1887
image of Cybernetic portraits at the collision of program and problem
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

In 1968, Margaret Mead said that the most significant component of a system is the person who creates the model of that system. When we take data, and translate it into form, how do we insert ourselves — our cultural perceptions and biases — into that process? This paper presents informational graphics created by the first author during an 18-month long study of civic crowdfunding, a process whereby activists use digitally driven fundraising to develop value for their communities (Light & Briggs, 2017). These diagrams were created using varied co-creative methods that sought to be inclusive, localized, and critically reflexive.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/idj.25023.nas
2026-07-14
2026-08-16
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. AJLabs
    AJLabs (2026) Israel–Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
    [Google Scholar]
  2. AJLabs
    AJLabs (2026) Sudan crisis guide. Operation Broken Silence. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-guide
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Ashby, W. R.
    (1958) Requisite variety and its implications for the control of complex systems. Cybernetica, (), –.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. BBC News
    BBC News (2025) Gaza war in maps and satellite images. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-217c6a28-4a90-4d47-a91c-13113a7dc7db
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Beer, S.
    (1975) Platform for change (New ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. (1995) Diagnosing the system for organizations (New ed.). Wiley.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Brent, D. A., & Lorah, K.
    (2019) The economic geography of civic crowdfunding. Cities, , –. 10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.036
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.036 [Google Scholar]
  8. Castrataro, D. and Wright, T.
    (2014) Crowdfunding: Come finanziarsi on line. Greenbooks editore.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Clarkson, T.
    (1808) Diagram of a ship transporting enslaved people. University of Virginia Special Collections. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/4303hpr-7e68246b9587078/
    [Google Scholar]
  10. DeLanda, M.
    (2006) A new philosophy of society: Assemblage theory and social complexity. Continuum.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F.
    (1987) A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. University of Minnesota Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Dewey, J.
    (1927) The public and its problems. Swallow Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Graham-Harrison, E.,
    (2025, January18). A visual guide to the destruction of Gaza. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/a-visual-guide-to-the-destruction-of-gaza
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Gullino, S., Seetzen, H., Pacchi, C., & Cerulli, C.
    (2019) Interpreting patterns of interaction between civic activism and government agency in civic crowdfunding campaigns. Built Environment, (), –. 10.2148/benv.45.2.248
    https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.45.2.248 [Google Scholar]
  15. Hussein, M. A.
    (2025) Animated maps show two years of war in Sudan. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/4/14/animated-maps-show-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Hush, G. J.
    (2009) The socio-spatial construction of consumption: A historical and contemporary analysis (Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow).
  17. IPIS Research
    IPIS Research (2025) Maps of DRC. https://ipisresearch.be/home/maps-data/maps-of-drc/
    [Google Scholar]
  18. af Klint, H.
    (1906) The paintings for the temple [Oil on canvas].
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Laurin-Lamothe, A., Legault, F., & Tremblay-Pepin, S.
    (2025) A brief sketch of four models of democratic economic planning. Bristol University Press. 10.51952/9781529235142.ch001
    https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529235142.ch001 [Google Scholar]
  20. Light, A.
    (2010) The unit of analysis in understanding the politics of participatory practice. InACM International Conference Proceedings. 10.1145/1900441.1900473
    https://doi.org/10.1145/1900441.1900473 [Google Scholar]
  21. Light, A., & Briggs, J.
    (2017) Crowdfunding platforms and the design of paying publics. InProceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp.–). ACM Press. 10.1145/3025453.3025979
    https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025979 [Google Scholar]
  22. Mead, M.
    (1968) ‘Cybernetics of cybernetics’, Purposive Systems, pp.–.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Miller, M.
    (2016) An unruly parliament of lines: The dialectogram as artefact and process of social engagement (Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow).
  24. Nieto, M.
    (2023) Economic calculation, complexity, and cyber-communism: Bad news for the Austrian School. World Review of Political Economy, (), –. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48755832
    [Google Scholar]
  25. OECD
    OECD (2025) How innovation ecosystems foster citizen participation using emerging technologies in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. OECD Publishing. 10.1787/2cb37a30‑en
    https://doi.org/10.1787/2cb37a30-en [Google Scholar]
  26. Sartre, J.-P.
    (2004) Critique of dialectical reason (A. Elkaïm-Sartre & Q. Hoare, Eds.). Verso. https://files.libcom.org/files/jean-paul-sartre-critique-of-dialectical-reason-volume-1.compressed.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Selamet, J.
    (2024) Towards local design intentions: A reflection on participatory design with Indigenous Dayak people in East Kalimantan. InProceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2024 (pp.–). ACM. 10.1145/3661455.3669875
    https://doi.org/10.1145/3661455.3669875 [Google Scholar]
  28. Shedroff, N.
    (1999) Information interaction design: A unified field theory of design. Information design, pp.–, echo.iat.sfu.ca/library/shedroff_99_unified.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Smith, A.
    (1776/2000) The wealth of nations. Modern Library.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Spinuzzi, C.
    (2003) Tracing genres through organizations: A sociocultural approach to information design. MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/6875.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/6875.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  31. Snow, J.
    (1854) Report on the cholera outbreak in the Parish of St. James, Westminster, during the autumn of 1854. Cholera Inquiry Committee. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/uxgfjt62
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Stein, M.
    (2017) ‘How to Make Sense of Team Sport Data: From Acquisition to Data Modeling and Research Aspects’, Data, (), p.. 10.3390/data2010002
    https://doi.org/10.3390/data2010002 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/idj.25023.nas
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/idj.25023.nas
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error