Redress and worldmaking: Differing approaches to algorithmic reparations for housing justice

Abstract

A reparative approach to algorithmic justice provides a compelling alternative to existing fairness-based frameworks, which are often inadequate for challenging the technological perpetuation of unjust social hierarchies. The definition of “reparations,” however, is philosophically contested. I discuss two interrelated but distinct notions of reparations: reparations as accountability and redress for past injustice, and reparations as a constructive worldmaking project focused on present and future justice. Each of these perspectives offers different recommendations and provocations for how to implement algorithmic reparations. I apply this to a case study of housing injustice in the US and offer three interpretations of “algorithmic reparations” in context: first, we can litigate instances of algorithmic discrimination in housing. Second, we can use computational methods to compute damages and demand redress for structural housing injustice in the past. Finally, we can repurpose algorithmic methods to imagine more radical resistance efforts that connect incremental reform to large-scale structural change for the future.