The Augmented Undercommons: A Framework for Liberatory HCI Research within Ethically Compromised Institutions

Paper Title

The Augmented Undercommons: A Framework for Liberatory HCI Research within Ethically Compromised Institutions

Publication Info

• Topic area: Liberatory HCI research strategies under oppressive institutional conditions.
• Keywords: HCI, liberatory technology, augmented undercommons, subversive design, ethical resistance, marginalized communities, study and hesitation, redistributing power, collectivity, critical frameworks.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: HCI research is under threat from systemic attacks on sociocultural inquiry, particularly in the US, where marginalized researchers face grant cancellations, censorship, and institutional restructuring. There is a need for principled strategies to sustain culturally grounded, liberatory technology development under these conditions.
• Significance: The suppression of cultural inquiry in HCI risks excluding marginalized communities, perpetuating harm, and undermining the field’s relevance and rigor. Resistance strategies are essential to preserve critical research and community histories.
• Motivation and related work: The paper builds on Harney and Moten’s undercommons, a framework for subversive intellectuals resisting oppressive academic norms, and extends it to technology design. Prior HCI work has highlighted the need for justice-centered, community-led, and politically explicit research but lacks a comprehensive framework for resistance within oppressive institutions.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The augmented undercommons, a framework for subversive designers to create liberatory technologies that challenge and reimagine harmful systems while operating within and against oppressive institutions.
• Novelty:
  1. Introduction of a principled framework for conducting liberatory HCI research within ethically compromised institutions.
  2. Application of the framework to three global case studies.
  3. Inclusion of a personal narrative illustrating the principle of entering into study.
  4. Discussion of the responsibilities and compromises involved in subversive HCI work under repressive conditions.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Five guiding principles:
    1. Entering into Study: Collective, iterative learning beyond institutional norms, emphasizing hesitation and reflection.
    2. Refusing the Call to Order: Rejecting binary choices and standardized procedures to explore alternative pathways.
    3. Operating in Parallel: Balancing institutional demands with subversive, liberatory goals.
    4. Collectivity: Building horizontal, community-driven structures for mutual support and resilience.
    5. Redistributing Power: Equipping marginalized communities with the tools and agency to influence and create technologies.
  • Framework development involved iterative refinement through interdisciplinary research, community collaboration, and critical reflection.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Case studies demonstrate the framework’s principles in practice:
    1. Universal Black Pages (UBP): A Black-oriented internet directory that redistributed technical skills and connected the Black diaspora.
    2. SocorroBot: A chatbot aiding families of missing persons in Mexico, challenging state inadequacies while leveraging accessible platforms like WhatsApp.
    3. VFRAME: Computer vision tools for war crime investigations, balancing subversion of global powers with reliance on international legal systems.
• Advantage over baselines: The framework provides actionable strategies for sustaining critical HCI work under hostile conditions, addressing gaps in prior justice-centered and community-led approaches.
• Experiments / evaluation: Framework principles were validated through analysis of real-world projects and a personal narrative, illustrating their applicability and utility in diverse contexts.
• Limitations and future work: The framework is a transitional strategy rather than a comprehensive solution to systemic oppression. Future work should explore long-term alternatives to reliance on oppressive institutions and expand the framework’s application across more contexts.

Summary

The paper introduces the augmented undercommons, a framework for subversive designers to create liberatory technologies within ethically compromised institutions. It outlines five guiding principles—Entering into Study, Refusing the Call to Order, Operating in Parallel, Collectivity, and Redistributing Power—and applies them to three case studies, demonstrating their relevance to HCI. A personal narrative highlights the principle of study and its role in navigating institutional pressures. The framework offers a pragmatic survival strategy for marginalized researchers, emphasizing collective action, critical reflection, and strategic resistance. It calls on the HCI community to embrace its responsibilities in resisting oppressive systems and supporting justice-centered research.