Stefano Mazzilli Daechsel visiting researcher at the Department of Criminology
Postdoc fellow Stefano Mazzilli Daechsel, University of Oslo, is working in a research project examining the integration between DNA, digital technologies and law enforcement – and a visiting scholar at the Department of Criminology at Stockholm University.
In a postdoc research, split between an ethnographic investigation of DNA computing and a literature analysis, Stefano Mazzilli Daechsel is illuminating a new and emerging field within criminology.
(R)evolutionary research
Stefano explains that the ethnographic study has an indirect connection to criminology.
– There are no current applications of DNA computing that are connected to crime or crime control, but there is reason to believe that these technologies could be used in the future by law enforcement, state actors, and criminal actors, says Stefano.
The DNA computing project is a part of an ERC-funded (European Research Committee) project called 'Digital DNA', that looks at the changing relationship between digital technologies, DNA and evidence.
– My principal investigator, Prof Mareile Kaufmann, had the intuition that there are contexts in which DNA is influencing the evolution of digital technology.
Stefanos ethnographical contribution to this project consists of visits to relevant sites, participant observation, interviews and online ethnography.
– I'm looking forward to visiting DNA computing labs to see how it works in practice, Stefano says.
Contibrution to a growing field
The litterarure analysis is building off of Stefano’s PhD research; an ethnographic study of the Maker Movement, an international network of people who make things using digital fabrication tools. The second project has a more theoretical interest. The purpose is to make a contribution to the emerging subfield of digital criminology by developing theoretical innovations.
– The project is trying to develop criminological theory, specifically the way that criminology theorizes technology and technologically generated harms.
What made you want to move to Sweden and join our department?
– Although I work for the University of Oslo, I live in Stockholm with my family. I wanted to join SU to build my network of criminologists in Sweden and have the opportunity to learn about the work being done at the department.
More info:
Articles for the projects are planned to be published this spring/summer. Except from Stefano, the Digital DNA-project also involves Professor Mareile Kaufmann, principal investigator, and Maja Vestad, PhD candidate.
Last updated: May 11, 2023
Source: Department of Criminology