Title
Collapse informatics and practice: Theory, method, and design
Abstract
What happens if efforts to achieve sustainability fail? Research in many fields argues that contemporary global industrial civilization will not persist indefinitely in its current form, and may, like many past human societies, eventually collapse. Arguments in environmental studies, anthropology, and other fields indicate that this transformation could begin within the next half-century. While imminent collapse is far from certain, it is prudent to consider now how to develop sociotechnical systems for use in these scenarios. We introduce the notion of collapse informatics—the study, design, and development of sociotechnical systems in the abundant present for use in a future of scarcity. We sketch the design space of collapse informatics and a variety of example projects. We ask how notions of practice—theorized as collective activity in the “here and now”—can shift to the future since collapse has yet to occur.
Year
DOI
Venue
2013
10.1145/2493431
ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.
Keywords
Field
DocType
current form,design space,environmental study,collapse informatics,example project,contemporary global industrial civilization,imminent collapse,sociotechnical system,collective activity,abundant present,practice theory,collapse,sustainability
Design space,Informatics,Scarcity,Computer science,Human–computer interaction,Environmental ethics,Sociotechnical system,Practice theory,Management science,Sustainability,Environmental studies,Sketch
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
20
4
1073-0516
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
26
1.79
17
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Bill Tomlinson193080.86
Eli Blevis2973114.18
Bonnie Nardi31745237.66
Donald J. Patterson41765219.99
M. Six Silberman578150.94
Yue Pan611810.30