Between Grassroots and the Hierarchy: Lessons Learned from the Design of a Public Services Directory

There is a growing interest in HCI research studying technology for citizen engagement in civic issues. We are now seeing issues around technologies for empowerment and participation, long discussed in HCI literature, appropriated and formalised in government legislation. In the UK, recent reforms stipulate that community-based service information should be published in continuously updated, collaboratively designed and maintained, online platforms. We report on a qualitative study where we worked with stakeholders involved in the collaborative design, development and implementation of such a platform. Our findings highlight tensions between the grassroots desire to innovate and local governments’ rigid compliance with statutory obligation. We pose a series of challenges and opportunities for HCI researchers engaged in the design of civic technologies to consider going forward, addressing issues of engagement in policy, measures of participation and tools for enabling participatory processes in public institutions

From her story, to our story: Digital storytelling as public engagement around abortion rights advocacy in Ireland

Despite the divisive nature of abortion within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, where access to safe, legal abortion is severely restricted, effecting legislative reform demands widespread public support. In light of a building pro-choice counter-voice, this work contributes to a growing body of HCI research that takes an activist approach to design. We report findings from four design workshops with 31 pro-choice stakeholders across Ireland in which we positioned an exploratory protosite, HerStoryTold, to engender critical conversations around the use of sensitive abortion narratives as a tool for engagement. Our analysis shows how digital storytelling can help reject false narratives and raise awareness of the realities of abortion laws. It suggests design directions to curate narratives that provoke empathy, foster polyvocality, and ultimately expand the engaged community. Furthermore, this research calls for designers to actively support community mobilization through providing 'stepping stones' to activism

From Inclusive Theatre to Inclusive Technologies: Lessons Learnt From Co-designing Touch Tours With an Inclusive Theatre Group

The HCI community has attempted to understand the role theatre can play in systems design, but the ways inclusive design methodologies could benefit from inclusive theatre are underexamined. To better understand inclusive theatre practices for technology design, we worked with the first professional inclusive theatre ensemble in Greece, which faced difficulties due to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this paper, we attempt to better understand inclusion within such theatre practices through the co-designing of a prototype digital system for Touch Tours, an experience through touch service. We conducted a series of research through design activities with the group, building on eighteen months of ethnographic research. Our goal was to develop a service based on their practices. We contribute design implications for inclusive services, with respect to equity in experience, which enhance the activistic character of the movement, and HCI research concerned with developing technologies that support inclusion

Revolting from Abroad: The Formation of a Lebanese Transnational Public

Nowadays social movements are driven by networks of people who resort to social media platforms to rally, self-organise and coordinate action around a shared cause, which can be referred to as the formation of publics. Due to years of political instability, conflicts, corruption, sectarianism, economic collapse and declining living conditions, in October 2019 Lebanon witnessed uprisings which transcended into a wider social movement. As the movement unfolded, Lebanese diaspora members living across the world formed their own publics in support of the Lebanese revolution that interfaced with the local Lebanon-based publics. As such, a broader transnational public emerged as a result of the coordinated online and offline efforts between diaspora actors and local actors, which had a crucial role in mitigating the aftermath of the compounded crises that hit Lebanon. In this paper, through observation and interviews with Lebanese diaspora members, we contribute a socio-technical understanding of the formation of a transnational public, with a particular focus on the underlying infrastructures that enabled its creation. Furthermore, we surface the challenges in relation to sustaining such a diaspora public and its interfacing with local publics in Lebanon. We contribute empirical insights that highlight how different technological tools and platforms, coupled with social processes built within diaspora groups and with local actors, led to the formation of such a multilayered transnational public

Identity Work of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Reddit: Traversals of Deliberation, Moderation, and Decolonization

Marginalized groups experience issues in managing their identities for a variety of reasons, and online spaces afford them the opportunity to make sense of and revise their intersectional identities. One such group is Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), who are at the receiving end of stereotypes that often manifest in inaccurate public perceptions. The dissertation consists of three empirical studies that disentangle how AAPIs construct and express their identity in online communities within Reddit. The first study examines how users engage in an online community through a deliberation lens to understand the extent to which Reddit supports identity work as a deliberative process. Through a content analysis of 4,406 Reddit comments collected during the 2016 US Presidential Election, I discuss how the expression of identity, and thereby solidarity, in a politicized online setting may lead to a social movement. The second study uncovers how moderators on Reddit shape the norms of their subreddit through the analytic lens of emotional labor. I conduct interviews with 21 moderators who facilitate identity work discourse in AAPI subreddits, present a thematic analysis of their moderation practices, offer recommendations for improving moderation in online communities centered around identity work, and discuss implications of emotional labor in the design of Reddit and similar platforms. The third study examines marginalization through the analytic framework of decolonization, uncovering the threats and tactics that AAPI redditors encounter and employ to decolonize their collective identity. I find that moderators of AAPI subreddits develop collective resilience within their online communities by reclaiming space to confront brigade invasion, recording collective memory to circumvent systemic erasure, and revising cultural narratives to deconstruct colonial mentality. I discuss how algorithmic configurations within sociotechnical systems reaffirm existing hegemonic values and describe ways in which redditors may work toward resistance. These three studies are woven together to uncover ways in which AAPIs negotiate collective action in the context of online identity work

