Building Agency & Scaling the Issue
Social and Individual dimension & interactions
At this stage of the protocol, you are supposed to analyse the agency related to the specific design problem that you want to address and the analyses of the actants involved in the processes of change. For instance, if you are dealing with Air pollution, you should analyse how this issue is perceived by the individual and the society - which could be the role of the individuals and which could be the role of different social structures in addressing the specific issue in the future? Anticipate the possible conflicts in these interactions and scale the action through various levels (micro vs macro, local vs global, individual vs collective). This should help you identify the thriving conditions and build the system of relations between different actors engaged in the processes toward building thriving societies. Map the actors and analyse how the specific issue affects and is affected by the living and non-living, natural and artificial entities.
a) Individual and collective agency
What would it mean for the individuals and society to thrive? How this is perceived at different levels?
What do the individuals perceive about that particular issue in the present and concerning the future? Which are the moral judgments that the individual should and will be supposed to take? Is there anything that prevents the individual to act differently? What, why? Any possible conflicts [ inner, outer, that prevents the individual from making different choices]?
Which are the moral judgments that the society/community should/will be supposed to take? How big is this society/community? Is there anything that prevents the community to act differently? What, why? Any possible conflicts [ inner, outer, anything that prevents the society/community from making different choices]? How the issue in question is affecting.
b) Defining the Actants
Who are the actants that play active roles in the context/challenge you are working at by taking into account different agencies? The actants are both human and non-human entities [natural and artificial], able to act, and interact with each other. Which is the system of relations you would like to build and design for?