Umeå universitets logga

Design deals with the material, social, political, cultural, economic, and more, and in relation to history—past, present, and (possible) future(s) At the same time, the objects of design are becoming less traditionally thing- like and rather connected, dynamic, ‘smart’ components of product and service ecosystems. We need, then, to find ways to grapple with (eco)systems, contextual specificities, new forms of technologies, and societal needs in a changing world where we have yet to even begin to adequately come to grips with the implications of our dwindling resources and impending climate collapse; political structures are often woefully ineffective; and advanced capitalism seems to be spinning disastrously out of control. The aim of this conversation is to speculate about future articulations, practices, and contexts of postindustrial design (research), and in the process to prototype the inclusive, rich, realistic yet hopeful discourse among passionate partial perspectives that is necessary to support it. This is a process of developing our ‘response-abilities’—our ‘collective capacity to respond’.