Abstract

PEREZ-BUSTOS, Tania  and  MARQUEZ, Sara Daniela. Disentangling Feminist Points Of View: Methodological Reflections From The Ethnography Of A Technology Design. Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2016, vol.11, n.31, pp.147-169. ISSN 1850-0013.

This paper presents some methodological reflections on the role of feminist ethnography in an interdisciplinary project that seeks to design, in a participative way, a technological development inspired in hand embroidery. The theoretical references that uphold these reflections are contemporary discussions on matters taken care of by science and technology. We argue that this care configures participative design processes in particular ways. Thus, this paper focuses on two different moments of the initial process of technology design where it is possible to trace different meanings around this category. On the one hand, the idea that by thinking from the care perspective, hierarchies develop between those who investigate, and between those the investigation is centered on. On the other hand, the idea that care implies affections and contacts from which interdependency relations and knowledge exchange stem. We argue that a movement toward a careful and critical participative design promotes technology developments anchored in relations between human and non-human actors. The empirical grounds on which these reflections are upheld are ethnographic observations of the design process and interviews to project researchers.

Keywords : Science and technology matters; Participative design of technologies; Methodological meta-reflection; Knowledge exchange.