Identity, performativity, and HCI

Identity is a theme spanning multiple discourses, such as feminist HCI, ICT4D and data control, becoming notable as a culturally understood phenomenon within third-wave HCI. This workshop extends current thinking about identity toward performative aspects: how self and identity is constituted, how this relates to digital technology, and what this means for design and use of such technology. As technology's growth in domestic, social and intimate contexts suggests a new consideration of how identity is invoked, we propose to examine philosophical commitments, methodological implications, and pragmatic aspects of putting performativity to work, identifying blind spots and obstacles that hamper research and practice in this area. And we use hands-on critique, panel discussion and brief presentations, to explore how HCI can respond to the challenge of who we are and what we might become in our pursuit of digitally mediated futures.