Design, ecology, politics : towards the ecocene

Author

• Boehnert, Joanna

Additional Author(s)

-

Publisher

London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018

Language

English

ISBN

9781474293860

Series

Subject(s)

• COMMUNICATION IN DESIGN
• DESIGN-ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
• DESIGN-SOCIAL ASPECTS

Notes

• Includes bibliographical references

. .

Abstract

Design, Ecology, Politics links social and ecological theory to design theory and practice, critiquing the ways in which the design industry perpetuates unsustainable development.

Boehnert argues that when design does engage with issues of sustainability, this engagement remains shallow, due to the narrow basis of analysis in design education and theory. The situation is made more severe by design cultures which claim to be apolitical. Where design education fails to recognise the historical roots of unsustainable practice, it reproduces old errors. New ecologically informed design methods and tools hold promise only when incorporated into a larger project of political change. Design, Ecology, Politics describes how ecological literacy challenges many central assumptions in design theory and practice.

By bringing design, ecology and socio-political theory together, Boehnert describes how power is constructed, reproduced and obfuscated by design in ways which often cause environmental harms. She uses case studies to illustrate how communication design functions to either conceal or reveal the ecological and social impacts of current modes of production. The transformative potential of design is dependent on deep-reaching analysis of the problems design attempts to address. Ecologically literate and critically engaged design is a practice primed to facilitate the creation of viable, sustainable and just futures. With this approach, designers can make sustainability not only possible, but attractive.

In response to the converging crises of the Anthropocene, where economic ‘growth’ has broken planetary boundaries, the author proposes an age where people and design practices identify ecological frames of reference. An emergent Ecocene depends on creative transformations in all domains and on all levels, from h uman subjectivities to political economies. Joanna Boehnert’s cogent and illuminating study integrates ecological and critical positions into design theory, to put forward a theoretical foundation for critical and ecologically informed design.

Physical Dimension

Number of Page(s)

1 online resource (ix, 181 p.)

Dimension

-

Other Desc.

-

Summary / Review / Table of Content

Front matter
List of Figures vi–vii
Acknowledgements viii–ix
Introduction: Within and Beyond Error ix–11
1. Design
1. Design Theory 101 13–26
2. Design as Symbolic Violence 26–37
3. Design versus The Design Industry 37–48
2. Ecology
4. Ecological Theory 101 51–61
5. Epistemology Error 61–73
6. Ecological Literacy 73–87
7. Ecoliterate Design 87–101
8. Ecological Movements 101–112
9. Ecological Perception 1 – Theory 112–120
10. Ecological Perception 2 – Practice 120–131
11. Ecological Identity 131–142
3. Politics
12. Social Marketing 143–151
13. The Green Economy 151–159
14. The Technofix 159–169
15. Data/Knowledge Visualization 169–181
Back matter

Exemplar(s)

#	Accession No.	Call Number	Location	Status
1.	00271/20	745.4 Boe D	Online !	Available