Tech Justice Manifesto: What would an interconnected, solidarity and justice based Manifesto for the wider social impact sector look like?

Last month, Catalyst published A Manifesto for a more Tech Just Society. And I am excited to see the inspirational vision that they have outlined when it comes to how digital products and services are developed and the role of people, communities and society in this. I have been thinking a great deal about the term ‘justice’ in the last few years — and it’s great to see organisations and networks like CAST, Catalyst and Promising Trouble exploring what this means for the digital world. I personally feel this is highly timely given how advancements in technology have in the past and are currently manifesting in diverse contexts.

This is a manifesto that speaks to some key questions at the heart of the (civil and commercial) contract between people/communities and the digital world. Thank you to the Catalyst network for taking this step. Here are the key questions that the manifesto speaks to — from my subjective perspective:

Manifesto Point 1: How might we explore the application of co-production to meaningfully involve people in the practical delivery and development and maintenance of digital products and services?

Manifesto Point 2: How might we ensure digital investments and efforts are made based on what matters to people and communities? (as opposed to funders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists etc)

Manifesto Point 3: How might we explore community ownership and co-ownership so that communities have the power to hold digital delivery teams accountable? And when it comes to the ‘primary function of Tech being in service to our communities’ — the follow up question for me is: what are the mindsets, behaviours and practices that digital professionals need to learn and understand in order to be of service? I would love to see a benchmark tool for this — again, coming back to the point I made around exploring professional roles and understanding their journeys in shifting mindsets, behaviours and practices when working through their own professional insecurities.

Manifesto Point 4: How might we explore the manifestations of digital when underpinned by different ideological thinking beyond capitalism?

Manifesto Point 5: How might we ensure communities have digital data literacy that enables them to actively use their rights?

Manifesto Point 6: How might we develop the legal infrastructure to ensure legal rights and responsibilities enable active participation and challenge from people and communities so that their interests can be safeguarded and protected?

These powerful questions underpin some incredible shifts to live in a Tech Just society. And the reason why I’ve outlined these questions is because, arguably, similar questions could also be applied to the trickiest challenges underpinning our current social, economic and environmental contracts as individuals living in our communities. So how might we elevate this thinking more widely when it comes to the social impact sector?

My dream is for the social impact sector and organisations to take a much more solidarity and justice based approach to responding to the toughest challenges of our times — based on interconnected narratives. For example, let’s take a look at this excellent blog by Dawn Kofie on How your charity can use AI ethically. Dawn’s blog looks at the social, digital and environmental considerations when using AI ethically. When I’d finished this blog, I wondered: what do all of these considerations mean for the broader AI narrative at this point in time when it comes to the work of social impact organisations?

These kinds of blogs as well as my own observations of working across different sectors inspired me to develop A Solidarity Framework for SEED* Justice-based Responses focussed on addressing the challenges. Some may also want to include the opportunities/positives in this framework to shape their narrative.

Before you ask, I have not had a chance to use it because the above was drawn with this blog in mind. The reason why I’m sharing this is because while forward thinking well-attuned organisations start to think about what justice means for their sector — I am starting to wonder what justice means when we apply an interdisciplinary, interconnected and solidarity based approach to respond to the complex web of challenges we live with today. What would a SEED Justice Manifesto look like and how would this shape the work of social impact organisations (and the wider sector) in the 21st century? I would love to read thoughts from the readers in response to this question.

• SEED stands for Social, Economic, Environmental and Digital

By Rajwinder K. Cheema