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Social Work Futures

Exploring how social workers can increase their impact through futures frameworks – All content developed by Laura Burney Nissen, Ph.D., LMSW, CADCIII, Portland State University School of Social Work, Portland, Oregon, USA, Email: nissen@pdx.edu, Twitter: @lauranissen

Recent Posts

  • Grief and the Future of Social Work: An Invitation to Grow Together in Respect and Readiness
  • Women of Color in Tech and/or Futures/Foresight Work
  • 10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – Academic Literature Edition! October 4, 2020
  • Meeting Download from the Institute for the Future’s Annual 10-Year-Forecast – September 2020
  • The Future and Children
  • 10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – September 29, 2020
  • 10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – September 14, 2020
  • Gathering Resources for the Launch of the national Social Work Health Futures Lab!
  • Recent Ideas from Twitter – July 13, 2020
  • Futures in Social Work – Summer 2020 Reading List!

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  • Children and Families and the Future (1)
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Category: Recent Ideas from Twitter

10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – Academic Literature Edition! October 4, 2020

Followers of this blog know I am a scanning machine – always looking around on Twitter and beyond, gathering and comparing signals of change or interesting bits of information with other futures practice colleagues. This blog has had a running series on these scans since it started. This is a central idea in futures practice – and best done in community!

In the last six months, I’ve run across a number of great academic articles that I haven’t featured previously. These are listed in alpha order with the authors – and run the gamut of all kinds of topics. What they have in common – is that I think they’ll be of interest to future facing social workers. They show how futures thinking looks in action across our profession – and in other professions that we might intersect with. I found them all fascinating, thought provoking and/or inspiring. They spark thinking as powerful ideas so often do! They are mostly brand new (and just published online) – but a couple are just new to me and within a few years of being written. Hopefully these are the kinds of articles that will find their way into social work courses, research, continuing education – and as importantly our informal co-learning and the shaping of our profession. To meet the future with new levels of readiness…we have to learn together in new ways.

If you have or know of a future-related academic article you’d like me to consider featuring in a future blog post – please share at nissen@pdx.edu.

Brewer, L.C., Fortuna, K.I., Jones, C., Walker, R., Hays, S.N., Patten, C.A. & Cooper, L.A. (2020). Back to the future: Achieving health equity through health infomatics and digital health. JMIR mHealth and Uhealth, Pubished online.

The rapid proliferation of health informatics and digital health innovations has revolutionized clinical and research practices. There is no doubt that these fields will continue to have accelerated growth and a substantial impact on population health. However, there are legitimate concerns about how these promising technological advances can lead to unintended consequences such as perpetuating health and health care disparities for underresourced populations. To mitigate this potential pitfall, it is imperative for the health informatics and digital health scientific communities to understand the challenges faced by disadvantaged groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, which hinder their achievement of ideal health. This paper presents illustrative exemplars as case studies of contextually tailored, sociotechnical mobile health interventions designed with community members to address health inequities using community-engaged research approaches. We strongly encourage researchers and innovators to integrate community engagement into the development of data-driven, modernized solutions for every sector of society to truly achieve health equity for all. (Author abstract.)

DeCook, J. (2020). A (white) cyborg’s manifesto: The overwhelmingly western ideology driving technofeminist theory. Media, Culture and Society, Published online on September 28, 2020.

‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ is a required reading in many graduate programs to explore technofeminism, transhumanism, and studies of science and technology to explore notions of gender, race, and other minoritized identities. However, in this essay, I note the ways that Haraway’s pieces still exacerbates categories of difference, and my own difficulties and critiques of the cyborg identity. I encourage readers not only to consider its importance, but also limits the cyborg identity, and how the concept of cyborg itself is fraught with a Western, patriarchal violence that cannot be ignored in the greater context of technology and technological innovation. Although useful in imagining a departure from traditional categories of difference, I inquire as to whether it upholds the very things it purported to dismantle, and explore other scholars’ works in challenging the concepts. Ultimately ‘cyborgs’ are not outside fof the politics within which they exist, and must be interpreted in relation to other identity categories without upholding whiteness and Western epistemologies as the center. (Author abstract.)

Detlaff, A., Weber, K., Pendleton, M., Bettencourt, B. & Burton, L. (2020). It is not a broken system, it is a system that needs to be broken: the upEND movement to abolish the child welfare system.Journal of Public Child Welfare, Published online September 6, 2020.

The child welfare system disproportionately harms Black children and families through systemic over-surveillance, over-involvement, and the resulting adverse outcomes associated with foster care. Ending this harm will only be achieved when the forcible surveillance and separation of children from their parents is no longer viewed as an acceptable form of intervention. This paper describes the upEND movement, a collaborative movement aimed at abolishing the child welfare system as we know it and reimagining how we as a society support child, family, and community safety and well-being. (Author abstract.)

Hamilton, A.M. (2020). A geneology of critical race and digital studies: Past, present and future. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Published online first June 1, 2020.

The interplay between race and technology has captured the attention of scholars in sociology, communication, media studies, and beyond. Previous research has focused on a range of topics including the centrality of race to the structure and function of the Internet, critiques of digital divide studies, and the phenomenon of Black Twitter. Although a robust history of critical race and digital studies exists, there has yet to be a definitive overview that traces the development of this important field. In this review, I fill this gap by delineating a genealogy of critical race and digital studies by mapping the intellectual terrain of the field. To do this, I begin with a broad overview of the history of Internet studies before reviewing key areas in the field of critical race and digital studies, including colorblind studies of the web, digital divide studies, and Black Twitter. I conclude with a focus on the ways that this body of literature can be brought forth to critically understand the implications of emerging areas of academic debate on studies of race and technology. (Author abstract.)

Hickel, J. (2020). What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification. Globalizations, Published online first on September 4, 2020.

Degrowth is a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being. Over the past few years, the idea has attracted significant attention among academics and social movements, but for people new to the idea it raises a number of questions. Here I set out to clarify three specific issues: (1) I specify what degrowth means, and argue that the framing of degrowth is an asset, not a liability; (2) I explain how degrowth differs fundamentally from a recession; and (3) I affirm that degrowth is primarily focused on high-income nations, and explore the implications of degrowth for the global South.

Hickey, A. (2019). Rupturing settler time: visual culture and geographies of Indigenous futurity. World Art, 9(2), 163-180.

This article focuses on the implications of the work of two artists on discourses of temporality and Indigenous futurity. I analyze the work of Skawennati and Bonnie Devine, with particular consideration of their resistance to the hegemonic temporality of extractive and capitalist lifeways and what Mark Rifkin calls ‘settler time’ [Rifkin, Mark. 2017. Beyond Settler Time: Temporal Sovereignty and Indigenous Self-Determination. Durham: Duke University Press]. Skawennati provides a spiraling narrative of Indigenous pasts and futures in her machinima series, TimeTraveller™. In her sculptural installation, Letters from Home, Bonnie Devine calls upon the viewer to consider the stones from the Serpent River First Nation as elders. The casts of these stones are framed as texts, and viewers are encouraged to learn how to read these lessons, collapsing the divide between deep time and the present. Ultimately, I argue that these artists use emerging, experimental, and established media as a method of creating ruptures in Euro-Western notions of time, providing an embodied experience of a temporal otherwise and glimpses into decolonized futures. (Author abstract.)

Hicks, M. (2019). Hacking the cis-tem: Transgender citizens and the early digital state. IEEE Annals of History and Computing, 41(1), 20-33.

