Caring data and information systems: towards a digital permaculture
(2021) 4S - Society for Social Studies of Science — Location: Toronto (online) (6.October.2021)
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- Abstract
- It is widely agreed to think that we have entered a “digital age". There are, however, a number of scholars who are convinced that we have entered the Anthropocene, an era of instability which is threatening our way of life, ecosystems and hence the survival of the human species. It is therefore legitimate to question the possibility that our world remains digital if it suffers from extreme ecological devastation? How to think about the future of the Web and the digital at the time of the Anthropocene? Our proposal is speculative and is inspired by the ethical principles of permaculture (Holmgren, 2014). Permaculture, both ethical and practical, is guided by three major principles: "(1) take care of the Earth and all its forms of life, (2) take care of people (...) and (3) redistribute the surpluses (to the Earth and to people)”. In addition, permaculture is not dogmatic, because it is the detailed observation of the "environment" and its interactions that will determine the particular design, necessary for resilience. It is therefore not a question of applying principles to soil, but of taking care of both the processes and the living people inhabiting this space. As Puig de la Bellacasa maintains, “permaculture is an ethics of care, but also an a-subjective relational ethics, addressing humans and non-humans with the idea of taking care of living environments together, including humans and more-than-humans” (2017, 161). We find inspiration in this ethical and practical model of permaculture in order to re-think the way digital objects and cultures should be designed and implemented.
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Grandjean, N. (2021). Caring data and information systems: towards a digital permaculture. 4S - Society for Social Studies of Science, Toronto (online). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/164445