Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Design for a common world: On ethical agency and cognitive justice

  • Published:
Ethics and Information Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paper discusses two answers to the question, How to address the harmful effects of technology? The first response proposes a complete separation of science from culture, religion, and ethics. The second response finds harm in the logic and method of science itself. The paper deploys a feminist technoscience approach to overcome these accounts of neutral or deterministic technological agency. In this technoscience perspective, agency is not an attribute of autonomous human users alone but enacted and performed in socio-material configurations of people and technology and their ‘intra-actions’. This understanding of agency is proposed as an alternative that opens up for the reconfiguration of design and use for more ethical effects, such as the cultivation of cognitive justice, the equal treatment and representation of different ways of knowing the world. The implication of this approach is that design becomes an adaptive and ongoing intra-active process in which more desirable configurations of people and technology become possible.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aanestad, M. (2003). The camera as an actor: Design-in use of telemedicine infrastructure in surgery. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 12(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adam, A. (2003). Feminist ethics for computer ethics. In C. Mörtberg, P. Elovaara, & A. Lundgren (Eds.), How do we make a difference: Information technology, transnational democracy, and gender (pp. 137–149). Luleå: University of Technology Luleå.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballantyne, P. (2002). Collecting and propagating local development content: Synthesis and conclusions. Retrieved February 2008, from http://www.ftpiicd/files/research/reports/report7.pdf.

  • Barad, K. (1999). Agential realism: Feminist interventions in understanding scientific practices. In M. Baglioli (Ed.), The science studies reader (pp. 1–11). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barad, K. (2003). Posthumanist performativity: Toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter. Signs, 28(3), 801–831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barad, K. (2007) . Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barney, D. (2004). The network society. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • BBC. (2007). Warning of data ticking timebomb. Retrieved July 3, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6265976.stm.

  • Bowker, G. C., & Star, S. L. (1999). Sorting things out: Classification and its consequences. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brand. S. (1994). How buildings learn. New York: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christie, M. (2004). Words, ontologies and aboriginal databases. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://www.cdu.edu.au/centres/ik/pdf/WordsOntologiesAbDB.pdf.

  • Code. L. (2006). Ecological thinking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dams. (2000). World commission on. Dams and development: A new framework for decision-making. London: Earthscan.

  • Elam, M., & Bertilsson, M. (2003). Consuming, engaging and confronting science: The emerging dimensions of scientific citizenship. European Journal of Social Theory, 6(2), 233–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feenberg, A. (1999). Questioning technology. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feenberg, A. (2002). Transforming technology: A critical theory revisited. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, D. (1997). Modest_Witness@Second_Millenium.FemaleMan©_Meets_Oncomouse™. New York: Routledge.

  • Haraway, D. (2003). The companion species manifesto: Dogs, people, and significant otherness. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heeks, R. (2002). Failure, success and improvisation of information systems projects in developing countries. Manchester: Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraak, A. (1999). Western science, power and the marginalization of indigenous modes of knowledge production (Interpretative minutes of the discussion held on ‘Debates about Knowledge: Developing Countries Perspectives’ co-hosted by CHET and CSD). Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://www.chet.org.za/publications/Debates%20about%20Knowledge%20-%20Report.doc.

  • Kwasnik, B. H. (1999). The role of classification in knowledge representation and discovery. Library Trends, 48(1), 22–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (2004). Why has critique run out of steam? From matters of fact to matters of concern. Critical Inquiry, 30, 225–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonell, P., Tagami, R., et al. (2003). Brian deer classification system. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr517/02–03-wt2/projects/deer/index.htm.

  • Nanda, M. (2003a). Prophets facing backwards: Postmodern critiques of science and Hindu Nationalism in India. Rutgers: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanda, M. (2003b). Postmodernism, science and religious fundamentalism. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=40.

  • Nanda, M. (2006). How modern are we? Cultural contradictions of India’s Modernity. Economic and Political Weekly, 491–496.

  • Olson, H. A. (2001). The power to name: Representation in library catalogs. Signs, 26(3), 639–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oudshoorn, N., Rommes, E., et al. (2004). Configuring the user as everybody: Gender and design cultures in information and communication technologies. Science, Technology & Human Values, 29(1), 30–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pannekoek, F. (2001). Cyber imperialism and the marginalization of Canada’s indigenous peoples. In J.-P. Baillargeon (Ed.), The handing down of culture, smaller societies and globalization. Toronto: Grubstreet Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinch, T., & Bijker, W. (1987). The social construction of facts and artifacts. In W. Bijker, T. Hughes, & T. Pinch (Eds.), The social construction of technological systems. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajagopal, B. (2001). The violence of development. The Washington Post, Washington. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://mit.edu/phrj/publications/010808_washington_post.html.

