Design researcher & tech anthropologist Jan Chipchase was questioned at the Pop!Tech conference about the ethics of doing his kind of work.

» What is it like working for BigCorps pillaging the intellect of people around the world for commercial gain?

» How do you sleep at night as the corporations you work for pump their worthless products into the world?”

As he says, “There are a number of misconceptions about consumers in highly income/resource constrained (poor) communities that seem to repeat themselves with a depressing regularity and is often directed from passionate minds with a particular, accusatory venom:”

» Consumers on low levels of income are incapable of making rational or “right” choices for themselves

» These same consumers are duty bound only to make rational choices (“rational” as in on things that have an immediate benefit to their current socio-economic situation, as defined by the person making the argument)

» Any time a consumer makes an “irrational” choice the “fault” lies with the company providing the products

» Companies that target consumers in countries with very low levels of income are inherently evil

As any anthropologist will immediately see, these are a patronising set of assumptions unable to allow that people on low incomes (people not “consumers”, Jan!) can think for themselves - which Jan rebuts clearly and in depth, with lots of great examples from his work.

Well worth a read.