Moving Beyond the WEIRD: Lessons from an Amazigh Community in Shaping Pluralistic Digital Futures (Medien der Kooperation – Media of Cooperation) - Softcover

Rüller, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3658475854 ISBN 13: 9783658475857

Publisher: Springer VS, 2025

Synopsis

In this open-access book, Sarah Rüller offers a comprehensive exploration of the complexities and nuances of conducting Western digital research in non-Western contexts, focusing on a case study in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The research underscores the importance of addressing the challenges inherent in navigating this intercultural landscape, particularly as Western researchers immersed in ethnographic work. The studies highlight the multifaceted issues surrounding postcolonial frameworks, extractivism, technocapitalism, exploitation, and the evolving paradigms of development and sustainability, and underscores the urgent need for a more pluralistic, site-specific co-design approach. This approach is central to promoting inclusive and just digital futures, mitigating the impact of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) biases, and unraveling the complex interplay of local and rural contexts torn between authenticity and exploitation by information and communication technologies (ICTs). This research delves deeper into a critical analysis of the establishment of a MediaSpace and the different community perspectives on technology access, revealing tensions and contradictions that shape the discourse on development and self-determination.

 

About this title

About the Author

Sarah Rüller is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Siegen. With a background in Media and Human Computer Interaction, her work focuses on tech appropriation, social media censorship and content moderation.

From the Back Cover

In this open-access book, Sarah Rüller offers a comprehensive exploration of the complexities and nuances of conducting Western digital research in non-Western contexts, focusing on a case study in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The research underscores the importance of addressing the challenges inherent in navigating this intercultural landscape, particularly as Western researchers immersed in ethnographic work. The studies highlight the multifaceted issues surrounding postcolonial frameworks, extractivism, technocapitalism, exploitation, and the evolving paradigms of development and sustainability, and underscores the urgent need for a more pluralistic, site-specific co-design approach. This approach is central to promoting inclusive and just digital futures, mitigating the impact of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) biases, and unraveling the complex interplay of local and rural contexts torn between authenticity and exploitation by information and communication technologies (ICTs). This research delves deeper into a critical analysis of the establishment of a MediaSpace and the different community perspectives on technology access, revealing tensions and contradictions that shape the discourse on development and self-determination.

About the author

Sarah Rüller is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Siegen. With a background in Media and Human Computer Interaction, her work focuses on tech appropriation, social media censorship and content moderation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer VS
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3658475854
• ISBN 13: 9783658475857
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 235