I am a postdoctoral fellow at Aarhus University working on the project “The Social Life of Crypto.” In this collaborative work, I expand my interests in technology, community, and society to explore how crypto-currencies become part of everyday lives, especially in economically marginalized Philippines. By exploring the social practices related to crypto, I am contributing to the understanding of the daily economic life of its users, the social networks they enable, and the intermediaries that constitute the crypto financial landscape of the Philippines, Cuba, and Kenya. I also hope to unveil how gender and technology play a role in crypto-related social practices.

I’m a communication researcher and scholar focusing on technology and gender in the global south, particularly in the Philippines. In the last ten years, I researched the role of technological innovations in the peripheries, especially for LGBT+ individuals and the youth.   

I joined the University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Communication Research almost a decade ago to teach undergraduate and graduate students. I also research mobile communication, identity, and performativities to highlight how technology intersects with identity formation, and interpersonal and digital social practices in postcolonial communities. Using ethnography and phenomenology as approaches, my research centers on the narratives of individuals and how their stories allow them to engage with the world through embodiment, lived experiences, and meaning-making. At the Department, I have co-led the Communication Experience laboratory, an initiative to understand Filipinos' communicative behaviors. I also served as Director of the Office of Research and Publications in the College.

In the Philippines, I have worked with government and non-government organizations for various social research projects that aim to craft institutional, country-wide, and international policies. I have consultancy experiences with the country’s Department of Health, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Agriculture. Outside the Philippines, I also collaborate with university-based research institutions in the United Kingdom, USA, and Singapore.

Contact:
Jonalou San Juan Labor
School of Culture and Society
Department of Anthropology
Moesgård Allé 20
8270 Højbjerg