Las oportunidades de la Economía Social y Solidaria para el Desarrollo Rural en Guatemala

Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Cooperació al Desenvolupament (Pla de 2015) (A distància). Codi: SRP531. Curs acadèmic: 2022/2023Este trabajo refleja la colaboración que se ha llevado a cabo con la ONG guatemalteca Unión de Agricultores Minifundistas de Guatemala (UAM) a lo largo de un periodo de tres meses entre octubre de 2022 y enero de 2023. Desde hace casi 30 años la organización se dedica a la promoción del desarrollo rural en Guatemala a través de la realización de proyectos agroecológicos, incluyendo ejes transversales como la equidad de género, la economía social y solidaria y la protección del medio ambiente en todas sus acciones. El objetivo principal de este trabajo, que destaca la conclusión del máster en “Cooperación al Desarrollo”, es el análisis del impacto y de las oportunidades de la economía social y solidaria en el desarrollo rural. Aunque las cooperativas, como actores de la economía social y solidaria, tienen una larga historia en Guatemala, este nuevo concepto económico todavía se encuentra en sus comienzos. Considerando la brecha notable en relación con la pobreza y la situación alimentaria entre aglomeraciones urbanas y regiones rurales, esta obra tiene por objeto el análisis de los obstáculos actuales para el desarrollo rural, la elaboración de factores influyentes que pueden cambiar estas deficiencias y la formulación de algunas propuestas de actuación, como las herramientas y las técnicas de la economía social y solidaria pueden contribuir a esta transición. Después de describir la situación macroeconómica de Guatemala con diferentes índices elegidos, una corta presentación de la ONG colaboradora y un resumen de las tareas realizadas durante la estancia en Quetzaltenango, este trabajo se dedica a la descripción del estado actual del desarrollo rural y de la economía social y solidaria en Guatemala. A continuación, se empieza la parte investigativa con la presentación de la metodología y de los participantes. Para encontrar respuestas a los asuntos descritos, se realizaron cuatro entrevistas con expertos guatemaltecos que se dedican desde hace muchos años al desarrollo rural en el Occidente del país. Los hallazgos de estas entrevistas se combinan luego con los resultados de una encuesta en línea. Los participantes de la encuesta eran representantes de la sociedad civil de dos municipios del departamento de Sololá. La conclusión es que las zonas rurales se enfrentan a una variedad de retos, entre los que destacan la cobertura insuficiente de necesidades básicas, la falta de empleo estable y la infraestructura deficiente que dificultan la vida de la población rural. Adicionalmente, la amplia corrupción en el país y tensiones entre los diferentes grupos étnicos contribuyen a la situación de emergencia. Aunque el estado se mantiene como un actor importante para otorgar capital semilla, la ESS puede tener un impacto positivo de varias maneras. A través de la asociación, la población rural puede fortalecer su poder de negociación, actuar como “gerente de su propia región” en relación con fondos públicos e internacionales y crear nuevos empleos estables, también con la inclusión de grupos desfavorecidos en el mercado laboral. A través de los principios de la economía social y solidaria, como la reinversión de las ganancias de las organizaciones, se puede arrancar el ciclo económico, promocionar el desarrollo de las regiones rurales y en el mejor de los casos parar la emigración.This work reflects the collaboration that has been carried out with the Guatemalan NGO “Unión de Agricultores Minifundistas de Guatemala (UAM)” over a period of three months between October 2022 and January 2023. For almost 30 years, the organization has been dedicated to promoting rural development in Guatemala through the implementation of agroecological projects, including cross-cutting themes such as gender equity, social and solidarity economy, and environmental protection in all its actions. The main objective of this work, which marks the conclusion of the Master's degree in "Development Cooperation," is to analyze the influence of the social and solidarity economy on rural development. Although cooperatives, as actors of the social and solidarity economy, have a long history in Guatemala, this new economic concept is still in its early stages. Considering the significant gap in terms of poverty and food situation between urban areas and rural regions, this work aims to analyze the current obstacles to rural development, identify influential factors that can change these deficiencies, and formulate some proposals for action, highlighting how tools and techniques of the social and solidarity economy can contribute to this transition. After describing the macroeconomic situation of Guatemala using various selected indices, a brief presentation of the collaborating NGO, and a summary of the tasks carried out during the stay in Quetzaltenango, this work focuses on describing the current state of rural development and the social and solidarity economy in Guatemala. Subsequently, the research part begins with the presentation of the methodology and the participants. In order to find answers to the issues described, four interviews were conducted with Guatemalan experts who have been dedicated to rural development in the western part of the country for many years. The findings from these interviews are then combined with the results of an online survey. The survey participants were representatives of civil society from two municipalities in the Sololá department. The conclusion is that rural areas face a variety of challenges. Insufficient coverage of basic needs, lack of stable employment, and deficient infrastructure all hinder the lives of the rural population. Additionally, widespread corruption in the country and tensions among different ethnic groups contribute to the emergency situation. Although the government remains an important actor in providing seed capital, the social and solidarity economy can have a positive impact in several ways. Through association, the rural population can strengthen their bargaining power, act as "managers of their own region" in relation to public/international funds and infrastructure, and create new stable jobs, including the inclusion of disadvantaged groups in the labor market. Through the principles of the social and solidarity economy, such as reinvesting organization profits, it is possible to kickstart the economic cycle, promote the development of rural regions, and, ideally, halt emigration

