We presented a talk on our research around contestations in participatory design at the Participatory Design Conference (PDC 2020).
Ecologies of Contestation in Participatory Design
Nitin Sawhney, Anh-Ton Tran
How do various forms of contestation and agonism in collective social contexts challenge and transform Participatory Design (PD)? Under what conditions does agonism lead to productive outcomes, expand participation and social inclusion? In this paper, we high-light key insights and issues emerging from three case studies, where design practitioners engaged in PD projects for urban and cultural transformation in New York City and Cambridge. Wide Ranging interviews and participatory workshops reveal how PD is transformed by different “ecologies” inherent in the socio-cultural conditions, power relations, design constraints, and intrinsic values of practitioners grappling with contestation and seeking to engage agonistic pluralism.
More details: http://www.pdc2020.org/programme/full-papers-eng/
Sawhney, N., and Tran, A., 2020. Ecologies of Contestation in Participatory Design. In Proceedings of the 16th Participatory Design Conference (PDC 2020), Manizales, Columbia. ACM.
Nitin Sawhney 