Link/reference: Gaps and flaws in the traditional boundaries of our work

This is a good writeup of my ideas about creating new norms of practice in the cultural sector. (…I had kind of forgotten that I had put these ideas together so clearly!)

Gaps and Flaws in the Traditional Boundaries of Our Work, (PDF) summary of my presentation/discussion by Janus Boye.

  • What it means to be a professional in an epoch of accelerating change.

  • The Big Frikin’ Wall that stands between us / our organizations and the work we should be doing in society.

  • The “inner dialogue” we all have with the norms/expectations of our professional disciplines.

  • The “handoff” between different sectors of society.

  • The taboos around activism (“we have been miseducated…”).

Link to U.N. Museum TEDx talk

For the convenience of some new collaborators, I dumped the video and transcript of my 2016 TEDx talk about the Museum for the United Nations onto a convenience page here:

https://usingdata.com/tedx

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the theme of top-down & bottom-up change, cultural institutions as catalysts for the know-how and creativity of others (rather than the instution as an exclusive/proprietary authority), and citizen participation is still relevant (and a largely unfulfilled vision) today.

Not preordained

Cory Doctorow at a podium giving his speech.
Ursula Franklin told us that the outcomes of technology, they're not preordained, they're the result of choices we make about how we will use technology in society.

And I really like this. This is a very science fiction way of thinking about technology. I think the message of good science fiction is that it doesn't matter so much what the gadget does as who it does it for and who it does it to. Those social factors, they're far more important than the specifications of the gadget. It's the difference between a system that warns you when your car is about to drift outta your lane, and a system that tells your insurer that you nearly drifted outta your lane so they can add $10 to your insurance bill this month. I's the difference between a spell checker that lets you know you made a typo and a spell checker that runs under the “bossware” that lets your manager know that you're like the third most typo prone employee in your department so that they can cut your bonus. It's the difference between the app that remembers where you parked your car for you and the app that uses the location of your car as a criterion for including you in a, in a reverse warrant for the identities of everyone who is in the vicinity of an anti-government protest.

I think that enshittification is not caused by changes in our technology, but by changes to the policy environment, changes to the rules of the game undertaken in living memory by named parties who were warned at the time about the likely outcomes of their actions, who are today very rich and respected, who face no consequences and no accountability for their role in ushering in this and should have seen that we live in, who venture out into polite society every day without ever once wondering whether someone is sizing them up for a pitchfork.
2025 Ursula Franklin Lecture: Cory Doctorow, at 34:34.

Regarding the obstacles faced by young activists

...Young activists face additional obstacles when they seek to make their voices heard. [Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders] identified intimidation and harassment in online spaces and the media, lack of adequate support from traditional allies, academic sanctions, and legal, administrative, and practical barriers to participation in civic space as just some of the hurdles faced by child and youth activists. Despite these barriers, she notes, “Child and youth human rights defenders have been at the forefront of human rights movements and have achieved a significant impact, which should be acknowledged, celebrated and highlighted.”
From the report On Thin Ice: Disproportionate Responses to Climate Change Protesters in Democratic Countries. Climate Rights International. September 2024.

Regarding the role of museums in climate protests

[Protesters] believe that museums hold unique significance in the fight against climate change. They told Climate Rights International that museums are institutions that safeguard our history. They believe museums act as cultural institutions and often serve as symbolic representations of societal values and heritage. By staging protests at museums, some activists believe they can strategically draw attention to the interconnectedness of environmental issues and cultural preservation, emphasizing the threat climate change poses to both natural ecosystems and human history."
From the report On Thin Ice: Disproportionate Responses to Climate Change Protesters in Democratic Countries. Climate Rights International. September 2024.
We have been working with amazing young people here in Hawai'i. [...] The young people today, they are determined. They understand what's happening to their planet, and they are committed to advocating for a better future for them and generations to come.
Julia Olson, as quoted in Young climate activists just won a ‘historic’ settlement by Victoria Bisset, Washington Post. June 28, 2024. I've ligtly edited/shortened Olson's quote.
Olson is the co-executive director and chief legal counsel of Our Children's Trust, which has been representing young people in lawsuits claiming that government inaction (or worse) has violated young people's right to a clean environment. The article outlines a “historic” settlement between youth activists and the state of Hawai'i that requires the state to “cut its transportation sector’s planet-warming pollution and to consult with young people about its climate impact.”