A socio-political approach to practices in software development

This Elise-Richter project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF develops a socio-political approach to software development. Aiming at the value-based development of information systems, it deals with processes and methods of software design that open spaces for socio-political reflection.

Established ways of doing


When making design decisions, software developers rely on technical methods and on everyday discourses. Shared social ideas and values are inscribed into information systems. Vice versa, the design and use of technology shape society. As a result, information technologies do not only express but also reproduce social, cultural and normative relations.

Take for example the internet and the technical infrastructure that organizes Web content: The information available on the Web is structured by search technologies. Linked data and semantic technologies relate various data to one another and, in this way, render some aspects visible and others invisible. This kind of linking and obscuring also defines knowledge areas in that it brings particular viewpoints to the fore while others disappear in the background.

In turn, the data models that such technologies are based on, relate the (societal, political, economic or scientific) implications of the mentioned knowledge areas to one another. In this way, they establish seemingly neutral realities.

Even though data models rely on methods and tools of software development, they are the result of normative design decisions and thus blend in with hegemonies in society. The crucial point here is: Implicit assumptions on generated knowledge areas or future use contexts gain momentum if they are not being reflected. They mostly act in accordance with power structures in society, which, for example, are indicated by gender and class relations.

Starting points of the project


Approaches of critical technical practice describe the collaborative design of information systems as socio-technical practices. In implementation, abstract technical concepts and models are brought to life by adding social meaning to them. Unknowingly, ideologies and hegemonic viewpoints become active and get reproduced in the same way.

The Elise-Richter project develops a socio-political approach to software development. Aiming at the value-based development of information systems, it deals with processes and methods of software design that open spaces for socio-political reflection.

“Deconstructive Design”, the design approach that has been conceptualized for this endeavour‚ will be applied, elaborated and evaluated in cooperation with development teams. The approach allows a team to critically reflect on the political relevance of their own work practices and to create space for thinking and acting in a way that exceeds solely technical perspectives and triggers creative socio-technical solutions.

Theoretical approach


The project relates research on the co-emergence of society and technology to approaches of critical technical practice and power-critical concepts from political science. Theoretically it ties in with Judith Butler’s and Karen Barad’s concept of ‘material-discursive performativity’. This concept explains how power relations reproduce in everyday practices through the entanglement of performative discourses and material (e.g. technical) phenomena. The project practically applies discourse theory and recent materialist approaches in developing information systems.

The project is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project number V273-G15.

Publications

Publications

  • Allhutter, D., Bargetz, B., Brøgger, K., Cielemęcka, O., González Ramos, A., Meißner, H., Revelles-Benavente, B., Rogowska-Stangret, M., Staunæs, D., Stark, W., & Thiele, K. (2024). The Politics of Feminist New Materialisms: Insights from Experimenting with Academic Practices. In F. Colman & van der Tuin, I. (Eds.), Methods and Genealogies of New Materialisms (pp. 384-406). Edinburgh, Ireland: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-methods-and-genealogies-of-new-materialisms.html
  • Allhutter, D. (2021). Memory Traces in Society-Technology Relations. How to Produce Cracks in Infrastructural Power. In R. Hamm (Ed.), Reader Collective Memory-Work (pp. 155-181). Sligo, Ireland: BeltraBooks. Retrieved from https://collectivememorywork.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Reader-Collective-Memory-Work-ebook.pdf
  • Allhutter, D., Bargetz, B., Meißner, H., & Thiele, K. (2020). Materiality-critique-transformation: challenging the political in feminist new materialisms. Feminist Theory, 21 (4), 403-411. doi:10.1177/1464700120967289
  • Allhutter, D., Bargetz, B., Meißner, H., & Thiele, K. (Eds.). (2020). Materiality-Critique-Transformation: Challenging the Political in New Feminist Materialisms. doi:10.1177/1464700120967289
  • Riedlinger, D. (2020). Amsterdamska Award. Ita-Newsfeed. Retrieved from https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/detail/news/amsterdamska-award
  • Allhutter, D., & Berendt, B. (2020). Deconstructing FAT: using memories to collectively explore implicit assumptions, values and context in practices of debiasing and discrimination-awareness. Proceedings of ACM Conference on Fairness, Transparency, and Accountability. doi:10.1145/3351095.3375688
  • Allhutter, D. (2019). Of 'Working Ontologists' and 'High-quality Human Components'. The Politics of Semantic Infrastructures. In D. Ribes & Vertesi, J. (Eds.), DigitalSTS: A Field Guide for Science & Technology Studies (pp. 326-348). Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvc77mp9.25
  • Allhutter, D. (2019). Dem algorithmischen Bias auf der Spur. Tatup - Technikfolgenabschätzung In Theorie Und Praxis, 81. Retrieved from https://www.tatup.de/index.php/tatup/article/view/205/270
  • Allhutter, D. (2016). Pornografie. In J. Heesen (Ed.), Handbuch Medien- und Informationsethik (pp. 170-177). Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler. doi:10.1007/978-3-476-05394-7_23
  • Allhutter, D. (2014). Vergeschlechtlichte Anwender_innen-Erlebnisse und User Experience als soziomaterielles Konzept. In T. -D. -C. Hochschule Heilbronn Kompetenzzentrum, Marsden, M., & Kempf, U. (Eds.), Gender-UseIT – HCI, Web-Usability und UX unter Gendergesichtspunkten (pp. 15-25). Oldenbourg: De Gruyter. Retrieved from http://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/428213
  • Allhutter, D., & Hofmann, R. (2014). Affektive Materialitäten in Geschlechter-Technikverhältnissen. Handlungs- und theorie-politische Implikationen einer antikategorialen Geschlechteranalyse. Freiburger Zeitschrift Für Geschlechterstudien, 20, 59-78. Retrieved from http://www.budrich-journals.de/index.php/fgs/article/view/17135
  • Allhutter, D., Brauner, C., Cacioppo, B., & Garnter, H. (Eds.). (2014). Streuungsmuster. Ausgewählte Texte aus dem Lise Meitner Literaturpreis. Streuungsmuster. Ausgewählte Texte aus dem Lise Meitner Literaturpreis (p. 216). Wien: Promedia.
  • Allhutter, D. (2014). User Experience: Was uns Geschlechter-Technikverhältnisse zeigen. Fiff – Kommunikation Forum Informatikerinnen Für Frieden Und Gesellschaftliche Verantwortung, 31, 47-50. Retrieved from https://www.fiff.de/publikationen/fiff-kommunikation/fk-2014/fk-2014-3/
  • Allhutter, D. (2013). Materiell-diskursive Praktiken und Affekt in der Entwicklung von Informationssystemen – Forschungsbericht für das UC Berkeley Program. Wien. Retrieved from https://www.marshallplan.at/images/All-Papers/berkeley/Allhutter_Berkeley_2013.pdf
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Conference Papers/Speeches