This paper looks at the case of transgender Britons who tried to correct the gender listed on their government-issued ID cards, but ran up against the British government’s increasingly computerized methods for tracking, identifying, and defining citizens. These newly computerizing systems show some of the earliest examples of transphobic algorithmic bias: explicit attempts to program trans people out of the system can be seen in the programming of the early Ministry of Pensions computer system designed to apportion benefits to all tax paying British citizens. Transgender citizens pushed back against these developments, attempting to hack the bureaucratic avenues and categories available to them, laying the groundwork for a coalescing political movement. This paper argues that uncovering the deep prehistory of algorithmic bias and investigating instances of resistance within this history is essential to understanding current debates about algorithmic bias, and how computerized systems have long functioned to create and enforce norms and hierarchies. (Author abstract.)

Monahan, T. (2017). Regulating belonging: surveillance, inequality, and the cultural production of abjection. Journal of Cultural Economy, 10(2), 191-206.

Conditions of abjection are increasingly viewed as problems to be managed with surveillance. Across disparate domains, bodies that challenge normalized constructions of responsible neoliberal citizenship are categorized, monitored, policed, and excluded in dehumanizing and often violent ways. This paper explores the role of surveillance in such processes. The registers covered include everyday abjection (welfare systems, battered women’s shelters, and homelessness), criminalized poverty (police targeting of the poor and emerging ‘poverty capitalism’ arrangements), and the radically adrift (the identification, tracking, and containment of refugees). In each of these cases, surveillance is yoked to structural inequalities and systems of oppression, but it also possesses a cultural dimension that thrusts marginalized and dehumanized subjectivities upon the abject Other. Therefore, I argue that in order to critique the gendered, racialized, and classed dimensions of contemporary surveillance, it is necessary to take seriously the mythologies that give meaning to surveillance practices and the subjectivities that are engendered by them. (Author abstract.)

Patton, D.U. (2020). Social work thinking for UX and AI design. Interactions, February, pp. 86-89.

“What if, instead of solely looking for the best AI talent, tech companies and startups created a Chief Social Work Officer? This is the question Greg Epstein posed to me during our conversation about why AI needs more social workers. My response: The social work difference is that from inception, when considering why or if AI should be created or integrated in society, we would ask: Who should be in the room making that decision? Social work thinking underscores the importance of anticipating how
technological solutions operate and activate in diverse communities” (p. 86).

Redden, J., Dencik, L. & Warne, H. (2020). Datafied child welfare services: Unpacking politics,, economics and power. Policy Studies, 41 (5), 507-526.

This article analyses three distinct child welfare data systems in England. We focus on child welfare as a contested area in public services where data systems are being used to inform decision-making and transforming governance. We advance the use of “data assemblage” as an analytical framework to detail how key political and economic factors influence the development of these data systems. We provide an empirically grounded demonstration of why child welfare data systems must not be considered neutral decision aid tools. We identify how systems of thought, ownership structures, policy agendas, organizational practices, and legal frameworks influence these data systems. We find similarities in the move toward greater sharing of sensitive data, but differences in attitudes toward public-private partnerships, rights and uses of prediction. There is a worrying lack of information available about the impacts of these systems on those who are subject to them – particularly in relation to predictive data systems. We argue for policy debates to go beyond technical fixes and privacy concerns to engage with fundamental questions about the power dynamics and rights issues linked to the expansion of data sharing in this sector as well as whether predictive data systems should be used at all. (Author abstract.)

Sage, M., Iverson Hitchcock, L. & Bakk, L. (2020). Professional collaboration networks as a social work research practice innovation: Preparing DSW students for knowledge dissemination roles in a digital society. Research on Social Work Practice. Published online first September 28, 2020.

In professional disciplines, gaps often exist between research and practice. This occurs because of a lack of information exchange between stakeholders about various knowledge of problems and solutions. Implementation science offers systematic strategies for addressing gaps. One potential way to close gaps is by using professional collaboration networks (PCNs), which are technology-mediated, user-centered relationship constellations designed to enhance connections and professional opportunities. These participatory networks are goal-specific, extending across disciplinary and international borders. PCN users can keep current on empirical developments, disseminate knowledge, connect to others for collaboration and mentoring, and expand in-person networks. They allow social workers to contribute their unique knowledge of social systems across interdisciplinary contexts and contribute to conversations about social. This article explores the development of PCNs as a tool for social work researchers, practitioners, and students. PCNs in social work education are explored, including relevance to lifelong professional learning and enhancing research impact. (Author abstract.)

Schillinger, D., Chittamura, D. & Ramirez, S. (2020). From “infodemics” to health promotion: A novel framework for the role of social media in public health. American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1393-1396.

Despite the ubiquity of health-related communications via social media, no consensus has emerged on whether this medium, on balance, jeopardizes or promotes public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has been described as the source of a toxic “infodemic” or a valuable tool for public health. No conceptual model exists for examining the roles that social media can play with respect to population health. We present a novel framework to guide the investigation and assessment of the effects of social media on public health: the SPHERE (Social media and Public Health Epidemic and REsponse) continuum. This model illustrates the functions of social media across the epidemic–response continuum, ranging across contagion, vector, surveillance, inoculant, disease control, and treatment. We also describe attributes of the communications, diseases and pathogens, and hosts that influence whether certain functions dominate over others. Finally, we describe a comprehensive set of outcomes relevant to the evaluation of the effects of social media on the public’s health. (Author abstract.)

West, S.M. (2019). Data capitalism: Redefining the logics of surveillance and privacy. Business and Society, 58(1), 20-41.

This article provides a history of private sector tracking technologies, examining how the advent of commercial surveillance centered around a logic of data capitalism. Data capitalism is a system in which the commoditization of our data enables an asymmetric redistribution of power that is weighted toward the actors who have access and the capability to make sense of information. It is enacted through capitalism and justified by the association of networked technologies with the political and social benefits of online community, drawing upon narratives that foreground the social and political benefits of networked technologies. I examine its origins in the wake of the dotcom bubble, when technology makers sought to develop a new business model to support online commerce. By leveraging user data for advertising purposes, they contributed to an information environment in which every action leaves behind traces collected by companies for commercial purposes. Through analysis of primary source materials produced by technology makers, journalists, and business analysts, I examine the emergence of data capitalism between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s and its central role in the contemporary information economy. (Author abstract.)

Young, J.A. (2020): #SocialWorkEducation: A computational analysis of social work programs on Twitter, Journal of Social Work Education. Published online first October 2, 2020.

Computational social science methods provide a better understanding of how social work education programs use Twitter. Data mining and sentiment analysis of 2,509 tweets were conducted using the Information, Community, and Action conceptual framework. Programs primarily tweet content related to the theme of Information and the tone of the tweets are mainly positive. Statistics such as the number of followers, number of tweets, types of hashtags (#) used, and when tweets are shared during the day are also provided to illustrate how programs use Twitter. A composite score was also developed to highlight the top 10 social work programs on Twitter. Implications for social work education are given along with suggestions for programs in developing a social media strategy. (Author abstract.)

Posted on October 5, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from TwitterLeave a comment on 10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – Academic Literature Edition! October 4, 2020

10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – September 29, 2020

This is part of my continuing series to highlight things I see pass by on Twitter that I think are of interest to social workers with interest in futures topics. You can look at other recent posts on this topic here, where I collect and share signals.

