Digital self-determination/Contrastations: Digital Solidarity and Communality
In this module, we critically challenge the notion of “self-determination” and explore alternative or at least complementary perspectives that put more emphasis on solidarity and the social conditions of digital self-determination. The session seeks to deepen the shared understanding of the social context and conditions - and assumptions behind - any form of “self-determination.” It will also examine the role of shared and “trustworthy” data spaces as an example of how digital self-determination and larger societal goals can be aligned.
Learning Materials
edit- Fiorini, M. (2021), ‘Even the blockchain can be imperialist’, Stop at Zona-M
- Mozur, P (2021) In Hong Kong, a Proxy Battle Over Internet Freedom Begins. New York Times
- Tsui, L. (2015). The coming colonization of Hong Kong cyberspace: government responses to the use of new technologies by the umbrella movement. Chinese Journal of Communication, 8(4), 1-9.
Video Sparks
editThese videos are not meant to comprehensively cover the topics. Instead, these videos are meant to spark a conversation about the ideas contained within. They often contain questions or different lenses from which to explore the week's topic. Viewers should look to the videos for ideas and from there, explore possible on their own, relevant research, videos, government documents, reports, etc that can further enhance their understanding.
| Speaker | Megan Kelleher | Lokman Tsui | Nishant Shah |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video | |||
| Video Summary | Megan Kelleher - tells us about her research on indigenous knowledge systems in which all entities are interconnected, interdependent, and interrelational; the resulting ontologies do not place human at the center but configure a situated distributed network similar to a blockchain in which land is active, sacred, and the source of all knowledge. | Lokman Tsui - addresses the relationship between self-determination and survival with a biographical perspective that allows us all to reflect on how the tension between authenticity and survival takes place in Hong Kong, on the internet, and in ourselves. | Nishant Shah - begins by illustrating how family stories can influence how we interpret the factual value of photographs From there, he expands on his critique of the criteria we use to think about our digital selves and highlights the often unconfessed premise of a sovereign subject able to decide on their digital appearance vis-à-vis stringent technological systems. |
Learning Artifacts
editFor this module's activity, we encouraged participants to engage in rapid prototyping based upon Nashant Shah’s talk. We asked them to 1) identify an informational life form, 2) find something that threatens its well-being, 3) imagine an intervention to minimize the condition of the threat, and 4) ensure that they were engaging in a politics of survival. Here are some of the participants’ creative artifacts.
| Artifact | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Narayanamoorthy Nanditha | This is a narrative piece on regional Indian literature as an informational life form. This piece speaks specifically to how the Internet threatens the death of Tamil/regional literature owing to the monopoly of English on digital platforms, and the need to engage with the politics of its survival. |
| Artifact (Prezi) | Hillary McLauchlin | This artifact shares a brief case study: “Emotions Under Siege. Emotion Recognition systems” |
 |
Rory Torres | This infographic considers how modern gaming technology and the pandemic have transformed how children play to the point of threatening Philippine traditional outdoor games -- and ironically, how modern gaming technology can also preserve it. |
| Kyle Chan | This video illustrates the hazards that Cantonese faces today in Hong Kong and how blockchain could be the key to a politics of language survival. | |
 |
Areej Mawasi | This artifact considers the representation of language and usage of language within technologies as part of digital self-determination using "cat" meaning in spoken Arabic dialects as an example. |
 |
İdil Kula | This artifact discusses educational progress data as a possible example for an informational life form and further examines what's the relationship between political survival and educational data while laying out potential risks and possible cures for them. |
| Carmen Ng | A short video exploring the role of emotion data in shaping digital self-determination, particularly for children under classroom surveillance that deploys emotional recognition technologies. |
Activity
editIn this module, participants engaged in rapid prototyping that included the following based upon Nashant Shah's talk. Their process was as follows:
- Identify an informational life form.
- Find something that threatens its well-being.
- Imagine an intervention to minimize the condition of the threat
- Ensure that you are engaging in a politics of survival
We would like you to do a similar activity and build it out in full as a narrative covering the points above.
Goal: To create a narrative piece around an informational life form.
Format: This activity can be written, audio recording, video, or some other multimedia concept (animation, branching scenarios, collage, Prezi, etc). We encourage the use of visuals to conceptualize it but those visuals can be simple (hand-drawn on notebook paper that you capture with your phone) or more complex--and obviously, no visuals if you are doing something written or in audio solely.
We encourage you to be as creative as you want with this but we also encourage that if you are making things, particularly visuals or integrating video/audio content from elsewhere that you make sure you have the legal permission to do so. Along those lines, we encourage the use of Creative Common licensed materials or even materials from places like the Internet Archive. Additionally, we ask that you do not use logos of Digital Asia Hub or Berkman Klein Center in the creation of your artifacts.
Length/Duration: This is a bit tricky with different formats. For instance, the goal could be 300-500 words. Yet, that might be wildly over the mark if you are writing a poem or under the mark if you wrote out a script, but just perfect if you’re writing some reflections.
Instead of the ideal length, consider the audience. Think about how you would construct this response to someone that is new or interested in this subject. What might be a reasonably small but deep engagement with one or more of the questions provided by the speakers and the vantage points that your work could provide to such an audience.
If you are exploring this course on your own, we encourage you to create artifacts to share on Twitter or other social media platforms using the following hashtag: #DigitalSelfDetermination
Speaker Bios
editMegan Kelleher
Megan Kelleher is a PhD candidate and one of RMIT’s Vice Chancellor’s Indigenous Pre‑Doctoral Fellows in the School of Media and Communication. The title of her thesis is ‘Blockchain Mapping and Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Observations at the interface between distributed consensus technology and Indigenous governance’. Megan is investigating whether blockchain technology can interface with an Indigenous knowledge system – and conversely whether an Indigenous knowledge system can be used to guide the coordination of processes within a blockchain system. Grounded in her Barada/Baradha and Gabalbara/Kapalbara heritage, the research will be approached from an Indigenous standpoint, contributing to the field from an important Australian research perspective.
Nishant Shah
Nishant Shah is Director of Research & Outreach and Professor Aesthetics and Culture of Technologies, at ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands. Knowledge Partner for the global art-technology Digital Earth Fellowship. Faculty Associate 2020-21 at the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society, Harvard University. Mentor on the Feminist Internet Research Network. His work is at the intersections of body, identity, digital technologies, artistic practice, and activism, with a specific focus on non-canonical geographies. His current interest is in thinking through questions of artificial intelligence, digital subjectivity, and misinformation towards building inclusive, diverse, resilient, and equitable societies. His new book Really Fake is out in Spring 2021 with University of Minnesota Press.
Lokman Tsui
Lokman Tsui is a scholar, activist, and currently an Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where his research focuses on free expression, digital rights and internet policy. Lokman was formerly Google's Head of Free Expression in Asia and the Pacific (2011-14).