BeLonging: A Game about Patterns of Marginalization within Communities
BeLonging: A Game about Patterns of Marginalization within Communities
Submitter: Aditya Anupam, Georgia Institute Of Technology, aanupam3@gatech.edu
Abstract:
Marginalization is a systemic problem that often manifests in the subtle interactions of daily life, particularly in the group dynamics of a small community. Systemically ingrained tensions can produce overt, covert, or inadvertent patterns of group behavior that exclude certain individuals from full participation, such as when an individual's ideas are not engaged with in a group conversation. Such patterns can subvert the target individual's contributions and pressure them to withdraw from the group or conform. The subtlety of these patterns can conceal the coercion behind withdrawal/conformation, making it seem voluntary. This allows the group to save face without being reflexive of their marginalizing behavior. It is therefore necessary to surface such dynamics and critically engage them. This project explores these dynamics through a digital game called BeLonging where players face social exclusion from a group they were welcomed into. There is no definite goal. Instead, there are multiple endings depending on the actions of the player, such as their attempts to fit in or defy the group. By using abstract shapes and scenes that can be projected onto a variety of real-world scenarios, the game invites players to reflect on lived experiences of marginalization.
Areas of STS Scholarship: Social Movements and STS, Method and Practice, Information, Computing and Media Technology
Authors/Participants: Aditya Anupam, Georgia Institute of Technology
