Dear Kari-Hans, Alan and others

thanks for the responses. i agree with you totally. i should have said that i
am skeptical with critical discourse that is without the input of the
powerless. what i wanted to say in my last post is this:

when we talk about the condition of being powerless, any point of view is ok.
but to be constructively making change, the chosen view (whatever it is) must
be respectful of the experiences of the powerless and must be an accordance to
the way the powerless speak about their experiences.

and this attitude of seeking accordance can be applied equally well to design
practice.professional designers will always offer their 'service' (in the same
sense of how harold and erik use it), but the final judgement/agreement on the
value of 'service' must come from the clients and the people for/with whom
they design.

and this same attitude can also be applied to design research. researchers who
claim to be producing knowledge for design must learn to accept, or better
appreciate that the final judgement on the value of the knowledge lies in the
designers.

make sense? - rosan


Kari-Hans Kommonen wrote:

> Rosan, (Alan, and all),
>
> I would also propose that maybe a symmetrical approach can be useful
> - if you are sceptical about the talk of power structures of those
> who have not been powerless, wouldn't it make sense also to feel
> sceptical about the talk of power structures of those who have never
> been powerful?
>
> This would also seem to be in sync with Paulo Freire, as it is a
> crucial point for him that both the oppressed and the oppressor need
> to be liberated from the condition of oppression.
>
> I think that discussion of power structures is something where lots
> of diverse experiences, from many points of view regarding the
> phenomenon of power, should be brought together, and we are there
> facing the same problems of finding (and first understanding the need
> to find) common languages, understandings and beliefs as we have
> discussed elsewhere.
>
> So maybe to complement a dose of healthy scepticism, there is also
> need for constructive and analytical empathy - for powerless,
> powerful, and a bunch of others that fall outside of those vague
> categories.
>
> kh
>
> ..
> At 07:37 -0700 22.4.2004, Alan Murdock wrote:
> >On Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at 11:27 PM, Rosan Chow wrote:
> >
> >>i am sorry to say, but i am generally very sceptical about people who
> >>talk about power structure (even with the best intention) when they have
> >>never been powerless. and for this reason, i only like the works of Paulo
> >>Freire.
> >>"The Pedagogy of Hope" is useful for anyone who is interested in
> >>critical discourse in design. and i will add also that if the
> >>critical discourse doesn't make you cry, it probably is not real,
> >>thus irrelevant for
> >>changing the social structure.
> ...
> >It may be worthwhile to be skeptical of those who speak about power
> >structures, but it is also possible that someone who seems to be
> >powerful and to come from power to have experiences of disempowerment.
> >It may be good to find out if and how the person who is speaking about
> >power has experienced it before applying skepticism.  Otherwise we can
> >base a judgment on a false assumption.
> >
> >I like Paulo Freire as well, but I think there is a little bit of a
> >missionary feel to some of it.  How is someone given the power to
> >empower others?
> >
> >Alan