Conference Papers/Speeches

  • 19/03/2024 , Wien
    Doris Allhutter: 
    What is critical about critical design? Looking at the micropolitics of design through the lens of sociomateriality, ideology, and hegemony
    Human Computer Interaction Group
  • 28/11/2023 , ÖAW, Vienna
    Doris Allhutter: 
    How Ideology, Hegemony and Sociomateriality shape the Micro-Politics of Design
    STS-Austria Conference 2023 ‘Digging Where We Stand: Activism, Community, and the Politics of STS’
  • 06/04/2023 , Syracuse/New York (online)
    Doris Allhutter: 
    How Ideology, Hegemony and Sociomateriality shape the Micro-Politics of Design
    Ourselves as Designers Conference
  • 03/11/2022 , Dublin
    Doris Allhutter: 
    How Meaning and Colonial Labor Relations are made Infrastructural - building a semantic foundation for machine learning
    Decolonizing the Internet
  • 13/01/2022 , Wien
    Doris Allhutter: 
    KI und ihr Gender-Problem
    Gender Bites, Research Platform GAIN - Gender: Ambivalent In_Visibilities
  • 16/12/2021 , Toronto (online)
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Why disciplinary boundaries make change hard: establishing critique in requirements engineering.
    Lecture Series of the Digital Curation Institute (DCI)
  • 08/10/2021 , Toronto (online)
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Establishing Critique as a Political Mode in Requirments Engineering (RE)
    4S Annual Meeting
  • 13/09/2021 , Graz
    Doris Allhutter: 
    "Making Meaning Infrastructural": Infrastructural Power and "the Everyday".
    STS Austria Workshop "Digital Living, Digital Infrastructuring"
  • 27/03/2021 , Dresden
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Wie kommt Geschlecht in die Technik? Software, Algorithmen, cyberphysische Systeme
    Lecture series „Gender meets Technology“
  • 27/03/2021
    Doris Allhutter: 
    The Politics of Critical Requirements Engineering. Talk at Power, Politics, Values, Responsibilities.
    2nd Critical Requirements Engineering Workshop (CREW2021)
  • 23/03/2021 , Kassel (online)
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Infrastructural Power and Deconstructive Computing: onto-epistemic interventions.
    New Materialist Informatics Conference
  • 18/08/2020 , Prague
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Using memory, materiality and affect to reconfigure practices of computing
    Joint EASST/4S conference 2020 ‘Locating and Timing Matters: Significance and Agency of STS in Emerging Worlds'
  • 04/11/2019 , Dagstuhl
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Deconstructing Values in Computing
    Dagstuhl Seminar ‘Values in Computing’, Leibniz Center for Informatics
  • 27/07/2018 , Dresden
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Keynote: Bias in Training Data of Cyber-Physical Systems
    International Workshop ’Diversifying Epistemic Perspectives: Gender and Diversity for Participation in Science & Engineering‘
  • 13/10/2016 , Bergen
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Information Infrastructures and Governmentality
    8th Annual S.NET Meeting: The Co-Production of Emerging Bodies, Politics and Technologies
  • 28/01/2016 , Wien
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Governing Promises. Microwork, Crowd-Intelligence, and Affective Economies
    Symposium 'State, Work and Affect'
  • 04/12/2015 , Wien
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Algorithmic agencies and human labor in emerging information infrastructures
    Living in Technoscientific Worlds. International Conference Celebrating the Launch of STS Austria
  • 14/11/2015 , Denver
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Difference and inequality in/as infrastructures
    4S 40th Annual Meeting
  • 03/10/2015 , Maribor
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Commentary to the round table discussion ‘Materiality-Critique-Transformation’
    Sister-Sixth New Materialisms conference: New Materialist Politics and Economies of Knowledge
  • 30/01/2015 , Linz
    Doris Allhutter: 
    Digitale Pornografie: visuelle Politiken und affektive Materialitäten
    QujOchÖ – collective at the interfaces of art, politics, society and science: Lecture and Talk I

Duration

10/2013 - 11/2019

Project team

Funding