The Uncommon Good: Making Room for Radical Transition Imaginaries

AZRA SUNGU, WESLYNNE ASHTON, MAURA SHEA, LAURA FORLANO
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Abstract

Public, social and community organizations are, in many locales, driving systems change toward social and economic equity, and environmental justice. But their visions for what achieving systems change should look like and what it will take to realize them are as diverse as the organizations pursuing them. Organizational coalitions are spaces where diverse groups converge to negotiate their distinct transition imaginaries: “collectively held, institutionally stabilized, and publicly performed visions of desirable futures” (Jasanoff and Kim 2015, 153) that suggest economic, social, and natural arrangements for the common good. These negotiations aim for reaching a shared purpose and set of goals that can guide the collective efforts. However, focusing on high-level goals without contending with the diverse values and ethics that the collectives uphold can lead to a superficial and performative alignment that overshadows critical tensions, or worse, reinforcement of dominant ways of thinking that are at the root cause of the issues. As an alternative, manifesting diverse imaginaries can help uncover the diverse interpretations of futures suggested by high-level transition goals, and move beyond the dominant narratives of progress towards more radical, yet actionable transition visions.

This article proposes a design-driven collaborative sensemaking approach for manifesting the diverse transition imaginaries in emerging coalitions as a means to create more inclusive and pluralistic transition visions. We utilize narratives as a mechanism through which designers can uncover the distinct imaginaries that drive the existing initiatives, understand the tensions between the values and ethics underpinning these imaginaries, and activate alternative imaginaries in collective negotiations of transitions. We propose that, by employing discourse analysis in combination with design tools, transition practitioners can more meaningfully engage with alternative value systems and mindsets.

不寻常的好:为激进的过渡想象腾出空间
在许多地方,公共、社会和社区组织正在推动制度变革,以实现社会和经济公平以及环境正义。但是,他们对于实现系统变更的愿景应该是什么样子的,以及实现它们需要什么,与追求它们的组织一样多样化。组织联盟是不同群体聚集在一起谈判他们独特的过渡想象的空间:“集体持有,制度稳定,公开执行理想未来的愿景”(Jasanoff和Kim 2015, 153),建议为共同利益进行经济,社会和自然安排。这些谈判旨在达成一个共同的目的和一套可以指导集体努力的目标。然而,专注于高层次的目标,而不与集体所坚持的不同价值观和道德规范相抗衡,可能会导致表面上和行为上的一致,掩盖了关键的紧张关系,或者更糟的是,强化了问题根源所在的主导思维方式。作为一种替代方案,表现出不同的想象可以帮助揭示高层次转型目标所建议的对未来的不同解释,并超越对进步的主导叙述,走向更激进、更可行的转型愿景。本文提出了一种设计驱动的协作意义构建方法,用于在新兴联盟中体现多样化的转型想象,以此作为创造更具包容性和多元化的转型愿景的手段。我们利用叙事作为一种机制,通过这种机制,设计师可以发现驱动现有计划的不同想象,理解支撑这些想象的价值观和道德之间的紧张关系,并在过渡的集体谈判中激活替代想象。我们建议,通过将话语分析与设计工具相结合,转型从业者可以更有意义地参与替代价值体系和心态。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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