Digital Archives as Deweyan Publics?

In his paper, Design and the Construction of Publics, Carl DiSalvo develops tactics for how designers could construct publics in accordance with John Dewey’s conception of a public. According to DiSalvo, the Deweyen public, as articulated in Dewey’s book,The Public and Its Problems,

is not something that has been and always will be. It is neither universal nor an abstraction. Rather, for Dewey, the public is a specifiable and discernible entity that is inextricable from its conditions of origin. More precisely, for Dewey, the public is an entity brought into being through issues for the purpose of contending with these issues in their current state and in anticipation of the future consequences of these issues. (DiSalvo, p.49)

DiSalvo emphasizes that Deweyan publics are “situated” around experienced issues, “multiple”, and “not exclusive to a particular class or social milieu” (DiSalvo, p.50)

He identifies two characteristic tactics for constructing a Deweyan public, namely tracing and projecting. Read more »

---

Some Early Thoughts on Researching Democratic Grantmaking

In autumn, I will begin my doctoral studies at the University of Michigan School of Information as a STIET Fellow. This is a great opportunity for me to research how democratic media – media that structurally and procedurally incorporates democratic principles such as inclusiveness, transparency, and equal power sharing – influences microeconomic behavior. It gives me an opportunity to research some basic questions about the economic efficiency of democratic culture, and how to improve it. Read more »

---