is a librarian at the University of Alberta and a doctoral student at Swinburne University of Technology. Her research focuses on everyday information practices, particularly practices that are tacit, unexamined, or assumed to be mundane.