Theater of the Techno-Oppressed Workshop Explores Technology, Power, and Resistance

On 21 April 2026, Frederick van Amstel (Federal University of Technology of Paraná, Brazil) facilitated Theater of the Techno-Oppressed at TU Delft. Hosted by the Special Interest Group (SIG) Design for Justice of the Delft Design for Values Institute, the workshop brought together around 20 members of the TU Delft community for an interactive exploration of technology, power, and social justice.

Drawing on Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed and related traditions of critical pedagogy and participatory performance, the four-hour workshop invited participants to engage with questions of inequality, inclusion, and resistance through embodied and collective reflection.

The session combined warm-up exercises, dramatic games, and image theatre techniques, in which participants used bodily tableaux to express and analyse social situations. Through these methods, participants explored how contemporary digital technologies—including platforms, apps, and algorithmic systems—shape everyday experiences and mediate relations of power.

A central aim of the workshop was to make technology-mediated oppression tangible. Participants were invited to take on the roles of users, designers, and technological systems themselves, enabling them to reflect on how technologies influence social, political, and bodily possibilities. At the same time, the workshop created space to imagine alternative and more emancipatory technological futures.

The workshop forms part of the ongoing activities of the SIG Design for Justice, which explores plural and interdisciplinary approaches to justice in design, technology, and innovation.

More information about Frederick van Amstel and the Theater of the Techno-Oppressed can be found on this website.