We envision a world where everyone can participate in a democratic society and benefit from technological advances. A world in which technology strengthens human rights and empowers people. A future that is grounded in feminist values and built on a deep understanding of diverse perspectives.

The mission of SUPERRR Lab is to explore and develop the potential of new technologies for society, by closely examining existing power dynamics inherent within digital policies. We challenge existing  paradigms by bringing new perspectives and stakeholders to the discussion, building networks and convenings, and co-creating narratives that imagine more just and inclusive futures. 

Policy and advocacy: developing intersectional feminist tech policies that ensure that all groups in society benefit equitably from digitisation. 

Networks and convenings: building connections for a broad range of civil society to own digital policy and shape it to benefit their own causes. 

Research: we interrogate the role of technology in advancing a collective social justice agenda.

Narrative building: strengthening civil society’s capacity to explore their own future visions for the role of tech in society, which in turn informs our collective policy ideas. 

The SUPERRR approach integrates futuring practices together with intersectional feminist approaches to address tech policy challenges.

Futuring is the practice of envisioning and planning for potential futures, often through a systematic process that includes analysis, exploration, and forecasting.

Digital policy refers to a set of guidelines, principles, and regulations formulated by governments, organizations, or institutions to govern the development and use of technology.

A feminist intersectional approach to policy and futuring is crucial for recognizing overlapping systems of oppression and privilege based on factors like gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability.

This unique combination is essential for ensuring that digital policy serves to meet future challenges in a way that actively improves existing social inequities, leading to futures that are more inclusive.

Digital policies and technologies exacerbating existing inequalities.

The imbalanced power dynamics in tech development and policy, combined with the lack of meaningful representation and input from diverse civil society contributes to the reality that right now, digital technologies often exacerbate existing social inequalities. Compounding this problem is the fact that discussion of  discriminatory technologies takes place predominantly in the US and refers to the legal and social framework conditions there, thereby reproducing neocolonial patterns. If we do not break these patterns, digital technologies will continue to further entrench and exacerbate that injustice.

Big tech shaping future digital narratives and action.

Civil society has been focused on reactively mitigating the harms caused by Big Tech. While this approach is needed and necessary, this has given even more power to tech corporations, leaving them in the position of shaping and designing future narratives and realities when it comes to technology. 

Impact seen on an individual, instead of collective, society- and planetary level.

The focus of  regulatory agencies and policymakers is often on the impact of emerging  technologies on an individual level, looking at individual rights. But the impact of new digital business models and emerging technologies also has a massive impact on society and the planet as a whole – an impact that can only be  seen through a much broader analysis and lens.

Lack of diversity within digital civil society.

While there is an active digital civil society advocating for digital rights, they are nowhere near as diverse as society itself. Organisations that  work on anti-discrimination, anti-racism or intersectional feminism tend to be more diverse than digital civil society organisations, but they  often lack expertise and opportunities when it comes to digital rights and digital social justice. As a result, there are far too few people with the lived experience necessary to address the potential harms that digital technologies might have on already-marginalised groups.

Digital civil society across Germany and Europe takes an intersectional feminist analysis to their work as standard practice.

Policymakers actively shape tech policy as social policy by mainstreaming a feminist agenda.

Tech policy debates involve communities and people directly affected by the harms as a matter of course. These communities are empowered, included, and strong advocates within tech spaces.

Policymakers receive valuable input and expertise on the social impact of their decisions, especially from groups that are underrepresented in policy groups and politics in general. They can tap into a wider network of expertise and adapt our narratives and policy proposals for their work.

Civil society organisations have expanded their work from being reactive to developing strong future narratives and visions for their field. They are fluent in futures and futuring methods.