Digital technology for people: learning from non-Western and indigenous cultures
bookPart
This essay explores alternative ways to manage societal and environmental issues. Several assumptions of the European Enlightenment – such as the perspectives that people are isolated individuals and nature is an object – have led to many of our current problems. Often, digital technology is designed and deployed within these assumptions. It can be useful to explore alternative ways to design and use digital technology by looking at non-Western, Indigenous cultures. Four examples are discussed briefly: Ubuntu philosophy and the example of a language app for African languages; Māori data sovereignty; the building of a Lakota sweat lodge to inform building computer hardware; and the role of LAN Houses and mobile phones in the empowerment of people in a favela in Brazil. The essay closes with suggestions for learning from these examples. © The Authors
TNO Identifier
1011841
ISBN
978-3-7489-4758-5
Publisher
Nomos
Source title
Uncertain Journeys into Digital Futures Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research for Mitigating Wicked Societal and Environmental Problems
Editor(s)
Kox, T.
Ullrich, A.
Zech, H.
Ullrich, A.
Zech, H.
Place of publication
Baden-Baden
Pages
255-266