Toward a Grassroots Culture of Technology Practice

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can support grassroots social movements toward greateroutreach and better day-to-day communication. In this paper, we present the results of action research with alarge-scale grassroots social movement, the Southern Movement Assembly (SMA), exploring their uses andperceptions of ICTs. We find that the ICTs chosen by the SMA are often at odds with their grassroots cultureof inclusion and participation-which results in inequitable sociotechnical realities within the movement. Forexample, people with technical skills gain more power as they start to control organizational processes. Astechnical skills are most commonly associated with racial, gender, and socioeconomic privileges, this leads toinequitable participation. We conclude by calling for a grassroots culture of technology practice rooted inanalyses of systemic exclusion with a continuous effort to center the marginalized voices and experienceswith technology.