<incom> ICT4D vs Village the Game

[mclauglm at po.muohio.edu]

As I understand it, 'sim' as in 'simulation' refers to a most often 
simplified representation of something that is 'real'. If the topic 
is ICT4D or world hunger, or any number of other 'development 
issues', what is to be gained by simplification in the form of a sim 
game? Even worse is to think that what is on offer is a simulacrum, 
in Jean Baudrillard's sense: a copy of a copy that no longer bears 
much, if any, relationship to the original. This is supposed to bring 
us closer to, and increase our understanding of, the lives of persons 
less privileged than us? Susan Sontag, in On Photography, wrote 
something to the effect that, while the circulation of images is 
often thought to bring us closer to war, hunger, poverty, etc., they 
are more likely to make the more privileged feel exempt from these 
circumstances.

One other consideration: if we are speaking of 'the real' being 
simulated, whose reality becomes incorporated into the design of the 
game? I suspect that the worldview of Darian Hickman, computer 
scientist from the city of Pasadena, California, will become a 
feature of the game well before anyone from Nigeria is consulted or 
even aware of its existence. Note that his interest is in presenting 
the point of view of an entrepreneur promising to lift thousands, 
perhaps millions, out of poverty through "building companies."

And, then, I'm wondering about virtual/representations of malaria, 
AIDS, and  hunger, along with those of community celebrations and 
successful campaigns against corporations which have more rights than 
do the persons whose lives they touch every day. Difficult to build 
into a game (even with computer technologies that are imagined to be 
capable of simulating nearly all of our realities), especially if one 
wants to avoid contributing to yet more distorted representations of 
places like the countries of Africa.

Regards,

Lisa

At 12:22 PM +0100 7/11/06, Pamela McLean wrote:
>Some kind of simulation seems a great idea. Since I got involved 
>with projects in Nigeria I have learnt to hold my assumptions about 
>Africa very lightly - very little has been the way I thought it 
>would be. I connect with various grassroots community development 
>projects in rural Nigeria and would be happy to explore ways they 
>might help  with "reality checks".
>Pam
>
>Pamela McLean
>Cawdnet Convenor
>www.cawd.info
>pam at cawd.net
>
>>
>>

-- 
Lisa McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Mass Communication & Women's Studies
Editor, Feminist Media Studies
Director of Graduate Studies, M.A. Program in Mass Communication

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