(One) Love this news from Helsinki and Amsterdam – a public interest technology approach to the algorithms that operate in public spaces/public services. I can definitely see a future in which social workers are meaningfully involved in this kind of accountability- and equity-building civic and democratic structures. This is a future I like. A related piece explores “how democracies can claim back power in the digital world,” and another tackles the intersection of algorithms and fair housing laws. The idea of interrupting the power asymmetry that is so ubiquitous in the “tech vs. anything” equation is important in all spaces – but especially so in civic and/or government functions. This article is a concise overview to increase your civic tech literacy. Finally, a related new report from researchers Sasha Costanza-Chock, Diana Nucera, Berhan Taye Gameda, Matt Stempeck, and Micah Sifryis called “Pathways Through the Portal” gathered expert advice from field leaders, including data scientists and technologists, artists and activists, researchers and policy advocates about how an ethical, equitable and democratic tech future for communities might be possible.

(Two) Serious question: “Who owns your face?” While it seems like a silly question – with the increasing use of facial recognition technology, what rights do individual people have to their own image? This issue is related to police powers, privacy and a host of other concerns facing contemporary communities including storage of such images. This brief recorded piece about this topic – and makes some suggestions about future policy related to facial recognition. Here’s another piece on the same topic. Here’s yet another example of the related equity issues/racism that pops up each week with use of this kind of tech.

(Three) “Techlash” isn’t about people being simply angry at tech – it is about a fundamental power shift that is happening in nondemocratic ways all over the world. This particular article goes deep on exploring the issues of growing power differentials across the ecosystem exacerbated by tech and the work ahead to rectify it. Essential ideas to continue to think through – strong connection to the book “Future Politics” which readers of this blog know is one of my favorites.

(Four) Great new read from Futurist Amy Webb about why budgeting for foresight in organizations is more important than ever before. With a world full of increasing disruptions, volatility and uncertainty – learning the skills to navigate through a futures lens is an essential part of modern life. Another piece by Kristel Van der Elst offers a similar piece on how to plan during uncertainty. (Here’s a bonus offering with a very practical futures exercise you can try right now!)

(Five) What happens when a whole community comes together for a day of “collective dreaming” about the future? This article talks about this very thing – via an experiment conducted by a group of futurists in England last year. “The outcome was a Futures Bazaar, a Star Wars-esque collection of fictional artefacts coming from multiple futures, each specifically designed to ask a question, or provoke debate.”

(Six) So many aspects of life have been turned upside down through the Covid-19 experience. This article explores the intersections of work and well-being in the future – integrating work shifts that have come about from the pandemic as well as other accelerations.

(Seven) An infuriating look at climate change response comes in this piece which discusses the “luxury air business” – highlighting the degree to which suffering in the face of is not distributed equally. A related piece discusses increasing anger and deep resentment from growing inequality and its intersections with climate change, racism and more.

(Eight) The future of families is among the most important issues for the future. Here’s a couple of recent pieces that explore the burnout that so many families are facing during times of covid-19 and other related disruptions. In a related publication, the Institute for the Future has a fine new report out just in the last few weeks on the future of families.

(Nine) What happens after Covid-19? This blog has collected a variety of resources related to forecasts and various future-related interpretations of post-covid life. I especially love this new map – also from IFTF – which touches on some of the deeper issues that have been revealed (racism, deep inequality and more) that must be addressed in order for recovery to occur. Another important article hails from scholar Dr. Alondra Nelson drawing creative, complex and urgent ideas together about what recovery might look like.

(Ten). Many folks are talking about the new Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma.” It is an important critique and I’ve heard that many are finding the film thought provoking, but based on my own review, I’m concerned about lack of inclusion of many important voices and experts of Color (mentioned previously on this blog) including Dr. Ruha Benjamin, Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble and Dr. Joy Buolamwini. I liked this review which highlights some of these missing pieces, as well as this one. A new film coming out this fall is called Coded Bias, and delves deeply on the subject with special effort to include such experts – largely women of Color – and racism embedded in algorithms influences equity in everyday contexts. You can view the trailer for the film here. It will be a must-see for social workers.

Posted on September 30, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from Twitter, UncategorizedLeave a comment on 10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – September 29, 2020

10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – September 14, 2020

This is part of a regular series of posts that track a few notable things I find on Twitter that reflect signals and/or futures thinking I think will be relevant to social workers and/or folks in higher education. I’m recalibrating this feature and will start a slightly different format where I just run through 10 things of value I come across. You can view previous posts in this series here.

(One) Of great interest in the future of tech world is the issue of facial recognition technology proliferation in cities. Portland, Oregon (my home town) just passed among the most rigorous facial recognition bans in the country. For social justice tech activists – this is a very good thing. Most agree that there are many more down sides and risks – all hinging on serious concerns about embedded and dangerous surveillance racism. You can read about it here, here and here is an ACLU statement about recent legislation introduced on the same issue at the national level. Here are a couple of other pieces that lay out a variety of important points too. This will continue to be an important space for social workers focused on human rights and urban planning to be active and attentive.

(Two) This is a really powerful and important article about how Covid-19 has revealed even deeper and more complex rifts in the digital divide in the world. “As the Covid-19 pandemic has forced millions to remain in their homes and restricted the capacity of public spaces, people have turned to online spaces to continue all forms of social interactions. However, despite being heralded as a means to overcome social inequalities, the new “digital public spaces” have continued these inequalities.” Increasingly, access to full participation in society is digital – how are social workers incorporating and accounting for this increasingly relevant and urgent issue? This article underscores that covid-19 has exacerbated this dynamic . Social workers will need to gain even more tools and skills to attend to this divide – and to advocate effectively for equitable access.

(Three) Will civic unrest escalate as the covid-19 and other equity movements continue in the coming months and years? A recent study which looked at 57 historic pandemics suggests that it will. It’s a thought provoking piece – and it says that uprisings have occurred more because of how those epidemics heightened social tensions. As our communities continue to work for change – there is clearly a sense of readiness for evolution.

(Four) New(ish) article about using virtual reality as a tool for behavioral health. This article discusses increasing availability of the technology, challenges and opportunities in integrating with behavioral health practice. This is a great piece for introducing VR to social workers and provides some helpful analysis of the practice ecosystem.

(Five) Numerous times in this blog, I’ve discussed items related to the future of the economy – globally and in the U.S., including topics such as “post-capitalism” and other emerging discourses. One of these is referred to as “de-growth.” This new article provides an indepth introductory look at this approach and offers it as a viable framework as an alternative to capitalism worth considering.

(Six) Dr. Jose Ramos is a favorite futures scholar – here’s a new piece related to yet more imagining of what Covid-19 will teach us and what might come next using the symbol of the chrysalis as a set of opportunties related to social transformation. It is a thoughtful and insightful set of ideas worth exploring. “We are living in Epic Times, historic times imbued with personal and collective meaning and logic. For each of us this story will be different, however we all have a part to play in the drama we see unfolding. Who we are, how we act, what we do, makes a difference. The era is calling forth new selves and new patterns from us. What does our world, its challenges and transition, want from us? What thinking, innovations, methods, feelings, movements? What could emerge from the Chrysalis?”

(Seven) Another writer I enjoy reading is Douglass Rushkoff (well often it aggravating but that is just because he does a good job of identifying the cracks in the machine…). This article is called “The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods,” reminding us of grotesque inequality during the times of Covid-19 – and the absolute and total truth that we are definitely not all in this together. As noted previously in this post, such brutally apparent injustices through awful times are not sustainable and will likely increasingly be a point of focus in continuing dialogue about the future of democracy, community and equity. Here’s a point of reference regarding gross inequality regarding health outcomes from Covid-19.

(Eight) Well, how about the future of sex? Here’s a great little “TED” type talk with sex-tech expert Bryony Cole talking about how sexuality and the sociology/psychology of sexuality are changing in the modern world. This is relevant to social work explorations in the future of relationships, families and coupling.

