Designs for the Pluriverse by Arturo Escobar

Designs for the Pluriverse by Arturo Escobar

In Designs for the Pluriverse Arturo Escobar presents a new vision of design theory and practice aimed at channeling design's world-making capacity toward ways of being and doing that are deeply attuned to justice and the Earth. Noting that most design—from consumer goods and digital technologies to built environments—currently serves capitalist ends, Escobar argues for the development of an “autonomous design” that eschews commercial and modernizing aims in favor of more collaborative and placed-based approaches. Such design attends to questions of environment, experience, and politics while focusing on the production of human experience based on the radical interdependence of all beings. Mapping autonomous design’s principles to the history of decolonial efforts of indigenous and Afro-descended people in Latin America, Escobar shows how refiguring current design practices could lead to the creation of more just and sustainable social orders.

"Escobar’s literature review and theoretical discussion stand outSome of the ground he covers includes critical design studies, ethnographic approaches to design, participatory design, and decolonized design. Anthropology has a lot to offer design, Escobar argues, because we study the interplay of materiality, meaning, and practice. . . . Escobar’s discussion is built on a foundation of work emanating from a panopoly of Latin American scholars, all of whom appear to be fascinating in their own rights. . . . Through Escobar I felt like I was glimpsing the depth and breadth of that body of literature for the first time." -- Matt Thompson * Anthrodendum *
"Designs for the Pluriverse is a heavy-hitting theoretical framework with potential to inform the practice of the design scholar or professional in any field, from planning or architecture to product design, engineering, and beyond. The work makes sense of generations of decolonial scholarship, pushing the reader towards understanding their design work as more relational, long-term-oriented, and transformative than previously assumed." -- Darien Williams * Carolina Planning Journal *

“I can emphatically state that Designs for the Pluriverse is a superb and welcome addition both to the expanding literature on design in anthropology, and to design theory more broadly. . . .  Indeed, there are so many ways to read this book that almost anyone who picks it up will find something to think with.”

-- Keith M. Murphy * Anthropological Quarterly *

“Designs for the Pluriverse is an excellent text for design studies scholars who are interested in exploring methodologies and theories of collective existence and creation, intertwining a series of case studies that support autonomous design with the theories to challenge modernist anthropocentrism. Together, they provide a strong foundation for readers to continue pursuing how to decolonize the world by redesigning the human being and designing the pluriverse, a world in which many worlds fit.”

-- Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera * Design and Culture *
“Escobar’s book brings together a wealth of relevant perspectives, initiatives, and references and is essential reading for all those interested in design and its potential for transition movements and the struggle of marginalized communities.” -- Ton Otto * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *

Arturo Escobar is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780822370901
ISBN 10	0822370905
Title	Designs for the Pluriverse
Author	Arturo Escobar
Series	New Ecologies For The Twenty-First Century
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Duke University Press
Year published	2018-03-22
Number of pages	312
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable