Jennifer A. Summerville

Community Participation, Rights, and Responsibilities: The Governmentality of Sustainable Development Policy in Australia

This paper explores how participative democratic principles, specifically, ideas of community participation in decision-making processes, are framed as community rights and/or responsibilities in sustainable development policy at different levels of government. In doing this, the paper examines the contribution of the governmentality perspective to an understanding of the nature of relationships involved in regulation through community. The paper first briefly reviews key tenets of ‘Third Way’ politics and the alternative view proffered by critiques from the governmentality perspective. It then turns to an analysis of how techniques of rights and responsibilities are implicit in the language of sustainable development policy at three levels: global (Agenda 21), national (Australian national policy-Australian national strategy for ecologically sustainable development), and regional (Queensland regional policy—Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan). Finally, we consider some implications of our application of a governmentality perspective for how we understand government, community and community participation, and sustainable development. In doing so, we argue that neither community, nor sustainable development, can be separated from the techniques of rights and responsibilities that enable ‘government at a distance’.

Ecologies of Innovation: Symbolic Aspects of Cross-Organizational Linkages in the Design Sector in an Australian Inner-City Area

Research on creative-industries clusters emphasizes both community and network dynamics in cross-organizational linkages and their role in fostering group and individual creativity and innovation. This article turns to an economic sociology framework, examining what is at stake in these collaborations and their embeddedness in broader social relationships. The authors report on a qualitative study of the linking and networking practices and rationales of the design sector collocated in an inner-city area in Brisbane, Australia. The study suggests that not only was the locale important in both community and network-level relationships but also that these should be understood in relation to symbolic representation in the field of design. The article argues that the innovative potential of interorganizational linkages should be understood in terms of layers of symbolic identifications at the level of the field of design, the symbolic community associated with the locale, and the “awareness space” of networks.

Stomp: an interactive platform for people with intellectual disabilities

For people with intellectual disabilities there are significant barriers to inclusion in socially cooperative endeavors. This paper investigates the effectiveness of Stomp, a tangible user interface (TUI) designed to provide new participatory experiences for people with intellectual disability. Results from an observational study reveal the extent to which the Stomp system supports social and physical interaction. The tangible, spatial and embodied qualities of Stomp result in an experience that does not rely on the acquisition of specific competencies before interaction and engagement can occur.

Digital technologies and musical participation for people with intellectual disabilities

Research on the aspirations of people with intellectual disabilities documents the importance of alternative zones of inclusion where they can assert their own definitions of ability and normality. This stands in contrast to assumptions concerning technology and disability that position technology as ‘normalizing’ the disabled body. This paper reports on the role of a digital music jamming tool in providing access to creative practice by people with intellectual disabilities. The tool contributed to the development of a spatio-temporal zone to enable aesthetic agency within and beyond the contexts of deinstitutionalized care. The research identifies the interactions between tools, individuals and groups that facilitated participants’ agency in shaping the form of musical practice. Furthermore, we document the properties of emergent interaction − supported by a tool oriented to enabling music improvisation − as potentially resisting assumptions regarding normalization.

Quantifying the social dimension of triple bottom line: development of a framework and indicators to assess the social impact of organisations

Triple bottom line (TBL) reports, outlining the economic, environmental and social impact of organisations, are increasingly viewed as a business requirement. Unfortunately, with no one established standard against which to evaluate or assess the social dimension, current social reporting is often disparagingly described as a public relations exercise with limited accountability, consistency or comparability. Global sustainability frameworks, whilst providing a valuable outline, do not provide quantifiable indicators or specific questions that enable the measurement and comparability of social impacts. The lack of valid, comparable and quantifiable social indicators diminishes the importance and value of the social dimension, with businesses able to make vague and unsubstantiated comments about their social value and impact. This article outlines the development of a generic TBL social impact framework and questionnaire designed to quantify an organisation’s social impact. Based on valid pre-existing measures appropriate for organisations in the industrialised world, the proposed framework and questionnaire offers a comparable and objective social impact assessment tool for organisations. The aim is to prompt informed debate and discussion about current organisational social impact reporting, whilst providing organisations with a tool which enables the identification, quantification, and comparability of social impact reporting.

Playful Interactions for People with Intellectual Disabilities

For people with intellectual disabilities, there are significant barriers to inclusion in socially cooperative endeavors. This paper investigates the effectiveness of Stomp, a tangible user interface (TUI) designed to provide new participatory experiences for people with intellectual disability. Results from an observational study reveal the extent to which the Stomp system supports social and physical interaction. The tangible, spatial, and embodied qualities of Stomp result in an experience that does not rely on the acquisition of specific competencies before interaction and engagement can occur.