(Nine). This past month, a new wonderful Afrofuturist volume of edited stories has been released. It’s called “Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Memories of Abolition Day.” It’s a powerful collection of stories set after police abolition has occurred with Afrofuturist sensibilities. There is a rich and insightful webinar that was part of the launch where various authors read their work. You can see it here and download the entire book for free here. It is inspiring!

(Ten) This article is called “The world deserves a good ancestor: Will you be one?” Using the frame of colonization the author offers: “Humankind has colonized the future. We treat it like a distant colonial outpost devoid of people where we can freely dump ecological degradation, technological risk and nuclear waste – as if nobody will be there.” Building on the harms from other colonization This frame powerfully accentuates the need to consider power and responsibility to future generations. This image is included in the piece and speaks volumes.

Posted on September 14, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from Twitter, UncategorizedLeave a comment on 10 Things from Twitter – Dispatches from the Future – September 14, 2020

Recent Ideas from Twitter – July 13, 2020

This is part of a regular series of posts that track a few notable things I find on Twitter that reflect signals and/or futures thinking I think will be relevant to social workers and/or folks in higher education. You can view previous posts in this series here.

To say it has been an unusual couple of months would be the understatement (literally) of the century. Numerous voices have described our times as the reckoning with the “dual pandemics” – covid 19 and racialized violence at the hands of the police.

This entry begins with an overview of the current crisis of racialized police violence – through a futures lens. (Previous posts have provided extensive information specifically related to a futures and/or social work perspective on covid-19.)

A Futures Lens on Racialized Police Violence

The recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others provided only the latest example of racialized lethal police violence. It has provoked a summer of consistent, widespread and powerful demonstration and vocal calls for everything from reform to defunding and complete re-imagining of the role of police in modern society. It is being described as the potentially the largest social movement in US history, and has global reach beyond.

Social work has deepened its only level of dialogue, debate and exploration of this topic – particularly after the U.S. President suggested that social work should be more involved in police work. The National Association of Social Work and other social work scholars and leaders were quick to respond. Many have expressed strong opinions that social work doesn’t belong in police partnerships, despite the many years that such contributions have been made. Numerous important convenings have continued to deepen and increase focus on related critiques, professional soul searching and important reckoning with the question of whether and how social work should participate in the future of policing. Other voices suggest that there are a wide range of other approaches including mutual aid and peer supports that can better address the crisis of lack of support in vulnerable communties – better than police OR social work. The creative ways that people are coming together to respond to covid-19 is something to watch carefully, learn from and grow capacity around. It has been an inspiring dimension of a deeply rattling time.

This is an enormously important time for the social work profession as it debates, explores and considers the ethical and practical dimensions of how to practice in a way that truly contributes to a future of equity and racial justice. I support the dialogue and believe we are on the verge of some incredibly deep revisions and transitions in how we think about and practice “public safety” in the years to come. I would suggest that these debates and dialogues as deep developmental spaces for our entire social work enterprise…and I believe that a futures lens could help to inform and guide these dialogues to new places not only to reconcile the past and the present, but what vitally important emergent issues (like the drum and expansion of surveillance technology) absolutely MUST be considered when forming a change and equity agenda for the years to come.

A futures perspective would assert that considering not only the past and the present is necessary, but what is emergent and what may be just beyond the range of our ability to observe is equally important. In her book “Race Against Technology,” author and scholar Ruha Benjamin suggests that technology is accelerating a kind of policing that doesn’t necessarily involve actual human police – but rather algorithms, surveillance and acceleration in related infrastructure as commerce and entwined in governmentality that should be of great concern to human rights and equity advocates. Other scholars such as Safiya Umoja Noble have already extensively noted the deep racism embedded the way that the internet functions – and influencing a number of related emerging technologies. They symbolize that simply “increasing” or “decreasing” the number of police or amount of funding in an of itself will not necessarily change the trend of over-policing via technology, just as it is not possible to make technological systems “race neutral” at will without deep and significant examination and exposure of the race-related power dynamics that are too often embedded into emerging technologies. The idea of “digital policing” is a very real and emergent part of the evolution of the way law enforcement is conceptualized, along with other technological deployment. The very real emergence of artificial intelligence in the policing space involves a very particular set of risks and concerns. Issues such as the growth of and related equity concerns related to facial recognition technologies exemplify and illustrate these complexities that should be of concern to social workers, as well as to society at large.

For my part, I continue to watch, with admiration, entirely new ways of approaching justice such as the commitment that Austrailia has just made to a “truth and justice process” concerning recognition of ongoing injustices against Aboriginal people. I continue to imagine what such a process might look like here in the U.S. and what a future might look like in which creative and transformational work of this nature might be like.

These discourses have huge implications for a number of large systems where social workers practice and underscore the importance of us being ready for new challenges and new forms of old problems as we continue and evolve our profession. Being “future ready” means that we gain the knowledge, skills and ethics to positively impact not only the social problems and challenges in front of us but those that are around the corner. Ideologies both of policing and of futuring must be unpacked and democratized in new ways…now and tomorrow.

Covid-19 and the Future

This is a really thoughtful and interesting piece about the speed at which covid-19 is expanding the creativity and imaginations of humanity in the midst of the pandemic. Author Kim Stanley Robinson says: “What felt impossible has become thinkable. The spring of 2020 is suggestive of how much, and how quickly, we can change as a civilization.”

This article is a creative take on how cities may continue to evolve to meet the challenges of covid-19 and beyond.

Here’s an interesting piece about the post-covid 19 world written by 7 economists suggesting important lessons for the world and related transformational possibilities.

Another great take on the pros and cons of futures thinking (and its variations – some of which are more corporatized than others) comes from Dr. Devon Powers. This piece carefully and thoughtfully navigates the meaningful from the fluff of futures thinking and discourse.

Technology

This article asks the provocative question “who owns your face?” I’ve been in a number of futures sessions in which the idea of “copyrighting your own face” has come up partially in jest, and partially seriously. It introduces the reader to the world of “data brokerage,” and though the piece is a couple of years old now, it is even more relevant now. The ongoing complexity with which our personal data moves beyond what is visible should be considered by social workers as part of our reading and understanding of the contemporary ecosystem we live and work. This is especially relevant to people and communities who have been exploited and/or marginalized.

Here’s another of these thought-provoking lists of “ways technology will change the world by…” (insert year here…). I must confess I always click on them… Generally I find their value in groups (the end/beginning of the year is always a good time for a fresh batch) and like to try to get a “meta-sense” of what they are revealing as a group. This particular list is more thoughtful and imaginative than most – though in no way complete or exhaustive. Important note: Sometimes these types of lists can be heavy on the “used” or “official” futures (those futures suggested by powerful entities pushing a particular agenda aligned with economic or political forces). That is always a risk. My own commitment as a futurist, as is the case with many futurists I admire and follow, is to go deeper to uncover ideas and images of the future that may be emergent, uncomfortable, complicated and not necessarily easily managed by the market or dominant political forces. Of course, as a social worker I have many questions, and they all revolve around these core concepts: Who will decide if these futures come to pass, who will win and lose in these types of futures, etc.? All that said, as I continue to invite folks to consider the future either in social work or interdisciplinary spaces – with these provisos, this is the kind of list that can be great fun and very useful to unleash some bigger and unbounded thinking. This is particularly true when working with students.

Futures Thinking for a Better World

Speculative futures is a particular branch of foresight and futures work that focuses on creating imaginative experiences, scenarios and/or artifacts that embody and invite more personal, visceral and engaged futures experiences. This article, written by speculative futures leader and expert Dr. Stuart Candy gives an indepth overview of the kinds of projects that can emerge when speculative futurists get engaged. Here’s another terrific piece covering storytelling and imagination related to climate change by Mansi Parikh.