  • Renteln, A. D. (1988). Relativism and the search for human rights. American Anthropologist, 90(1), 56–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolland, K. H. (2006). Achieving knowledge across borders: Facilitating practices of triangulation, obliterating “digital Junkyards”. Ethics and Information Technology, 8, 143–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rundle, M., & Conley, C. (2007). Ethical implications of emerging technologies: A survey. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shirky, C. (2006). Ontology is overrated: Categories, links, and tags. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://www.shirky.com/writings/ontology_overrated.html.

  • Shiva, V. (1993). Monocultures of the mind: Perspectives on biodiversity and biotechnology. Dehra Dun: Natraj.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahl, B. C. (2002). Can a computer adhere to the categorical imperative? A contemplation of the limits of transcendental ethics in IT. In I. Smit & G. E. Lasker (Eds.), Cognitive, emotive and ethical aspects of decision making and human action (pp. 13–18). Baden-Baden.

  • Stahl, B. C. (2003). The moral and business value of information technology: What to do in case of a conflict? In N. Shun (Ed.), Creating business value with information technology: Challenges and solutions (pp. 187–202). Hershey: Idea-Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchman, L. (2007). Human-machine reconfigurations: Plans and situated actions (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP. (2001). Human Development Report 2001: Making new technologies work for human development. New York: UNDP.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Velden, M. (2005). Programming for cognitive justice: Towards an ethical framework for democratic code. Interacting with Computers, 17, 105–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Velden, M. (2006). A license to know: Regulatory tactics of a global network. In F. Sudweeks, H. Hrachovec, et al. (Eds.), Cultural attitudes towards technology and communication 2006 (pp. 555–563). Murdoch: Murdoch University.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Velden, M. (2007). Invisibility and the ethics of digitalization: Designing so as not to hurt others. In S. Hongladarom & C. Ess (Eds.), Information technology ethics: Cultural perspectives (pp. 81–93). London: Idea Group Reference.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der velden, M. (2008a) What's love got to do with IT? On Ethics and accountability in telling technology stories. In F. Sudweeks, H. Hrachovec, et al. (Eds.), Cultural attitudes towards technology and communication 2008 (pp. 27-39). Murdoch: Murdoch University. Available at http://www.globalagenda.org/file/12.

  • van der Velden, M. (2008b). Organising development knowledge: Towards situated classification work on the Web. Webology, 5(3), Article 60. Available at: http://www.webology.ir/2008/v5n3/a60.html.

  • Verran, H. (2005). Personal communication per email, November 21, 2005.

  • Verran, H., Christie, M., et al. (2007). Designing digital tools with Aboriginal Australians. Digital Creativity, 18(3), 129–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visvanathan, S. (1988). On the annals of the laboratory state. In A. Nandi (Ed.), Science, hegemony, and violence: A requiem for modernity. Tokyo: United Nations University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Visvanathan, S. (2000). Environmental values, policy, and conflict in India, 2000 (Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs). Retrieved 20 June 2008, from http://www.cceia.org/resources/articles_papers_reports/709.html/_res/id=sa_File1/709_visvanathan.pdf.

  • Visvanathan, S. (2002). The future of science studies. Futures, 34, 91–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visvanathan, S. (2003). Progress and violence. In A. Lightman, D. Sarewitz, & C. Desser (Eds.), Living with the genie: Essays on technology and the quest for human mastery (pp. 157–180). Washington: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Visvanathan, S. (2006). Alternative science. Theory, Culture & Society, 23(2–3), 164–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visvanathan, S. (2007). Knowledge, justice and democracy. In M. Leach, I. Scoones, & B. Wynne (Eds.), Science and citizens (pp. 83–94). London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, M., & Vukovic, V. (2003). Cultures, literacy, and the Web: Dimensions of information “Scent”. Interactions, 10(2), 64–71. (Special Issue: HCI in the Developing World).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilk, R. (1995). Learning to be local in Belize: Global systems of common difference. In D. Miller (Ed.), Worlds apart: Modernity through the prism of the local (pp. 110–135). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilk, R. (2004). Miss Universe, the Olmec and the Valley of Oaxaca. Journal of Social Archeology, 4(1), 81–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilks, A. (2002). Development through the looking glass: The knowledge bank in cyberspace. Information Development, 18(1), 41–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winner, L. (1993). Upon opening the black box and finding it empty: Social constructivism and the philosophy of technology. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 18(3), 362–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research is made possible by a grant from the Research Council of Norway (NFR project number 29237).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bergen, Fosswinckelsgate 6, 5007, Bergen, Norway

    Maja van der Velden

Authors
  1. Maja van der Velden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maja van der Velden.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van der Velden, M. Design for a common world: On ethical agency and cognitive justice. Ethics Inf Technol 11, 37–47 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-008-9178-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-008-9178-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation