Kieran Cutting

I am a sociologist, ethnographer, and would like to think I’m becoming a designer.

My research focuses on austerity, technology and young people who are perceived to be ‘vulnerable’ – generally, that’s meant young people with care experience or experience of homelessness so far. Primarily, I work with charities and local authorities, and my research looks at the impacts of both austerity and digital cultures on the lives of these young people and charity workers.

I’m interested in how we can use technology to facilitate young people shaping their own care, and how we can actively build solidarities, connections, and class consciousness through the use of technology. In an increasingly corporatised technological landscape, we need people who are actively excluded from technological development to be at the forefront of designing technologies which actually help them.