This half hour interview by renowned and international futurist and scholar Dr. Sohail Inayatullah is also about the role of new narratives in understanding the changing world. You can read some of his classic themes and conceptual/analytic frameworks here.

Here’s a wonderful piece about a speculative imagination project led by Olalekan Jeyifous and an Afrofuturist turn for Brooklyn, New York.

Futurist Vanessa Mason shares this creative and lively post about the importance of imagination to move through the dual pandemics of covid-19 and racism in our world to build toward the future we collectively want. (Note – she includes a terrific shout out to Columbia University Social Work Professor Dr. Courtney Cogburn and her VR Film “The 1000 cut journey.”)

Note: I just had the privilege of finishing up the Institute for the Future’s Design Futures course last week. It was fantastic for many reasons – I’ll be doing a post soon to do a download. You can find out more about the training here. Special respectful shout out to trainers Dr. Jake Dunagan and Jacques Barcia. Learned a lot and have so many ideas about how to engage social work in some “next level” creativity in our thinking and our work vis a vis these tools and ideas.

Systems Science, Chaos and Complexity

This article does a fine job of reviewing these important concepts – not only essential knowledge for futures work but increasingly relevant for cutting edge macro social work.

I found this additional piece about covid-19 and systems change also quite interesting and constructive.

In a slightly different but important and creative turn, I found this piece by Dr. Deepa Iyer to be a wonderful overview of “social change roles.” It both acknowledges the complexity and range of roles that communities of change agents might use to best arrange their resources to best achieve their objectives.

Universal Basic Income – Getting Ready

Covid-19 has caused more discourse and consideration of UBI than at any other time in recent history. This article is a good review of some of the fundamental issues and complications. It even considers some cryptocurrency possibilities as part of its coverage. Could it happen? Not clear yet…but if it could…social work might well be part of making it so, and making it work. Another interesting initiative (connected to previous U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang) is called the Data Dividend Project which aims to use class action law to develop direct payments to individuals based on large scale use of data by a number of well-known corporations. I’m not endorsing (haven’t studied it deeply enough to do so yet) but in general I find the spirit behind this kind of thing relevant and fascinating.

Crip Technoscience Manifesto

As I’ve had the pleasure of attending a variety of futures gatherings the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to hear from many medical and technology experts seeking to find cures and/or restore life and functioning from a wide variety of degenerative diseases, conditions or injuries. It is a truly fascinating time to be alive to see the ways that technology can intersect with human need. That said, it is also very complicated to assess who decides what should or should not be considered a disability, what corrective or restorative solutions should be available or what they should be like. I recently ran across this article (Crip Technoscience Manifesto) and it seemed a really important part of ethical and critical framing of these kinds of issues. Through its centering of power and voice of people living with and experiencing disabilities as an essential element – I found it both incredibly inspiring as well as useful in navigating how to think about, interrogate and move among a great deal of activity happening in this space.

Posted on July 15, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from TwitterLeave a comment on Recent Ideas from Twitter – July 13, 2020

We are Living in the Future – Covid-19 Edition – Resources for Social Workers – Linked resource list UPDATED 3.14.2020

Today, right now, we are living in a scenario that we didn’t exactly expect to be living in.

Though in truth – in social work, we have long known and worked in…a world that was precarious. We have long known how vulnerable too many people, families, and institutions are. And in good faith, we’ve done our best to make things better as best we could. Now we enter a new chapter. And our social work capacity will grow and change in ways we can’t yet predict.

Foresight/futures leaders along with legions of disaster preparedness communities have been urging new kinds of thinking, new kinds of applied imagination and a new kind of responsibility to each other to prepare. Our future looks very scary today. By all reports, Covid-19 is about to be a powerful, global teacher.

Now is a time to embrace and consider futures thinking with a rigor that will feel new for many in our profession – but it exactly the skills of foresight (for example – considering the role of history in revealing patterns we are part of, building scenarios that reflect multiple pathways and the various courses of action we might take, building community to read and understand signals amid what may feel like chaos, and finding some clarity despite volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) that help us navigate what is ahead. As social workers, I would add that we do all of this in a way that is conscious of equity, acknowledges the most vulnerable in our society, the human side of crisis, crisis response and recovery for whatever happens next.

We have no time to waste. Let’s dive in. Let’s bring all the knowledge and heart we’ve got to help our communities prepare, engage and acknowledge each other to move through and then heal from whatever covid-19 brings.

Social work is a profession that has a deep history and reservoir of knowledge, values and skills concerning human behavior and systems thinking. We can contribute so much to what is happening – but we owe it to ourselves and each other to commit to learning and in many cases, navigating new spaces, new challenges, new tools, opportunities and threats. For years I have told my students (as a social work professor) that even with all the good tools we provide in the social work education process, in their lifetimes, new challenges would emerge that we can’t yet see or predict. No matter how “prepared” we might think we are…we will learn AS WE WORK…with our ethics and principles leading the way. But also with courage and creativity to meet emergent challenges. I have never been more proud to be a social worker…and I am sure we can evolve to meet whatever comes.

This week, I started a hashtag on Twitter – #SWcovid19 to provide a place in that space for social workers around the world to gather, ask questions, tell stories, share information and credible news, and CONNECT on this emerging global challenge. If you haven’t popped in there yet – please do. Let’s continue to build community.

Further, I’ve been gathering up selected resources that I think will be of interest to social workers directly related to vulnerable populations we stand with and settings where social workers work as well issues (like human rights) that we are interested in/committed to. Link here! This will be an evolving list of resources as this is a rapidly changing situation. It is not intended to be a comprehensive lit review – just a real time capture of things I’ve been seeing go by that I think social workers will be interested in.

Posted on March 12, 2020March 15, 2020Categories Health Futures, Recent Ideas from Twitter, Uncategorized2 Comments on We are Living in the Future – Covid-19 Edition – Resources for Social Workers – Linked resource list UPDATED 3.14.2020

Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – February 26, 2020

This is part of a regular series of posts that track a few notable things I find on Twitter that reflect signals and/or futures thinking I think will be relevant to social workers and/or folks in higher education. You can view previous posts in this series here.

23rd World Futures Studies Federation Conference this September in Mexico City.

Here’s a link to explore one of the largest futures conferences in the world – this will the first held in Latin America. I’d love to go if I can make it happen – worth checking out just to see the extraordinary and global range and reach of futures thinking and applications.

Global Population News

The Pew Research Center published (in 2019) a piece about changes in global population which I think have not been widely noted in social work. “For the first time in modern history,” it states, “the world’s population is expected to virtually stop growing by the end of this century, due in large part to falling global fertility rates,” (Cillffo and Ruiz, 2019). This is a powerful signal about a variety of issues related to the future of humanity, the planet and more. Worth reading.

Social Workers Doing Important Future Facing Activities

It is a joy to get to know some social workers and social work academics who are active and advancing new approaches to stretch social work’s fluency and capacity to use new media, explore new frameworks and new approaches in our field. Here are a couple of examples!

Terrific article interviewing Dr. Desmond Patton, Social Work Faculty Member from Columbia University regarding data and context – including a window into his fascinating and innovative research.

Check out Dr. Courtney Cogburn’s appearance on this recent CBSN episode discussing her work in virtual reality and her VR film experience the “1000 Cut Journey” gives viewers an experience of racism throughout the life of a black boy and then man. Dr. Cogburn is a social work faculty member at Columbia University.

Dr. Melanie Sage, faculty member at University at Buffalo School of Social Work, was awarded an $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and Amazon to improve AI fairness in foster care.

