Everything’ disappears … : reflexive design and norm-critical intervention in the digitalization of cultural heritage

• According to narrative trends, digitalization has the potential todeconstruct both power structures and practices of exclusion insociety. What we argue here is that this deconstruction is not theresult of digitalization alone, it is dependent on how digitalizationis done. On the contrary, digitalization has often resulted inreproduction instead of transformation and deconstruction, i.e.digitalization tend to uphold practices instead of challengingthem. Being slightly more provocative, what becomes digitalizedis often what we can easily capture and understand. Similarly,when we open up for an increased participation in the creation ofdigital artifacts (sometimes expressed as demand-driven, citizencentered,or participatory development), those participating indigitalization are often already known; the use of alreadyestablished contact channels making them easy to reach andconnect with. Such logics raise questions about the intersectionsof norms and power and the potential transformative character ofdigitalization. The aim of this paper is to, through a theoreticalframework combining critical information systems, policyenactment and norm critical design, introduce a reflexive designmethod to gently provoke norms. We analyze the need tointervene in the everyday practices of digitalization. This is donein an empirical case study of the making of a regional digitalcultural heritage portal. The results indicate that digitalizationneeds norm critical interventions to change existing practices andprevent norm reproduction. Otherwise, as in this case of thedigitalization of cultural heritage, digitalization runs the risk ofstrengthening existing power structures and excluding practicesinstead of challenging them.

Keyword

Politics

ICTs

identity

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)