Speculative Design for Marginalized Communities

These are early findings from engaging in participatory and speculative design methods with rural women in Bihar, India. The research was done with mothers of children between the ages 0 to 6 to understand how perceived roles and responsibilities of women affect Early Childhood Care and Education. The approach adopted was using games as social props to initiate conversations on complex social issues and script writing as a method to speculate better futures for their families. The script took the form of ‘Nukkad Naatak’ or street play to elucidate aspirations of the participants to the community. Many cultures like India are not naturally democratic and are comprised of politics and power structures within their setting. To understand the impact and nuances of these socio, cultural and political settings within which the community operates, participatory and speculative design methods have been used. The research was conducted in two villages – Churli and Bhuttijhadi in Kishangaj, Bihar