A wide variety of notable future-linked articles on a range of topics in a recent issue of the journal Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance focused on Navigating Complex Frontiers: Introduction to the Special Issue on “The Future of Human Service Organizational and Management Research.” Worth browsing – some excellent information here. Edited by Social Work faculty Drs. Bowen McBeath and Karen Hopkins.

Economies of the Future

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing from and getting to know, economic historian turned ethnographer, Alexa Clay, from the Royal Society of Arts, who spoke about a National Geographic Project she’s been part of creating about “Misfit Economies.” She’s a remarkable speaker and creator of “sparks” in terms of innovative thinking and visioning. She got us all thinking some big creative thoughts about the future of the economy and the global signals that aren’t typically being tracked in what we discuss when we generally hear about this subject in the news. Take a look at the trailer for the film here.

This is a well-done article asking the question: who benefits from the emerging data economy? Short version: It’s pretty much what you expect, but will contribute to deeper and deeper economic disparities.

Climate Change

New report out from McKinsey and Company on climate change – physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts. (Thanks to Lakeya Cherry, MSW for sharing this with me.). Extensive information all very relevant to social work practice, research and macro planning/thinking in this area.

Neoliberalism

Regular readers of this blog know that a while ago, I did a deep dive on the topic of neo-liberalism as part of my desire to increase my own sense of current events and its relationship in particular to trends in higher education (as well as increasing austerity related to human services). You can view that survey here. Recently, I ran across this fine piece which I’ll add to that general overview. Very interesting piece with a historical lens on the issue of how and when neoliberalism “took hold” in the modern era and how it continues to erode human rights along the way.

Future of Work

I also enjoyed getting to hear from Maggie Wooll who is the Director of Research at the Deloitte Center for the Edge speak about the future of work recently. This report is among the most concise and clear overview of this topic I’ve run across recently – very helpful and offers numerous implications for social work as well as so many places and systems with whom we interact. The question of how the future of work will shake out is very much in process – it is up to all of us to jump in and advocate to assure it evolves in a way that creates just and equitable pathways for all.

The Future of Higher Education

This recent article by the BBC does a good job of providing an overview of the emerging push to increase “micro-credentials” and challenge traditional higher education inventories of offerings.

Here’s an interesting article describing changing faculty roles in medical education. I think they tackle some of the ecosystemic and institutional norms challenges well in terms of trying to articulate and intentionally modernize academic medical education. This has numerous implications for social work education:

Bellini, Lisa M MD; Kaplan, Brian MD; Fischel, Janet E. PhD; Meltzer, Carolyn MD; Peterson, Pamela MD; Sonnino, Roberta E. MD. (2020). The defintion of faculty must evolve: A call to action. Academic Medicine, available at this link. As academic medical centers and academic health centers continue to adapt to the changing landscape of medicine in the United States, the definition of what it means to be faculty must evolve as well. Both institutional economic priorities and the need to recalibrate educational programs to address current and future societal and patient needs have brought new complexity to faculty identity, faculty value, and the educational mission. (From the author abstract.)

Equity Work

I loved this article entitled “The Language of Anti-racism” and as I read it, I reflected on how much of this language is now part of “mainstream” discourse in social work and beyond. I reflected on how powerful it can be to introduce language that precisely names complex realities that are not widely understood and then observe how this naming process can change the world. Language as activism, language as power, language as the future – an anti-racist future requires a new way to talk about our world and what equity means. Here’s a good signal that this project is moving ahead. I’m imagining what the next iteration of this article might be 10 years from now, realizing that signals of its evolution are all around us, and hoping to play some small part in its emergence!

Artificial Intelligence

I have a couple of items here that are interesting and provocative – both surprised and intrigued me in the last few weeks.

This article proposes that the real measure of artificial intelligence is if it can admit when it doesn’t know something. Imagine!

These articles are focused on the work of Dr. Julia Mossbridge who is a fellow RWJF grantee and a cognitive neuroscientist. She’s an accomplished artifical intelligence expert and focused (currently) on the question of – can artificial intelligence experience love – and specifically, unconditional love. This will stretch your sensibilities in interesting ways – but check out her work here and here.

Clinical Matters

This is a concerning but illuminating article on the rise (and underworld) of the world on online therapy systems. Definitely relevant in our social work circles – should be discussed widely in our classes with special attention to the ethical compromises that are possible in these spaces. There are some really wonderful and well-developed services out there…but not all online supports and services are alike. Important read.

Pandemic

Obviously – news of the coronavirus is on most of our minds. If you haven’t seen the new Netflix series “Pandemic” – it might be a good time to catch up. Excellent overview. See the trailer here. Additionally the author of numerous books and recipient of several awards for her work on pandemics, Laurie Garrett has written this recent piece in Foreign Affairs to offer her analysis of our current level of readiness to address the impending health crisis related to this virus.

Posted on February 26, 2020July 13, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from Twitter, UncategorizedLeave a comment on Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – February 26, 2020

Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – January 23, 2020

Note: This is part of a regular occasional series of blog posts I do that is based on scans of Twitter and elsewhere on the web – and a gathering of interesting things I think social workers, social work educators, folks in higher education and related professions who interested in futures topics might find valuable. It is a digest, and is unapologetically eclectic. Here’s a link to prior posts – check them out too!!

Smart Cities

Now for some alternative ways of thinking about the smart cities push, what if we advocated for low-tech cities that maybe aren’t so smart…but potentially much better for humanity? This article considers that premise. (P.S. my own editorial note – I don’t think the word “dumb” in the title is helpful or appropriate. I liked the article…the title not so much. Oh well.)

Tech and Society

This past year, San Francisco hosted an art exhibit called “The Glass Room” which had a focus on the interconnected impacts of tech, data and surveillance on modern life. I didn’t get a chance to go…but here’s a wonderful write up describing it in some detail. Sounds like it was very cool and thought provoking.

Here’s a group called “Data Detox” that has put together a useful guide on disinformation. They highlight the importance of this especially in a run up to an election. Another interesting resource I found were some “digital citizenship” guidelines from DigCitCommit. I liked these a lot – this whole website is quite full of cool tools and resources.

Found another interesting piece about an emerging academic discipline called “digital humanities” – literally applying humanities methodologies and worldviews to technology.

Should we have the right to protect our attention in a world seeking to distract us? This little piece from a couple of years ago is a thoughtful exploration of that topic. Reminds me in some ways of Futurist Amber Case’s work with Calm Technology which you can read more about here.

By the way, who owns your data and what is the future of privacy? Another futurist I follow on the regular, is Amy Webb. She has thoughts she shares about this topic here – important piece. The risks are high for all of us…but I continue to think about how they are disproportionally concerning for the most vulnerable in our world. As usual. We need to do better.

I’m a big fan of the group “Dot Everyone” – it’s a UK-based “responsible tech” think tank. They do such a great job of being up front with their values (which are in sync with many of mine as a social worker) and they do a lot with creative projects and process, implemented in an ethical and transparent way. I follow them on Twitter…but their website is wonderful to browse and engage with.

The Future of Food

This is a fascinating topic I haven’t spent a lot of time on, but is an incredibly interesting and relevant subject as it relates to the future of human survival. The Institute for the Future has done a lot of work in this area. Here’s another fun overview from the BBC.

Here’s an interesting piece related to the future (and benefits) of lab grown meat.

