Emerging Technologies and Alternative Futures. Frauenberger, C., Smith, R. C., Loi, D., Forlano, L., & Iversen, O. S. In Smith, R. C., Loi, D., Winschiers-Theophilus, H., Huybrechts, L., & Simonsen, J., editors, Routledge International Handbook of Contemporary Participatory Design, pages 26. Routledge, 2025. ![Emerging Technologies and Alternative Futures [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper abstract bibtex Participatory Design’s core ambition is to democratise technological innovation to bring about alternative futures, underpinned by its strong value propositions of empowerment, social justice, and socio-ecological sustainability. As such, Participatory Design has always sought to engage with novel and emerging technologies within shifting societal challenges, continuously evolving its theory and practice to have an impact to this effect. This chapter provides a review of contemporary discourses between Participatory Design and current emerging technologies and develops stepping stones for future research and practice in the field. The chapter investigates the qualities of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), large-language models, and immersive media and how these are configured in ways that produce systems of old and new forms of oppression. The qualities identified relate to their scale, hyper-connectedness, and pervasiveness but also their increasing agential capabilities. Configured within the conditions of destabilised democracies, increasing social injustice, an out-of-bounds surveillance capitalism, and the climate emergency, we argue that Participatory Design needs to develop meaningful and effective participation around these socio-material assemblages to offer alternatives. The chapter surveys examples of Participatory Design’s engagement with such systems and technologies over the past decade, covering themes of platforms, civic technologies, and democratic engagements with communities, as well as more specific work on AI and automation in the field. Finally, we develop four stepping stones as trajectories for future Participatory Design research and practice: Developing novel methodologies to engage pervasive systems of scale; Re-conceptualising material participation in design in response to the increasing agential capabilities of emerging technologies; Fostering ambitions to shape technological innovation landscapes for sustainable futures; and Working across diverse political arenas towards democratising technology. This chapter aims to rekindle Participatory Design’s commitment to be involved in the creation of emerging technologies as they are key actors in configuring just and sustainable futures.
@incollection{frauenbergerEmergingTechnologiesAlternative2025,
title = {Emerging {Technologies} and {Alternative} {Futures}},
isbn = {978-1-003-33433-0},
url = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003334330},
abstract = {Participatory Design’s core ambition is to democratise technological innovation to bring about alternative futures, underpinned by its strong value propositions of empowerment, social justice, and socio-ecological sustainability. As such, Participatory Design has always sought to engage with novel and emerging technologies within shifting societal challenges, continuously evolving its theory and practice to have an impact to this effect. This chapter provides a review of contemporary discourses between Participatory Design and current emerging technologies and develops stepping stones for future research and practice in the field.
The chapter investigates the qualities of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), large-language models, and immersive media and how these are configured in ways that produce systems of old and new forms of oppression. The qualities identified relate to their scale, hyper-connectedness, and pervasiveness but also their increasing agential capabilities. Configured within the conditions of destabilised democracies, increasing social injustice, an out-of-bounds surveillance capitalism, and the climate emergency, we argue that Participatory Design needs to develop meaningful and effective participation around these socio-material assemblages to offer alternatives.
The chapter surveys examples of Participatory Design’s engagement with such systems and technologies over the past decade, covering themes of platforms, civic technologies, and democratic engagements with communities, as well as more specific work on AI and automation in the field. Finally, we develop four stepping stones as trajectories for future Participatory Design research and practice:
Developing novel methodologies to engage pervasive systems of scale;
Re-conceptualising material participation in design in response to the increasing agential capabilities of emerging technologies;
Fostering ambitions to shape technological innovation landscapes for sustainable futures; and
Working across diverse political arenas towards democratising technology.
This chapter aims to rekindle Participatory Design’s commitment to be involved in the creation of emerging technologies as they are key actors in configuring just and sustainable futures.},
booktitle = {Routledge {International} {Handbook} of {Contemporary} {Participatory} {Design}},
publisher = {Routledge},
author = {Frauenberger, Christopher and Smith, Rachel Charlotte and Loi, Daria and Forlano, Laura and Iversen, Ole Sejer},
editor = {Smith, Rachel Charlotte and Loi, Daria and Winschiers-Theophilus, Heike and Huybrechts, Liesbeth and Simonsen, Jesper},
year = {2025},
pages = {26},
}
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This chapter provides a review of contemporary discourses between Participatory Design and current emerging technologies and develops stepping stones for future research and practice in the field. The chapter investigates the qualities of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), large-language models, and immersive media and how these are configured in ways that produce systems of old and new forms of oppression. The qualities identified relate to their scale, hyper-connectedness, and pervasiveness but also their increasing agential capabilities. Configured within the conditions of destabilised democracies, increasing social injustice, an out-of-bounds surveillance capitalism, and the climate emergency, we argue that Participatory Design needs to develop meaningful and effective participation around these socio-material assemblages to offer alternatives. The chapter surveys examples of Participatory Design’s engagement with such systems and technologies over the past decade, covering themes of platforms, civic technologies, and democratic engagements with communities, as well as more specific work on AI and automation in the field. Finally, we develop four stepping stones as trajectories for future Participatory Design research and practice: Developing novel methodologies to engage pervasive systems of scale; Re-conceptualising material participation in design in response to the increasing agential capabilities of emerging technologies; Fostering ambitions to shape technological innovation landscapes for sustainable futures; and Working across diverse political arenas towards democratising technology. 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Configured within the conditions of destabilised democracies, increasing social injustice, an out-of-bounds surveillance capitalism, and the climate emergency, we argue that Participatory Design needs to develop meaningful and effective participation around these socio-material assemblages to offer alternatives.\n The chapter surveys examples of Participatory Design’s engagement with such systems and technologies over the past decade, covering themes of platforms, civic technologies, and democratic engagements with communities, as well as more specific work on AI and automation in the field. 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