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Book Cover
E-book
Author Gordon, Eric, 1973- author.

Title Meaningful inefficiencies : civic design in an age of digital expediency / Eric Gordon and Gabriel Mugar
Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 187 pages)
Contents Introduction -- 1. Innovation -- 2. Publics -- 3. Play -- 4. Care -- 5. Practice -- Notes -- References -- Index
Summary "Public trust in civic organizations is low. And many public serving organizations (government, news, civil society) assume that greater efficiency will build trust. As a result, they are quick to adopt new technologies to enhance what they do. However, efficiency, in the sense of charting a path to a goal with the least amount of friction, can sometimes be at odds with the goal of building trust. This book is about those practices that challenge the normative applications of "smart technologies" in order to build or repair trust with publics. Based on over sixty interviews with changemakers in public serving organizations throughout the United States, as well as detailed case studies, this book provides a practical and deeply philosophical picture of civic life in transition. It is a book about design, but not necessarily about designers. Without coordinating, these civic designers embedded within organizations have adopted an approach to public engagement we call "meaningful inefficiencies," or the deliberate design of less efficient over more efficient means of achieving some ends. This book illustrates how civic designers are creating meaningful inefficiencies in less than ideal conditions and encourages a rethinking of how innovation within public serving organizations is understood, applied, and sought after. Different than market innovation, civic innovation is not just about invention and novelty, it is concerned with building communities around novelty, and cultivating deep and persistent trust. It involves a plurality of publics (not just a single public good); it creates the conditions for those publics to play; and it results in people caring for the world. Meaningful Inefficiencies describes an emergent approach to creating civic life at a moment when smart and efficient are the dominant force in social and organizational change"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 28, 2020)
Subject Urban policy -- United States -- Citizen participation
Human services -- United States -- Planning -- Citizen participation
Municipal government -- United States -- Citizen participation
Community development -- United States
Trust -- United States
Community development.
Municipal government -- Citizen participation.
Trust.
Urban policy -- Citizen participation.
United States.
Genre/Form Electronic books
Case studies.
Case studies.
Études de cas.
Form Electronic book
Author Mugar, Gabriel, author.
LC no. 2019035303
ISBN 9780190870171
0190870176
0190870168
9780190870157
019087015X
9780190870164