Power literacy
In design we exert some level of power, control or influence in the situation we work in. It might be the power to make a system more coherent, or a service more attuned to users’ needs. Or it could be designing the narrative that drives the change we seek. Naturally, the influence we wield is not solely of our own making; it is informed and sometimes constrained by external forces—the demands of the commissioning organisation, cultural norms, or media representation, for example.
It is necessary to understand what power is and how it works, to recognise and critically engage with power dynamics and structures in society in order to respond intelligently and politically when power is exerted. We can employ the power we have in the interests of the objectives we work towards.
Power literacy is the term used to describe how we develop an awareness off what power is, how it works and how to employ it. Power literacy gives the ability to identify and challenge injustices and inequalities that arise from power imbalances. It requires critical thinking and reflective skills to examine one’s own position within power structures and to consider how one’s actions can either perpetuate or challenge these dynamics.
The word ‘literacy’ is used to denote both reading (understanding) and writing (making or manifesting), on in the case of power, to be able to read it as well as to make something from power.
As designers, acknowledging the power narratives and structures that our work may perpetuate or confront is part of the responsible practice required in human-centred design. A power-literate designer is one who reads the underlying power structures and writes—through their designs—a narrative of change. They are adept at identifying and confronting the inequalities borne from imbalanced power relations, using critical thinking and reflection to understand their role and impact within these structures.
We are reminded too, by Nicole Barling-Luke, Keira Lowther and Kate McKegg in their podcasts for our inquiry into evaluation, that it is essential to consider power and how it is used in both the analysis of the cases we are working with, as well as in the design of the implementation model. Power can enable change or it can obstruct; It can be used to open decision-making to voices beyond conventional vested interests, or it can silence alternative points of view or experience.
Power literacy is a growing field within design and a rich field to explore, given its pervasive influence on all we set out to do to make change. Dan Hill, in Trojan Horses and Dark Matter, or example shines a light on the power hidden in the ‘dark matter’ of policies, contracts, administrative data, and cultural norms. Indy Johar, from Dark Matter Labs, and Mariana Mazzucato in Mission Oriented Design, look at the power of corporate markets in the economy and the countervailing power exercised by governments and social movements.
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Power is conventionally portrayed as finite and best managed by a relatively small group of people, to maintain the status quo, especially where it benefits those people who hold power. Naturally, this is not conducive to producing change. Add to this the idea that we internalise beliefs around power relations and that are often such deep cultural concepts that they become hard to access, even when we do seek them out.
In A Social Designer’s Field Guide to Power Literacy (2020) by Maya Goodwill, we can place ourselves on the chart and situate ourselves in relation to power and privilege within the dominant culture. This tool also allows us to consider how the people we co-design with are positioned in relation to privilege, power and decision-making.
Maya Goodwill (in collaboration with Kennisland), A Social Designer’s Field Guide to Power Literacy (2020) [CC BY-NC 4.0]
Becoming aware of where power lies, who wields it and how to work with it, and where we are implicated in supporting negative power is an imperative for designers. We can also consider how we can generate power to use and adapt to positive purposes. If we think of power as a renewable energy, which can be generated and distributed, we can imagine new ways that it can be employed.
Take, for example, the #metoo movement, started in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, and later taken up as a global movement in 2017. Women, who were effectively powerless formed the movement to expose sexual abuse. The movement was later closely linked to the court cases taken by a number of women who were victims of abuse by American filmmaker Harvey Weinstein. This social movement is responsible for drawing attention to and in some cases, producing new protocols and policies around workplace safety. In other words, power was generated by large numbers of people in order to prosecute new workplace relations, and distributed globally, via the simple hashtag #metoo as well as the attention it garnered through mainstream media (which itself was guilty of abuse in specific and general cases).
Naturally this is not the scale of power that can be easily generated and distributed readily. However, compelling ideas, driven by evidence and debate is possible at the scale we work at. Over the past few years, we have seen the rise of trauma-informed design, design ethics, de-colonising design, and regenerative living systems design among others. These movements within design, in turn, are converted into action and help to enrich change projects through design.
Consider how power relations, systems, dynamics, structures and literacies affect the way you propose to implement change in the case you are working on. Are there opportunities, for example, to alter the power relations in order to generate a new set of dynamics?
