Paradoxical practices of being with others: Some experiential dynamics at play while interacting across differences

This paper presents findings from an experiment/workshop, which was motivated by the ever-increasing need in today’s fractured and complex world to foster engagements between people of diverse backgrounds, positions, and identities. The workshop taught and employed the PRISMA method, which provides a way for researcher-participants to study the experiential dynamics of participatory sense-making in social interactions. PRISMA can be seen as an analogue process technology or a participation technology. It is used to refract the experience of interaction dynamics as we engage in interactions. In this study, we invited participants to interact by drawing together on shared sheets of paper. We found that participants engaged in what we call paradoxical practices of being with each other, and that the materials through which people interacted influenced the emotions and sense-making that emerged. We present the research findings in a way that can be followed step by step by a reader in a traditional fashion, but also give the reader structured options to engage with the findings presented in a participatory way, true to the message of the paper. Finally, we draw conclusions from this work for the use of technology in human co-becoming, enactive ethics of participation and difference, and how to enhance interaction “literacy”. This research deepens the understanding of participatory sense-making, and sheds light on the interactive tensions at the roots of languaging and co-becoming. The findings contribute to both scientific knowledge and practical implications for navigating complex social interactions.