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A classification of cultural engagements in community technology design: introducing a transcultural approach

Authors:
Heike Winschiers-Theophilus at Namibia University of Science and Technology
Heike Winschiers-Theophilus
Tariq Zaman at University of Technology Sarawak
Tariq Zaman
Colin Stanley at Namibia University of Science and Technology
Colin Stanley
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Abstract

Community technology design has been deeply affected by paradigm shifts and dominant discourses of its seminal disciplines, such as Human Computer Interaction, Cultural and Design theories, and Community Development as reflected in Community Narratives. A particular distinction of community technology design endeavours has been their cultural stance, which directs the agendas, interactions, and outcomes of the collaboration. Applying different cultural lenses to community technology design, shifts not only practices but also directs the levels of awareness, thereby unfolding fundamentally distinct cultural engagement approaches. Previous community technology design research indulged in cross-, inter-, and multicultural approaches to community engagement; it was occupied with meticulously deconstructing and reconstructing perspectives, interactions, roles, and agendas. We argue that when deeply immersed in joint design activities in long-term collaborations, we look beyond individual cultures and enter
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A classification of cultural engagements in community technology
design: introducing a transcultural approach
Heike Winschiers-Theophilus
1
•Tariq Zaman
2
•Colin Stanley
1
Received: 2 December 2016 / Accepted: 16 June 2017 / Published online: 24 June 2017
Springer-Verlag London Ltd. 2017
Abstract Community technology design has been deeply
affected by paradigm shifts and dominant discourses of its
seminal disciplines, such as Human Computer Interaction,
Cultural and Design theories, and Community Develop-
ment as reflected in Community Narratives. A particular
distinction of community technology design endeavours
has been their cultural stance, which directs the agendas,
interactions, and outcomes of the collaboration. Applying
different cultural lenses to community technology design,
shifts not only practices but also directs the levels of
awareness, thereby unfolding fundamentally distinct cul-
tural engagement approaches. Previous community tech-
nology design research indulged in cross-, inter-, and
multicultural approaches to community engagement; it was
occupied with meticulously deconstructing and recon-
structing perspectives, interactions, roles, and agendas. We
argue that when deeply immersed in joint design activities
in long-term collaborations, we look beyond individual
cultures and enter a transcultural mode of engagement. A
transcultural community technology design endeavour
supports a continuous creation and re-creation of new
meanings, originating from individual entities yet being
diffused and continuously reflected within the existing
design space. We suggest that within community technol-
ogy design, a context with abundant cultural diversity, a
heightened awareness becomes a necessity. We exemplify
different instantiations of the cultural engagement
approaches within our long-term collaborations and tech-
nology design projects with indigenous communities in
Malaysian Borneo and Namibia. A transcultural approach
to indigenous knowledge preservation and digitisation
efforts with indigenous communities opens up a contro-
versial debate about protecting versus integrating local
epistemologies.
Keywords Transcultural Multicultural
Crosscultural Intercultural Community technology
design Cultural engagement Penan OvaHimba
1 Introduction
The discourse in community technology design has taken
various directions, being continuously influenced by dif-
ferent disciplines, theories, and experiences. While the
related disciplines such as Human Computer Interaction
(HCI), community development, and design itself, have
established different paradigms over the years embedded in
a wider socio-political global movement, we have seen
fundamental changes of agendas and perspectives deeply
affecting technology design with communities. Our previ-
ous work on technology design with Namibian communi-
ties (Winschiers-Theophilus et al. 2010,2013) has
demonstrated that the success of the design process is
dependent on the individual participants’ commitment and
engagement, as well as on the collective communities’
agendas and cohesion (Kapuire et al. 2015).
&Heike Winschiers-Theophilus
hwinschiers@nust.na
Tariq Zaman
zamantariq@gmail.com
Colin Stanley
cstanley@nust.na
1
Namibia University of Science and Technology, Storchstr.5,
Windhoek, Namibia
2
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan,
Sarawak, Malaysia
123
AI & Soc (2019) 34:419–435
DOI 10.1007/s00146-017-0739-y
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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