Anticipating Precarity and Risk in Social Innovation Design for Entrenched Place-Based Disadvantage

Abstract

We outline considerations for anticipating precarity and risk in design for social innovation through a case study tackling place-based disadvantage for young people with The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI). In shifting the focus from creative or managed risk within the design process, we ask: what practices of decision-making can lay alternative foundations for change for those who are experiencing precarious lives? We contribute an alternative conceptual framing of risk by drawing from Judith Butler’s position on precarity as a heightened attentiveness to complex interconnected concerns. In moving towards transformational design, we argue for practices that work through precarity to offer more nuanced understandings of risk when seeking to develop sustainable change. From the perspective of a design team in the midst of a project, we reflect on the value of responding to risk in relation to precarity, highlighting intersectional concerns that support ongoing decision-making. With direct measures of what is considered successful and valuable from design interventions, what becomes most precarious is the lack of recognition of complex personhood, translation through design, and opportunities for working across multiple sites of experimental intervention.

Keywords:

• social innovation
• risk
• precarity
• design
• disadvantage

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank TACSI and partners for sharing their ongoing insights into examples of design practice. Many thanks also to our reviewers who provided generous comments to help clarify our position.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel Clarke

Rachel Clarke is a Global Challenges Research Fellow at the Centre for International Development and the School of Design at Northumbria University, UK. She focuses on practices of co-creation in design of services for the arts, craft, and heritage sectors. Her work spans multicultural and intergenerational community development in social design, interaction design, and human–computer interaction.[email protected]

Ingrid Burkett

Ingrid Burkett is Director of Learning and Systems Innovation at The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI). She is a social designer, designing processes, products, and knowledge that deepen social impact and facilitate social innovation in community development, economic development, disability, procurement, and social investment. Ingrid is also a practicing artist and graphic designer.[email protected]