Book Review (published in Computer-supported Cooperative Work)

The emergence of CSCW as a distinct area of intellectual inquiry and professional practice was grounded not least in the methods and concerns of the Participatory Design (PD) movement. PD’s concern for direct engagement with work settings and those who occupy them has been methodologically central to CSCW practice, and PD’s central commitment to the complex of social forces that surround technology design, deployment, and adoption has been similarly adopted as a central tenet of CSCW investigations. PD continues, of course, and there is still much to be learned from the experiences of researchers working in the PD tradition. “Social Thinking – Software Practice” is a collection which is firmly rooted in this tradition, and it bears PD’s hallmarks. In particular, it displays both the urgency and reflection that characterize the PD enterprise.