Abstract
Participatory methods are widely used in design, but it’s important to take a critical stance towards how they impact vulnerable communities in the context of today's societal crisis (Juarez et al., 2008). This paper presents recent findings from the comparison of three social design research projects conducted in Hungary, which point towards evidence that empowerment by design can be beneficial for underprivileged women. This notion of empowerment is defined through developing embodied expertise, problem-solving skills, and agency in a design context. In order to understand how design can contribute to building such notions in participants, the author contextualizes the community’s barriers, and analyzes case studies of varying participation levels based on Healey’s engagement model (Healey et al., 2014). The author examines the cases from an intersectional viewpoint (Crenshaw, 1989), examining the barriers they highlight, resulting in a nuanced recommendation on establishing an effective level of participation within vulnerable communities.
Keywords
social design; empowerment; vulnerable communities; gender equity; participatory design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.550
Citation
Csernák, J. (2024) Empowerment through participation? Three Case Studies of Social Design Projects with Disadvantaged Female Communities in Hungary, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.550
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Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Empowerment through participation? Three Case Studies of Social Design Projects with Disadvantaged Female Communities in Hungary
Participatory methods are widely used in design, but it’s important to take a critical stance towards how they impact vulnerable communities in the context of today's societal crisis (Juarez et al., 2008). This paper presents recent findings from the comparison of three social design research projects conducted in Hungary, which point towards evidence that empowerment by design can be beneficial for underprivileged women. This notion of empowerment is defined through developing embodied expertise, problem-solving skills, and agency in a design context. In order to understand how design can contribute to building such notions in participants, the author contextualizes the community’s barriers, and analyzes case studies of varying participation levels based on Healey’s engagement model (Healey et al., 2014). The author examines the cases from an intersectional viewpoint (Crenshaw, 1989), examining the barriers they highlight, resulting in a nuanced recommendation on establishing an effective level of participation within vulnerable communities.