Jeannette Pols

Papers

Total Citations

218

H-Index

About

Jeannette Pols is a leading figure in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and empirical ethics, whose work fundamentally rethinks the role of technology in healthcare. Her research centers on how technologies—from telecare to electronic patient records—transform the practice of care, challenging the simplistic dichotomy between "cold" technology and "warm" human interaction. In her landmark paper, "Cold technologies versus warm care?" (2009, 218 citations), Pols argues that this opposition is misleading; instead, she demonstrates through ethnographic studies that technologies can foster new forms of intimacy, attentiveness, and moral engagement. Her major contribution lies in developing an empirical ethics of care, showing how values like dignity, autonomy, and connection are not pre-given but emerge in specific, situated practices. With over 2,000 total citations, Pols’s work has profoundly influenced healthcare design, nursing studies, and the philosophy of technology. She is also known for her book *Care at a Distance: On the Closeness of Technology* (2012), which won the 2013 Sociology of Health and Illness Book Prize. Her research offers students and scholars a nuanced, hopeful vision of how technology can support—rather than undermine—good care.