Wampum Codes is a toolkit, a workshop, and a practical application of ethical articulation for builders, coders, designers, and makers.
Wampum codes is also my podcast, live stream, and science storytelling platform. It’s named after wampum, the craft of weaving beads into patterns representing contracts and other agreements, and was practiced by my tribe (Seneca-Cayuga Haudenosaunee) for many years. Just like the craft that serves as its namesake, Wampum codes is a recording of the stories, ideas, and wisdom that is collected through conversations with other native people. On the show, I interview people from my tribe and many others using technology to share their values with the world.
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Wampum Codes, an ethical framework for software development
I’m really interested in how, in computer programming, when we need to reference another piece of software, we call that a “dependency.” In software development a dependency is as good as law — better maybe, because one module needs the other in order to run. It literally can’t work otherwise. This means dependencies are effectively a way developers impose some conditions on any application using their work.
But technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum. New technologies can have immense ethical effects. I wondered — what is the ethical analog of dependency? How can software developers and other technologists make sure their work is deployed in accordance with a certain set of values?
This project has writings, workshops, and research, if you would like to know more please reach out via this booking request form.
Wampum Codes was created by Amelia Winger-Bearskin while a Mozilla Fellow embedded at MIT Co-Creation studio. This project was made possible in part by the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur foundation and the Sundance Institute.