P for Political? Some challenges to PD towards 2000

This paper argues that these are arguments for a reconceptualisation of PD towards the political, and explicit identification of PD as an arena for concern with societal, cultural, etc. effects of computer systems development, provides a much needed explication, and strengthens the distinct identity of PD.

Abstract

A complex mix of changes in society and in the technology has been cited as reasons why politics is no longer as current a concern for systems developers. This paper argues instead that these are arguments for a reconceptualisation of PD towards the political. A critical view of challenges to the field and responses to them necessitates reconceptualisation of what is the project of the field as a distinct research area. The explicit identification of PD as an arena for concern with societal, cultural, etc. effects of computer systems development, provides a much needed explication, and strengthens the distinct identity of PD. S