Doris Allhutter

The interventionist turn in science and technology studies (STS) increasingly involves researchers with practices of technology development and thus entails the need for appropriate methodologies. Based in software engineering, this article introduces the deconstructive technique of “mind scripting” as a method for analyzing processes of the co-materialization of gender and technology and as a tool to support cooperative, reflective work practices. Anchored in critical design approaches, “mind scripting” is a means for development teams to disclose discourses implicitly guiding work practices in order to make negotiable the underlying value systems. After discussing its foundation in deconstructivist feminist theory, the author illustrates how the method is applied by drawing on selected empirical results. Generating insights into the reproduction of hegemonic social discourses in development processes, “mind scripting” enables the rethinking of established ways of doing.

The paper reviews various eco-feedback systems including carbon calculators and discusses how different disciplinary approaches conceptualise and explain anticipated impacts of these systems. The European collaborative research project e2democracy investigates how citizen participation combined with long-term CO2 monitoring and feedback can contribute to achieve local climate targets. Empirical results from local climate initiatives in Austria, Germany and Spain show positive effects in terms of learning about CO2 impacts, increased awareness, enhanced efforts and guidance as well as individual empowerment leading to slightly reduced CO2 emissions. The findings highlight that a combined approach integrating eco-feedback and (e‑)participation is promising to foster sustainability.

This chapter presents a critical approach to software development that implements reflective competences in software engineering teams. It is grounded within qualitative research on software engineering and critical design practice and presents conceptual work in progress. Software development is a socio-technological process of negotiation that requires mediation of different approaches. Research on the co-construction of society and technology and on the social shaping of technological artefacts and processes has highlighted social dimensions such as gender and diversity discourses that implicitly inform development practices. To help design teams implement reflective competences in this area, the authors introduce ‘deconstructive design’ – a critical-design approach that uses deconstruction as a tool to disclose collective processes of meaning construction. For this purpose, the idea of value-sensitive design is linked to approaches of practice-based, situated and context-sensitive learning and to the concepts of ‘trading zones’ and ‘boundary objects’.

Constructive technology assessment aims at anticipating societal impacts of technological innovations and suggests incorporating reflexivity and social learning into technology development. Social learning involves fostering the ability of diverse social actors to cultivate sociotechnical critical skills, thus allowing technological and social change to be governed with consideration for social values and diverging interests. Based on this demand, our paper presents a discourse-theoretical, interventionist approach to software design introducing deconstruction and (un-)learning as reflective practices to guide development processes. Inspired by Donna Haraway’s focus on power relations in technoscience culture, our approach – called ‘deconstructive design’ – traces how structures such as in/formal hierarchies and discursive hegemonies affect the development processes and design decisions of teams or communities of practices. The underlying deconstructivist methodology refers to practice-based concepts of situated learning. Thus, it locates a potential for value-based intervention at the micro/meso-level of everyday work practices.

This paper assesses the status of eParticipation within the political system in Austria. It takes a top-down perspective focusing on the role of public participation and public policies on eParticipation. The status of eParticipation in Austria as well as of social and political trends regarding civic participation and its electronic embedding are analysed. The results show a remarkable recent increase of eParticipation projects and initiatives. A major conclusion is that eParticipation is becoming a subject of public policies in Austria; however, the upswing of supportive initiatives for public participation and eParticipation goes together with ambivalent attitudes among politicians and administration.

This article deals with one of the most booming sectors in internet communication, namely mainstream internet pornography and its political framework within the policy of the European Union on illegal and harmful content on the internet. Based on the framing approach the policy process resulting in the "Multi-annual Action plan for the safer use of the internet" is analyzed from a fundamental-rights and feminist perspective. The analysis focuses on the policy framing of the participating EU-actors with regard to gender-sensitive approaches and their feminist theoretical background. The dominant policy frames of the actors are derived from different foci concerning the aim of the Action plan and the definition of illegal and harmful content in connection with the strategic positioning of the actors between a "possible limitation of fundamental rights" and an "emphasis on the right to defence against intervention".