Recasting ‘shadows’: expanding respectful hierarchies in participatory design practices

Participatory design (PD) often prioritises being vocal and equal as signs of empowerment in enabling social change. But what can such preference inadvertently ignore, like silence and passivity? What relationships might be prevented or put at risk when hierarchies are flattened? This paper examines the subtle and relational power dynamics experienced as various hierarchies that shape multitudinous interactions. We identify hierarchies that embody relationalities such as respect, intimacy, and learning, configured through cultural structures and commitments. We distinguish these plural ‘respectful hierarchies’ to contrast with ‘disempowering hierarchy’ to prevent collapsing vertical power structures. We share discoveries from reflexively attending to unspoken, overshadowed dimensions in a transcultural mentoring program that brought together women in Asia and Australia to support their personal and professional development. In recasting hierarchy, we join with emerging movements to expand PD's intersectionally situated practices that support social change, as part of embracing plurality of worldviews.