The notion of lifeworld applied to information systems research

The paper revisits the notion of emancipation in Information System Development (ISD) that seems to have lost a battle against functionalist and managerialist approaches dominant in information system (IS) research and practice. Unlike functionalist and managerialist views, the emancipatory view of ISD, informed by Critical Theory, considers ISD as a site of organizational innovation, self-reflection and a struggle for humanization of work and liberation from different forms of domination. Critics of emancipatory project in IS and management literature question the very possibility of the emancipation and deplore its intellectualism, naivety and negativism. The purpose of this paper is to re-consider the notion of emancipatory ISD in the face of these criticisms and develop a more refined and nuanced view of micro-emancipation in ISD that is meaningful in practice. Informed by Alvesson and Willmott (1992, 1996) we explore, question, redefine and ground the micro-emancipatory ISD processes based on a longitudinal (15 year) study of a retail company. Our analysis and critical reflection demonstrate that micro-emancipatory ISD processes have real substance for the people involved, and that their meanings are neither fixed nor universal, but rather local, emergent, uncertain, and sometimes contradictory. This paper contributes an empirically grounded and practically relevant reconceptualization of micro-emancipatory ISD projects which reveals both its benefits and risks for all involved

Implications of Internet Governance Issues for the end Users

Many of the utility service problems for the Internet cannot be solved by technical solutions when the causes are outside of the scope of technical explanation. For example, the consequences of management policies, economic requirements, proprietary rights and Governmental intervention. The result is that end-users experience inconsistent access to the largest global information system and regular disruptions to information services. It is also debatable if many of the “technical” and “engineering” causes cited for service disruption relate to technical issues or rather unresolved abstract layer problems such as social, political, legal and ethical concerns. In this paper, we define the problem context, perform theoretical analysis, and discuss possible ways to enhance the scope of internet governance that might benefit better information system services. The research contribution is a philosophical discussion of a problem domain that influences the utility value of large information systems

Privacy and Brain-Computer Interfaces

The research described in this thesis draws on three distinct fields: privacy, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), and critical theory (specifically, Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action). There are two aims. The first is to identify whether BCIs disrupt privacy, and if so, how. The second is to contribute methodological observations and insights. In meeting the first aim, two subjects are explored: privacy and BCIs. In this research, privacy is understood to take diverse and pliant forms and to be mutually instrumental in the formation of other social values and social contexts. Social contexts may be disrupted by emerging technologies, such as BCIs, which may then disrupt privacy. Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are a group of emerging technologies that interpret someone’s neural activity in order to provide control of external devices. In the literature, it has been suggested that BCIs may disrupt privacy. To the extent that privacy perpetuates other social values, this project has an emancipatory intent which places the research within the purview of critical theory. Critical theory encompasses a broad range of research practices. The research reported here applies a novel method informed by features of Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action (TCA) which was triangulated by an implementation of contextual integrity approach to studying privacy. As the TCA component of the research method is novel, the second research aim is feasible: the contribution of methodological observations and insights. A review of the literature identifies five relevant privacy concepts and four types of BCI. These are orthogonally positioned such that twenty different contexts of potential privacy disruption are considered. These contexts form hypotheses for the project’s first research question: do BCIs disrupt privacy? The method produced both quantitative and qualitative data, within which 35 indications were identified. These indications culminated in 6 knowledge contributions in the form of 2 findings, 1 design recommendation, and 3 methodological recommendations. The research data indicate that BCIs disrupt privacy because BCIs disrupt agency, fairness, self-determination, autonomy, justice, power, and to lesser extents, other values. Design and methodological recommendations are made before concluding the thesis with discussions of the potential social impact of this research, options for future research, and learning outcomes