A recent normative turn in computer science has brought concerns about
fairness, bias, and accountability to the core of the field. Yet recent
scholarship has warned that much of this technical work treats problematic
features of the status quo as fixed, and fails to address deeper patterns of
injustice and inequality. While acknowledging these critiques, we posit that
computational research has valuable roles to play in addressing social problems
--- roles whose value can be recognized even from a perspective that aspires
toward fundamental social change. In this paper, we articulate four such roles,
through an analysis that considers the opportunities as well as the significant
risks inherent in such work. Computing research can serve as a diagnostic,
helping us to understand and measure social problems with precision and
clarity. As a formalizer, computing shapes how social problems are explicitly
defined --- changing how those problems, and possible responses to them, are
understood. Computing serves as rebuttal when it illuminates the boundaries of
what is possible through technical means. And computing acts as synecdoche when
it makes long-standing social problems newly salient in the public eye. We
offer these paths forward as modalities that leverage the particular strengths
of computational work in the service of social change, without overclaiming
computing's capacity to solve social problems on its own.
%0 Generic
%1 abebe2019roles
%A Abebe, Rediet
%A Barocas, Solon
%A Kleinberg, Jon
%A Levy, Karen
%A Raghavan, Manish
%A Robinson, David G.
%D 2019
%K algorithms bias ethics
%R 10.1145/3351095.3372871
%T Roles for Computing in Social Change
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1912.04883
%X A recent normative turn in computer science has brought concerns about
fairness, bias, and accountability to the core of the field. Yet recent
scholarship has warned that much of this technical work treats problematic
features of the status quo as fixed, and fails to address deeper patterns of
injustice and inequality. While acknowledging these critiques, we posit that
computational research has valuable roles to play in addressing social problems
--- roles whose value can be recognized even from a perspective that aspires
toward fundamental social change. In this paper, we articulate four such roles,
through an analysis that considers the opportunities as well as the significant
risks inherent in such work. Computing research can serve as a diagnostic,
helping us to understand and measure social problems with precision and
clarity. As a formalizer, computing shapes how social problems are explicitly
defined --- changing how those problems, and possible responses to them, are
understood. Computing serves as rebuttal when it illuminates the boundaries of
what is possible through technical means. And computing acts as synecdoche when
it makes long-standing social problems newly salient in the public eye. We
offer these paths forward as modalities that leverage the particular strengths
of computational work in the service of social change, without overclaiming
computing's capacity to solve social problems on its own.
@misc{abebe2019roles,
abstract = {A recent normative turn in computer science has brought concerns about
fairness, bias, and accountability to the core of the field. Yet recent
scholarship has warned that much of this technical work treats problematic
features of the status quo as fixed, and fails to address deeper patterns of
injustice and inequality. While acknowledging these critiques, we posit that
computational research has valuable roles to play in addressing social problems
--- roles whose value can be recognized even from a perspective that aspires
toward fundamental social change. In this paper, we articulate four such roles,
through an analysis that considers the opportunities as well as the significant
risks inherent in such work. Computing research can serve as a diagnostic,
helping us to understand and measure social problems with precision and
clarity. As a formalizer, computing shapes how social problems are explicitly
defined --- changing how those problems, and possible responses to them, are
understood. Computing serves as rebuttal when it illuminates the boundaries of
what is possible through technical means. And computing acts as synecdoche when
it makes long-standing social problems newly salient in the public eye. We
offer these paths forward as modalities that leverage the particular strengths
of computational work in the service of social change, without overclaiming
computing's capacity to solve social problems on its own.},
added-at = {2020-01-31T10:28:02.000+0100},
author = {Abebe, Rediet and Barocas, Solon and Kleinberg, Jon and Levy, Karen and Raghavan, Manish and Robinson, David G.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/213b9d25ee9878498cfeb2f2754fd8d93/mstrohm},
doi = {10.1145/3351095.3372871},
interhash = {32088712c0c91d36ed366460dd9426b9},
intrahash = {13b9d25ee9878498cfeb2f2754fd8d93},
keywords = {algorithms bias ethics},
note = {cite arxiv:1912.04883},
timestamp = {2020-01-31T10:28:02.000+0100},
title = {Roles for Computing in Social Change},
url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1912.04883},
year = 2019
}