Posted: February 28, 2022 Accepted Languages: English/Inglés/Inglês
Play is an increasingly powerful mode of activism and education for social justice. Salen and Zimmerman (2003) defined play as “free movement in a rigid structure.” Based on this definition, if we understand society as a complex entanglement of structures—social, political, cultural, historical—then play can function as a means of investigating those structures at a distance from them. Yet, while this distance allows us to fail and explore those structures safely, it also limits us from directly transforming them. Similarly, games (as a form of play) can immerse us in a wide range of simulated societal structures through their mechanics, dynamics, narratives, and aesthetics, but do so through imagined or virtual spaces. Given the rich space of experiences made possible by play/games, and their quality of situating us in complex societal structures at a distance from them, this panel asks the following question:
Can we design play/games that critically engage us with science, technology, and society, while also enabling us to transform them? At a time when technoscience has become increasingly complicit in perpetuating social injustices and amplifying inequality, it is necessary to develop environments that invite both inquiry and action into current and alternative sociotechnical paradigms. Building on the above question, this panel invites submissions about critical games/play that explore sociotechnical issues. Examples include but are not limited to:
Design explorations (successful, failed, or incomplete) of critical STS centered games and other forms of play
Critical play-throughs of prior such play/games (see for instance, the Games for Change database at https://www.gamesforchange.org/games/).
Literature reviews of such play/games
Theoretical explorations of the relationships between STS and game studies (anchored in concrete examples)