The Future of Weapons/Security

I don’t really like this topic. That said, it is fascinating and a space for thoughtful people to engage and contribute to a world where we don’t have these tools of destruction. The truth is, powerful people (governments and corporations) continue to use many new tools and technologies as tools of war and security – and much of this is largely hidden from civilian view. Let’s be brave and look it in the face and think through the implications of various futures – pushing ourselves and our leaders towards the futures we democratically decide we want. Here’s a couple of links that, frankly, should worry us. I’m in favor of many other worldbuilding methods – like peacemaking, equity, diplomacy and rational democratic processes. Let’s hold our world leaders accountable and keep an eye on what happens in these spaces. A new hypersonic weapon from Russia is described here. Here’s an overview of new military tech – the good and the bad. Here’s an overview of military drones around the world, and here’s a more academic analysis. Here’s some of the futures/foresight work undertaken by NATO. I found one article which speaks to the ethical imperative of drone developers to take a strong stand against use of these tools as autonomous weapons. And of course, the future brings with it new kinds of conflict too…here’s a piece about cyberwarfare (in this case with the real time concerns about conflict with Iran). Here’s a guide from Wired about cyberwarfare in more detail. All of these are offered to provoke discussion and further exploration (especially regarding the ethical dimensions of these tools and practices). I will be doing some further exploring on futurists who work on peace issues – interestingly they are harder to find than those thinking up new high tech weapons in our conflict-laden world. I’m going to end this part of the post with a bigger and essentially worthy futures vision – for a world without war, and a TED talk by a young woman exploring this very topic.

In Praise of Science Fiction

This little piece urges a renewed commitment and appreciation for science fiction – especially in dealing with our greatest global challenges – climate change.

The Future Imagination Summit

This is a report from the first national Future Imagination Summit. Comprised of “radical futurists, grounded with deep critiques of the current world, calling into action a collective future for all, based on compassion, justice, and harmony. By imagining radical futures, people’s movements can conjure these visions into actions in the present day.” Check out an overview of the truly inspiring gathering they had in late 2019. This is a meeting I’d love to go to someday if it continues.

Posted on January 23, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from Twitter, UncategorizedLeave a comment on Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – January 23, 2020

Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – January 15, 2020

Note: This is part of a regular occasional series of blog posts I do that is based on scans of Twitter and elsewhere on the web – and a gathering of interesting things I think social workers, social work educators, folks in higher education and related professions who interested in futures topics might find valuable. It is a digest, and is unapologetically eclectic. Here’s a link to prior posts – check them out too!!

The Future of Law

I’m always interested in news items related to the future of the professions. As we know – this is a fast moving area and many factors are at work in their evolution . (For more on this topic in general see here). This piece is a survey of lawyers all pondering “what’s coming” in their profession and whether or not they feel ready for it.

Black Software

Author Charlton McIlwain has written a terrific book (on my sabbatical reading list) of this same name (Black Software). Here’s a podcast interview with the author that I found a great introduction to his work…you’re going to want to learn more. The history and importance of Black perspectives on tech and society are essential to a true understanding of the power, risks and opportunities of what comes next. Thought provoking!

Future of Work

I’m fans of the Susskind family – they are always putting more interesting things into the world related to the future of work and the professions (see note above). I just ran across a recent TED talk by Daniel Susskind on Three Myths Regarding the Future of Work. It isn’t short…but it is a rigorous, creative and important overview of this topic. I highly recommend!

Futures Thinking for Academic Librarians

Not just because my mom was one (a bookmobile lady to be precise) but I have so much love, respect and appreciation for good librarians and all who work in the sector. The library professionals at my university, like many, are extraordinarily future facing and ever looking ahead to new forms of literacy, information production and how to stay relevant and helpful in our shared academic spaces. While scanning, I ran across this great report – I passed it along to my colleagues but thought others might be interested too.

Climate Change

It can just be paralyzing can’t it? So much to worry about – where to start – how to keep going? At the same time we are having an awakening about the relevance of eco-psychology and the very real needs humans have for nature, we of course are dealing with deep, pervasive and emergent climate change complexity as well. Here’s a piece from the Economist on the “state” of our climate change work to do in here and now, as well as the future. Here’s a piece about “ecological grief” as experienced by climate scientists. It is sobering. Listen, we have no choice but to help each other focus, breathe deeply and KEEP GOING. This article from the NYT this past week is an energizer. Do you what you can, be strategic, get busy. Focus on the right things.

On this same topic, here’s a new and useful piece regarding the emerging importance of acknowledging the mental heath strain and challenges related to climate change. Connecting these dots is important, say these authors. Here’s another piece that breaks down what hope about climate change means now and in the future. Finally, here’s a super creative piece that endeavors to “tell a new story” about climate change by fast-forwarding into the future…and imagining how we solved the climate crisis in the year 2030.

Tech and AI

Here’s a lively piece from one of my favorite futurists Douglass Rushkoff in which he begins by saying: “We’ve spent the decade letting our tech define us. It’s out of control. Technology has grown from some devices and platforms we use to an entire environment in which we function.” Mr. Rushkoff is the author of one of my favorite futures books “Team Human” which is a must-read in my opinion (I especially love the audiobook which he reads). The article is a robust re-centering (as is his speciality) in the future of humans in this world…and how we get back to a vision of the future in which people, cooperation and community are the drivers.

It appears that the White House has come out with some new AI principles – these authors suggest they won’t work. Check it out – important and urgent. Note: Big thumbs up to Amy Webb’s book “The Big Nine” which I reviewed earlier in this space related to this topic – creative and empowering .

Why do we gender AI? These authors break it down...and change is coming.

Overview and analysis of the complexities of the coming “digital ID” centered world. Promising convenience and efficiency – it has a host of predictable an unpredictable risks. As always, I’m asking – how will this impact the most vulnerable? Some discussion of this in this article. Along those lines, another article explores the coming “digital welfare state.” Are social workers and human rights folks involved in the design and implementation of these systems? Not enough…so much work to be done. Pay attention to this space as a major cause of concern for well being and justice in the years to come.

Here’s a nice brief piece about algorithmic justice and the need to keep continual watch and invest democratic energy in oversight and regulation to keep AI ethical in the years to come.

The Future of Our Economy

We know the one we have isn’t working so well – at least as seen by most social workers and the communities they serve. I’m always interested in new ideas about what economic evolution that is human and equity centered might look like. This article goes there…it is an inspiring and thought provoking read.

The Future of Mental Health

How can tech help to address a global mental health crisis? This article answers that question. More social workers need to get in on this conversation. I believe we can be ethical and effective in these spaces…but we have to get in there and participate on purpose. More on this topic here. At this point, I’m neither a promoter or naysayer about these types of tools, but I do feel quite sure we have a lot to learn and a lot to share as futures where these ideas are accelerating and we have shortages of practitioners.

Posted on January 15, 2020January 15, 2020Categories Recent Ideas from TwitterLeave a comment on Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – January 15, 2020

Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – December 26, 2019

Get personal with your future

I’m not really big on “resolutions” but I do love goals and aspirations (and goodness knows I never met a colorful marker I didn’t enjoy…LOL). Ran across this beautiful piece called “How to Do a Growth Inventory” from my friend and futurist Vanessa Mason (follow her on Twitter at @vanessamason for great ongoing futures posts!) and it reminded me about this process. After a year of big endings and transitions, my sabbatical and the start of some big new adventures…this feels particularly personal and important. It’s a more intimate side of futures work right? I’ll be jumping in to this kind of activity during these quiet winter months. Want to join me?

Regulating Big Tech

What is the right amount of latitude to use when regulating big tech? Enough to ensure human rights, privacy and social well-being but not too much so that innovation gets stifled? This article makes a pitch that we can most definitely still make it happen…let’s do that!

