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Author:   Arturo Escobar
Publisher:   Duke University Press
Imprint:   Duke University Press
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780822370901

ISBN 10:   0822370905
Pages:   312
Publication Date:   22 March 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Preface and Acknowledgments  ix Introduction  1 I. Design for the Real World: But Which ""World""? What ""Design""? What ""Real""? 1. Out of the Studio and into the Flow of Socionatural Life  25 2. Elements for a Cultural Studies of Design  49 II. The Ontological Reorientation of Design 3. In the Background of Our Culture: Rationalism, Ontological Dualism, and Relationality  79 4. An Outline of Ontological Design  105 III. Designs for the Pluriverse 5. Design for Transitions  137 6. Autonomous Design and the Politics of Relationality and the Communal  165 Conclusion  202 Notes  229 References  259 Index  281"

Reviews

Escobar's literature review and theoretical discussion stand out. Some 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 Rodriguez 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 *

In this exciting work Arturo Escobar steps out of the familiar territory we associate him with to engage with the cultural study of design. Significantly advancing thinking about societal transition in the context of climate change, Latin American politics, and the ongoing challenges of decoloniality, Designs for the Pluriverse makes a timely and important intervention. -- J. K. Gibson-Graham, coeditor of * Manifesto for Living in the Anthropocene * For so long, design researchers have been waiting for social researchers to take heed of the ontological politics of designing. Arturo Escobar does so but precisely to clear a space in global consumerist modernism for urgently needed alternatives. A by-product of this thorough and clear book will be the project of decolonizing the discipline and practice of design. -- Cameron Tonkinwise, Professor of Design, University of New South Wales Art and Design In this impassioned call for design for the pluriverse, Arturo Escobar asks how we might translate insights of a relational ontology into politics of transformative change. He turns to the prospects of 'transition,' lead by the autonomous communities and societies in movement of Latin America and the Global South. This remarkable book is a way forward for all who are yearning for the radical remaking of design, as a contribution to decolonizing and remaking worlds. -- Lucy Suchman, author of * Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions *

"""Escobar’s literature review and theoretical discussion stand out. Some 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 *"

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 Rodriguez Rivera * Design and Culture * 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 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 * Escobar's literature review and theoretical discussion stand out. Some 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 *

Author Information

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

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