Challenges and paradoxes in decolonising HCI: A critical discussion

The preponderance of Western methods, practices, standards, and classifications in the manner in which new technology-related knowledge is created and globalised has led to calls for more inclusive approaches to design. A decolonisation project is concerned with how researchers might contribute to dismantling and re-envisioning existing power relations, resisting past biases, and balancing Western heavy influences in technology design by foregrounding the authentic voices of the indigenous people in the entire design process. We examine how the establishment of local Global South HCI communities (AfriCHI and ArabHCI) has led to the enactment of decolonisation practices. Specifically, we seek to uncover how decolonisation is perceived in the AfriCHI and ArabHCI communities as well as the extent to which both communities are engaged with the idea of decolonisation without necessarily using the term. We drew from the relevant literature, our own outsider/insider lived experiences, and the communities’ responses to an online anonymised survey to highlight three problematic but interrelated practical paradoxes: a terminology, an ethical, and a micro-colonisation paradox. We argue that these paradoxes expose the dilemmas faced by local non-Western researchers as they pursue decolonisation thinking. This article offers a blended perspective on the decolonisation debate in HCI, CSCW, and the practice-based CSCW scholarly communities and invites researchers to examine their research work using a decolonisation lens

“Remembering” as a decolonial praxis in African HCI and design

The fourth wave of HCI sought to engage with the ethics, politics, and values of design as an engine of modernity/coloniality. In doing so, we've witnessed a series of critiques and reflections on how the broadening of context and application in the third wave does not equate to any substantial structural changes in the ontologies and epistemologies informing HCI research and design. This can be attributed to the inevitable chaos of multiplicity inherent in HCI - and issues that we reckon could further implicate the efforts towards politicizing design as applied in the context of Africa. In this conceptual paper, we take the politics of design to another level by integrating distinct religious and sociopolitical practices across Africa in showing the colonizing dimension of the entirety of modern design enterprise. We argue that remembering the onomatopoeic dynamic of Amun-RA and the Ekumeku - both as theological thoughts and political praxis that are situated in African traditions - could provide a powerful instrument for ‘asking questions’ and ‘forming conversation’ on how technology can be developed and evaluated in/from African communities. Building on this year's theme of ‘beyond limit’, this study showcases how decolonizing African design entails, on an abstract level, a decolonisation of the imagination. To go beyond colonially imposed limits in computing research and design, we ought to remember our histories and cultures clearly, there is a designerly power in remembering

Afrocentric collaborative care: supporting context specific digital health and care

Non-communicable diseases e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, and cancers etc, are slowly becoming silent epidemics in African countries. Most of them are closely linked with unique clinical manifestations and could go undetected until there is a complication. Management of these diseases requires long-term informal care, and this has resulted in a complex network of relationships between patients, complementary care providers, informal and formal caregivers. Unfortunately, there are not many studies investigating these relationships from a decolonized perspective with the intention of co-designing interventions that are unique to their lived experiences. This workshop aims to bring together researchers working on digital health and care projects in Africa to discuss the implications of existing collaborative care structures and cultures for technology, as well as near future Afrocentric approaches to collaborative care. We aim to highlight existing challenges in technology enabled collaborative care, differentiate them from established challenges in the Global North and identify design opportunities. This workshop will contribute to the growing attention shown to the African continent in CSCW and HCI research more broadly