Dear Mariam,
I realize your post’s intention was to promote the workshop and not
necessarily discuss the ideas therein. However, some of the statements made
me raise an eyebrow, and since this is a public and open forum I would like
to make a few comments.
You wrote
*The goal of the workshop is to first and foremost build a community of
researchers, practitioners, and organizers around the intersection of
technological design and social justice. *
(Just a minor note) I would argue that all design is “technological”, but
perhaps you mean design that operates at the cutting-edge?
I get a bit edgy when I read terms such as “social justice”. I assume that
the context of the workshop is western democratic countries; if so, it is
granted (hopefully) that we all (well, maybe not Donald Trump) strive for a
just society, a laudable principle that in our social-democratic states
evolved to a political system based on the ideas of separation of powers
(legislative, executive, and judiciary) upholding of individual freedom(s),
egalitarianism, and so on. I’m not an expert on political science, but I
reckon that, in democracy, a “just society” slowly emerges from the
evolution and combination of those ideas and values, as well as from the
constant adjustment of individual desires and collective interest. Of
course, this is a somewhat naive perspective, since history has shown us
that democratic states do not neatly evolve towards progressively more fair
and just societies.
I should probably make my point before I inevitably stray into deep waters:
when you say “social justice” I wonder what do you actually mean. Justice
for whom? What kind of injustice are we talking about? Why is this
injustice not being handled by current laws? Who is going to enforce this
“social justice”?
Mind you, I can think of several injustices that exist in our current
western societies (and I can think of dozens in under-developed countries)
but I don’t think they can all be encompassed in the same sweeping term
“social justice”.
And also:
*Specifically, we seek to facilitate the conversations necessary to move
beyond “design with good intentions” toward design praxis, or reflection
and action directed to transform oppressive structures with and by the
dispossessed, marginalized, and oppressed. *
What do you mean with “oppressive structures”? Oppressive to whom? What is
the nature of these structures? I take issue with vague, slightly scary,
and definitely cringe-worthy terms such as these because they are a
rhetorical trope commonly found in political propaganda. (This is coming
across too harsh, I don’t think your text is propaganda, but perhaps
elaborating on some of these terms [same goes for “individual systems of
oppression”] might help clarify what the workshop is about…)
Again, I hope this doesn't come across too harsh. Good luck for the
workshop!
Best regards,
João Ferreira
On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 1:36 AM, Mariam Asad <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> **apologies for cross-posting**
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Some colleagues and I are co-organizing a one-day workshop at CHI 2016 in
> San Jose, CA and we’d like to invite y’all to participate. The Call for
> Participation— as well as workshop details, submission dates, and
> additional information— is available online <
> http://depts.washington.edu/tatlab/socialjustice/> now [1].
>
> The goal of the workshop is to first and foremost build a community of
> researchers, practitioners, and organizers around the intersection of
> technological design and social justice. Specifically, we seek to
> facilitate the conversations necessary to move beyond “design with good
> intentions” toward design praxis, or reflection and action directed to
> transform oppressive structures with and by the dispossessed, marginalized,
> and oppressed. There are examples of projects that contend with individual
> systems of oppression—however, there is presently no unified community or
> common understanding of how these research projects and activism can hang
> together. Moreover, there is a clear need to unpack and provide nuanced
> understandings of HCI projects that promote “good”.
>
> Second, we strive to build knowledge together. In our experience with
> social justice related projects, there are particular questions that need a
> broad range of experiences and perspectives to help answer. For example:
> “How can researchers balance commitments to research and the particular
> activist project at hand?” or “How can different principles of social
> justice inform HCI methods such as decolonization or intersectionality?” In
> particular, we are interested in building knowledge around design methods,
> researcher reflexivity, and different epistemic approaches toward design.
> Just as design is often generative and future looking, so too are social
> justice endeavors. As the late Grace Lee Boggs, a feminist social activist
> and philosopher, stated, “…we have the power within us to create ourselves
> and the world anew”.
>
> Early deadline for submission is December 14.
> Apply to submit here:
> http://depts.washington.edu/tatlab/socialjustice/submit/ <
> http://depts.washington.edu/tatlab/socialjustice/submit/>
> Any and all questions can be sent to us organizers at
> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]
> >.
>
> Thanks— we look forward to seeing folks' submissions!
>
> -mariam
>
> [1] http://depts.washington.edu/tatlab/socialjustice/ <
> http://depts.washington.edu/tatlab/socialjustice/>
>
> —
> Mariam Asad
> PhD Student, Digital Media, Georgia Institute of Technology
> @mariamnotmiriam || 404-735-8505
>
>
>
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--
*João Ferreira*
00351 967089437
0031 0619808750
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