Co-crediting in an Age of Participation

Abstract

Participation in creative productions increases in complexity with the accessibility of digital technologies and forums, and the acceleration of these into many types. Using Norbert Elias’ theories on power figurations as a starting point and supply with Fuchs' theories on power in participatory culture, we investigate the challenges and possibilities of co-crediting in participatory design. To do so, we examine three case examples to search for different perspectives in understanding the power structure seemingly inherent in these creative productions. Through a brief historical outline and the analysis of three creative production cases from different participatory fields, the authors provide an initial understanding of co-crediting and its challenges for co-design and participatory design from a participatory culture viewpoint. CO-CREDITING AND POWER It is a foundational prerequisite in research fields such as participatory design, co-design and the broader participatory culture that a creative production is not a single person’s effort but the result of a series of interactions between users and/or stakeholders with diverse perspectives and skill sets. The logical hypotheses would then be: if there is co-design (a design production by more than one individual), then by default there must be co-crediting (legitimized credit for the involved contributors). THESSA JENSEN AALBORG UNIVERSITY, DENMARK