The messy complexities of democratic engagement and empowerment in participatory design – an illustrative case with a community-based organisation

Thinyane, Mamello, Bhat, Karthik, Goldkind, Lauri and Cannanure, Vikram K., (2020). The messy complexities of democratic engagement and empowerment in participatory design – an illustrative case with a community-based organisation. CoDesign, 16(1), 29-44

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UNU in Macau Journal Articles

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  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Thinyane, Mamello
    Bhat, Karthik
    Goldkind, Lauri
    Cannanure, Vikram K.
    Title The messy complexities of democratic engagement and empowerment in participatory design – an illustrative case with a community-based organisation
    Appearing in CoDesign
    Volume 16
    Issue No. 1
    Publication Date 2020
    Place of Publication United Kingdom
    Publisher Taylor & Francis
    Start page 29
    End page 44
    Language eng
    Abstract Participatory design has both its purpose and means, the democratic engagement and empowerment of end-users in design processes. The situation of participatory design, as a unit of analysis, is however, laden with complex power dynamics and interactions amongst participating actants; this contributes to advancing as well as inhibiting both the employment of the means and the achievement of the goals of democratic engagement and empowerment. This paper presents the case of participatory design with a community-based organisation, in the design of technology artefacts for one of their service centres. Using Situational Analysis, a critical qualitative inquiry methodology, the paper unpacks the complex interactions and surfaces the hidden power mechanisms and hegemonic dynamics in the participatory design situation. Further, on the premise that reflection and reflexivity can facilitate critical review, empowerment of users, and self-development in design teams, the paper presents an analysis of the extent to which reflexivity was achieved in the participatory design sessions, and discusses the mechanisms that were employed in this situation to mitigate the identified barriers against democratic engagement and empowerment.
    UNBIS Thesaurus EMPOWERMENT
    Keyword Participatory design
    Situational analysis
    Complex interactions
    Democratic engagement
    Co-design
    Copyright Holder Informa UK Limited
    Copyright Year 2020
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/15710882.2020.1722175
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    Created: Fri, 24 Apr 2020, 17:19:45 JST by Tarinee Youkhaw on behalf of UNU CS