Anti-Oppression Frameworks in Open Source

We are increasingly seeing social justice language in mission statements, codes of conduct, grant proposals, and more in open source software and digital public infrastructure. The incorporation of anti-oppression frameworks into organizational governance and policies begs a reflection on the political processes behind this shift. As open source digital public infrastructure embraces anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-colonial, and gender-affirming values and commitments, how can project leaders and community managers critically assess this work and the tools relied on to do it?

Join a panel discussion with open source leaders, anarchist organizers, and community managers that explores the building of resilient community structures. Explore with them their experiences addressing harm and creating safety and revisit with them the radical roots underpinning today’s social justice discourse.

Panel

Coraline Ada Ehmke is at the forefront of the debate on ethics in open source. She is the creator of Contributor Covenant, the first and most popular code of conduct for open source communities, and the Hippocratic License, an innovative open source license designed to promote and protect human rights. Coraline co-founded the Organization for Ethical Source and currently serves as its Executive Director.

Sydette Harry is always a Far Rock 1st generation Guyanese. She loves to ask questions that help us be as kind or as forceful as possible around media. She is slightly obsessed with information architecture, design, the difference between bias and context, AI, history and performance studies. Previously Community Lead, Editor at Large at the Coral Project, she was most recently Editor at the Mozilla Foundation. She is Blackamazon online.

David Ryan Barcega Castro-Harris (all five names for the ancestors) is the founder of Amplify RJ, a digital platform built to share the philosophy, practices, and values of restorative justice. In his work, he leans on the training from his elders and his experiences working in Chicago schools, communities, and criminal legal settings to help folks understand Restorative Justice as a relationship centered-way of being, not merely a program for addressing harm.