Public Records/ Secret Public: Information Architecture for New Political Subjects

Abstract

Does new media matter at sites of social injustice? Can information architecture expand the public sphere, reveal human rights abuses, represent marginalized communities, enable new political subjects and expose social injustice at critical “sites” of public interest and responsibility? Can new media effectively provide the public of the “first” world with an immersive experience of the “third” world within it – our “secret publics”? This paper describes two new media documentary projects, Public Secrets [http://publicsecret.net] and Blood Sugar [http://bloodandsugar.net] that attempt to catalyze political action and influence the development of just and sustainable public policy.