Working definition. Situatedness means there is no view from nowhere. Perspective can widen and become accountable, but it cannot become positionless.
Inherited meaning
Phenomenology, feminist epistemology, and anthropology challenged the fantasy of a neutral observer. They showed that knowledge is shaped by embodiment, culture, tools, power, and the questions a situation makes available.
Meaning in the imagination economy
Models often speak in a universal voice created from uneven data. Situatedness returns the missing coordinates: who is asking, for whom, from where, under what conditions, and with which absences? It turns apparent neutrality into a perspective that can be examined.
What changes in practice
Attach context to claims and generated proposals. Identify who was not present in the data or design room. Prefer “from here, we see” to “the system knows,” then invite another position to change the picture.