Sculpting reality from our dreams: Prefigurative design for civic engagement

At their core, organizing and activist work are about envisioning and working towards an alternative, more just political future. Various digital tools are used to support activist work, however these tools engage with values that are at odds with activist practices: where many activists do work in the service of social justice and equity, the digital tools they use are often corporate made, and thus support the status quo, i.e. profit generation, cis-heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, oppression. The ideals underlying activists’ equitable visions—of a more accessible and just future—drive their practices. This intentional alignment falls under the purview of prefigurative politics, where political work “express[es] the political ‘ends’ of their actions through their ‘means.’” [53] If activists envision a more democratic future, they adopt more equitable practices in the present in anticipation of building a more equitable future. This dissertation explores the role of digital tools to contribute to—to prefigure—alternative, more radical political values. My work uses design research and anarchist literature to explore the opportunities that ICTs offer in support of radically progressive political organizing. This work offers prefigurative design as an approach for designers and practitioners who work with communities in service of progressive political change. Prefigurative design is an orientation within HCI design and research that encourages critical reflection of research and design practices to better align design artifacts and processes with anarchist goals of anti-oppression and collective liberation, ultimately building counter-structures to replace existing institutions complicit in violence and oppression.Ph.D

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 2: Living, Making, Value

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 2 includes papers from Living, Making and Value tracks of the conference

HCI, Solidarity Movements and the Solidarity Economy

The financial crisis and austerity politics in Europe has had a devastating impact on public services, social security and vulnerable populations. Greek civil society responded quickly by establishing solidarity structures aimed at helping vulnerable citizens to meet their basic needs and empower them to co-create an anti-austerity movement. While digital technology and social media played an important role in the initiation of the movement, it has a negligible role in the movement's on-going practices. Through embedded work with several solidarity structures in Greece, we have begun to understand the `solidarity economy' (SE) as an experiment in direct democracy and self-organization. Working with a range of solidarity structures we are developing a vision for a `Solidarity HCI' committed to designing to support personal, social and institutional transformation through processes of agonistic pluralism and contestation, where the aims and objectives of the SE are continuously re-formulated and put into practice

HCI, Solidarity Movements and the Solidarity Economy

The financial crisis and austerity politics in Europe has had a devastating impact on public services, social security and vulnerable populations. Greek civil society responded quickly by establishing solidarity structures aimed at helping vulnerable citizens to meet their basic needs and empower them to co-create an anti-austerity movement. While digital technology and social media played an important role in the initiation of the movement, it has a negligible role in the movement s on-going practices. Through embedded work with several solidarity structures in Greece, we have begun to understand the solidarity economy (SE) as an experiment in direct democracy and self-organization. Working with a range of solidarity structures we are developing a vision for a Solidarity HCI committed to designing to support personal, social and institutional transformation through processes of agonistic pluralism and contestation, where the aims and objectives of the SE are continuously re-formulated and put into practice.3126313