CSCW as a knowledge domain has been predominantly shaped by academic and industry research in North America and Western Europe. These regions have made lasting contributions to the field and organize and often host the most important conferences in the field (e.g., CSCW and ECSCW). This year, for the first time, the CSCW conference is taking place in the Global South, particularly in Latin America (LATAM). Thus, it offers an excellent opportunity to catalyze positive impact and technological development in the LATAM region.
LATAM’s complex socio-political context, diversity of languages, geography, climates, and collectivist culture make it a unique and rich environment for research. In this sense, the Latin American CSCW community has been striving to highlight their work to the global community. Various initiatives in, for, and by LATAM have shown that work in this field is increasing in the region.
Nevertheless, LATAM CSCW researchers and practitioners still face challenges securing such a needed visibility. The gap between dominant narratives around global and local impact, language barriers, limited research infrastructure, lack of adequate financing and resources, as well as the scarcity of spaces for collaboration and knowledge exchange, which sometimes are led by a single principal researcher without a research group, remain difficult obstacles to circumvent. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic affected technological development and research in LATAM, pausing projects and reducing resources destined for science. Thus, it is critical to analyze and understand the obstacles we face in our region and identify the opportunities and strategies that allow us to drive growth and advancement in this field as a well-connected community.
This one-day workshop aims to continue previous efforts from LATAM researchers and the SIGCHI LATAM Committee in building a sustainable model of long-distance collaboration. Workshop participants will also focus on developing research questions relevant to the international CSCW community and identifying practical ways to address them. This includes planning multi-site studies and preparing joint grant proposals.