My dissertation, with the working title "Coding Places: The Local and the Global in the Work of Brazilian Software Developers," aims to develop theoretical tools necessary for understanding how people who are engaged in the same skilled occupation but are spread around the globe maintain ties, synchronize practices and share knowledge. Using the field of software development as my primary case, I look at how cultural identities, geographic distances, differences of language, national boundaries and geopolitical tensions are negotiated in the face of increasingly “global” knowledge and technology, and how “global” technology, practices and culture are made to work in specific “local” places, and how such work overtime transforms the local social structure, synchronizing it with worldwide models.

The dissertation consists of three parts, with three chapters in each part, plus the introduction and the conclusion.

Table of Contents

Introduction (11,000 words, available for review)

Explains the rationale for the project, its history and the methods used.

1. Work as a (Global) Practice

1.1 Work as Practice (12,000 words)

Presents an overview of the literature related to the concept of "work as practice".

1.2. The Global Tongue (15,000 words)

Discusses the role of English in the work of Brazilian software developers, focusing on its dual nature as the language of the software practice and the language of the United States. This chapter presents an empirical challenge to chapter 1.1.

1.3. Practice in Space (11,000 words)

Presents a theory of practice in space, extending the discussion in Chapter 1.1.

2. Histories and Maps

2.1. Nerds (9,000 words)

Looks at how individual software developers in Brazil enter this line of work, extending the discussion in Chapter 1.1.

2.2. Software Geography (10,000 words)

Looks at the spatial organization of software development today.

2.2. Software Brasileiro (10,000 words)

Looks historically at Brazil's progressive engagement with the world of computing.

3. The Roads Ahead

3.1. Aplicações Corporativas (~10,000 words)

Looks at a relatively typical (though somewhat-better-than-usual) software firm in Rio de Janeiro.

3.2. Porting Lua (16,000 words)

Looks at the history of Lua, a programming language developed in Rio de Janeiro, and the ways in which it achieved detachment from the local context.

3.3. Global Dreams (~15,000 words)

Looks at a local open source project based on Lua, which combines use of local and global resources in a more complex way.

Conclusions (~8,000 words)

Some of the chapters are available upon request.