Your AI Doctor Will See You Now…

Here’s a thoughtful piece about the future of medicine – the pros, cons, questions and reflections that will chart this course in the coming years. Here’s another recent piece reflecting on another future trend in medicine – “hospital at home.” These ideas are reminiscent of so many ideas I heard at my recent adventure at the 2019 Exponential Medicine conference.

What Exactly is Machine Learning?

I love a good primer and consider them massively underrated. Since these forces are all around us and running through our lives…our literacies need to also expand and deepen. I found this little piece about “machine learning” and found it super helpful and interesting. Check it out! (In case you’re interested in another clarifying piece that dives into the differences between machine learning, artificial intelligence and deep learning…you might like to explore this one!) . Here’s another on the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, and another about its widespread realities now and in the coming years. Note: I have a whole page on this blog (and another page on algorithmic racism/justice) dedicated to this topic – both of which I need to revise soon. They have definitely been among the most widely visited on this blog…so I know folks around the world are curious and learning about AI and social work, mental health, health and other social service/care fields.

AI and Caregiving

Here’s a company (Cherry.AI) that has as its tagline: “The AI that cares for your loved ones.” OK, I’m listening…with a blend of curiosity, humor, concern, and (some) openness. Most agree we have a caregiving capacity crisis and it is going to be getting worse as populations age globally. Is this the solution? I see strengths in some of this, and still I worry (privacy, surveillance, control, loss of human connection, loneliness). We will be seeing more of and talking more about this kind of thing. Check it out.

5G is Coming…What Does This Mean?

Here’s another area for which there is a lot of buzz. 5G is coming, almost here and on the verge of “changing everything?” What does that mean and for whom? This article breaks it down (at least from one author’s viewpoint).

Social Work and Climate Change – New Roles!

Shout out to Teixera, Mathias and Krings (2019) for a fine piece stretching our social work thinking about new roles as we grapple with climate change and how we can focus our social work strengths in this direction. More from the archives on this topic here.

Virtual Reality – Jumping In!!!

I know that I may be late to the party – I’ve *watched* and studied VR for a while (like almost everyone) but broke down and gifted a system to my family for the holiday so we spent some of Christmas day leaning around awkwardly on the couch, saying “ooh” and “ahh” a lot while on a series of virtual adventures in nature, history and roller coasters! I GET IT. Lots of fun, here it comes and what a wild, wild ride (literally). Here’s a piece from the New Yorker that is a good one for newbies like us. Here’s another piece about more ways we’ll see this tech showing up around us in the world. This piece discusses the emerging ethics/privacy issues that VR is introducing and some ideas about how to manage them. I ended up with 200 questions/ideas about how this might work in the future of social work – and yes – that includes a lot of ground to cover in ethics. So much more to learn in this space.

Black Twitter

Here’s a most interesting piece about the history and impact of the last ten years of “Black Twitter” and some imaginings about what comes next.

Let’s Talk About Drugs

As a person who has spent much of her career working in the addictions space…two articles caught my eye about the “future” of mind-altering substances. First is a piece about psychedelics in general (and their long association with Silicon Valley). The second is a piece about a popular startup that is a nose spray device for psilocybin as well. Many are suggesting that increasing legalization and the resultant expansion of markets, practices, testing and related dialogue is on the way.

The Green New Deal

I ran across a lovely little video about the “Green New Deal” and the ways in which it could intersect a number of key issues: climate change, the economy and housing. Very well done – let’s get there in the coming years!!

How ICE Uses Social Media to Surveil and Arrest Immigrants

So many good things are possible with our social media ecosystem. This is not one of them. More to worry and be concerned about.

Water Thieves

Mad Max come to life…sadly, I fear we will see more of this. We are going to need to learn how to take care of each other and share/protect water differently in the years to come.

Nerd Alert! Data Visualization

I can’t deny I love a good infographic, chart, etc. I had an awesome time achieving a personal milestone – my first infographic – just in the last few weeks. Here’s a sharp article that dives into all the different kinds of data visualization. It’s got me inspired!! More to come in this department!! As the world gets more complicated…I think that these types of tools help us communicate more effectively and be kind to EVERYONE’S overwhelmed cognitive load!

Browse the Archive!

If you’ve enjoyed this hop around Twitter for futures topics – check out some previous posts along these lines. These are literally and intentionally a bit of a “wander” – just a variety of items that I see pop up that interest me and I think might of value to my social work, social change and/or higher education colleagues. Enjoy!

Posted on December 26, 2019Categories Recent Ideas from Twitter, UncategorizedLeave a comment on Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – December 26, 2019

Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – December 6, 2019

The Future of Work

This particular article is about the future of “not working” – vis a vis the “compelling case for working a lot less.” It is hard to imagine this future, but this piece is part of a continuing (and seemingly growing international conversation) about how working a little less would be a lot better for our health, relationship and community.

Tech Matters

Our city of Portland, Oregon made the news for its plans to have one of the most strict facial recognition bans in the country. I’m a fan of this move.

This piece suggests that “biased algorithms are easier to fix than biased people.” Here’s a piece that notes its making it easier for governments to responsibly adopt AI technology. It’s another effort to come up with some shared ethical and practice guidelines for this powerful technology. It is good to see them coming – it would be even greater to see them adopted widely and used. This piece, for example, suggests we aren’t doing a very good job in that department.

Here’s an interesting article posing the question: Do children think your smart speaker is just another family member? Thoughtful exploration about how the prevalence of technologies in our childrens’ lives is truly changing their experience of childhood in some unexpected ways and with impacts we can’t quite know yet. Without awfulizing, it probably is important to consider.

Should we give our robots citizenship? This piece from 2017 suggest that even as a gag, it probably isn’t a good idea, and is another category of human-tech activity we don’t have legal ground to be ready for what is coming.

Here’s another article that proclaims a crisis in the development of autonomous weapons – and a call to ban them. A slow down doesn’t seem to be coming.

Here’s a new and helpful “Digital Justice Manifesto” developed by a coalition of European data justice activists and organizations. It’s a 2019 document.

Biotech and Genomic Surveillance

We talk a lot about technological surveillance (and it is a concern) but how about “genomic surveillance.” This article suggests it is a growing threat and a human rights evolving story. Without international guidelines, the pace of potential abuses and the prevalence of genetic data is a bad combination.

The 2020 Trends Keep Coming

Tis the season! Here’s a fun overview of “12 themes experts predict will shape the world in 50 years.” (Algae, implantable tech, and lab grown meat anyone??)

What If We Get the Future Right?

Here’s a pretty creative and useful (from a futures practice) article asking the question “what if we get things right? Visions for the year 2030.” I’m excited to use this piece in practice as I think it stretches our creative thinking muscles towards some positive futures. The dystopian futures are a more common feature of our media/entertainment world. I think good positive future ideas are rarer to find and harder to come by. But they lay the groundwork to educate, to stimulate aspiration, to rekindle hope and determination. This is a valuable piece to read for something a little different – and dare I say it – upbeat? Along those lines, here’s a review of a new book by author Joe Tankersley (“Not all futurists are dystopian”) which also lays out a challenge to use our imaginations to build a better future on purpose. I got the book based on this article, but haven’t read it yet!

Also, you may recall that I’m on sabbatical this year. I thought I’d put my sabbatical reading list together to show you the books I’ve accumulated (like a squirrel with a stash of nuts…? Well maybe…) to settle into a cozy winter of some deep review and study. Check it out here.

Interested in looking back to see some of my past posts gathering up interesting items from Twitter? Click here to check them out.

Posted on December 7, 2019December 7, 2019Categories Recent Ideas from TwitterLeave a comment on Recent Ideas from Twitter – Social Work Futures – December 6, 2019

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