Design & Oppression is a solidarity network founded in 2020 that connects all struggles against oppression. The network’s goal is to forge bonds of solidarity among all struggles against oppression that engage with design as a tool, a space, or an issue to be transformed. This network extends the Latin American tradition of critical thinking in Education, the Arts, and Sociology to the field of Design. The first history of the network was presented at PIVOT 2021 Virtual Conference. A full list of publications by its associated members can be found on its website. The Designs of the Oppressed online course is the most comprehensive material produced by the network in English.
A remote Theater of the Oppressed laboratory
Born as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic mismanagement in Brazil, the Design & Oppression network held several remote activities. We had to create several adaptations for Theater of the Oppressed embodied techniques. For example, the most popular one, forum theater, was implemented using video streaming, a chat box, and augmented reality webcam masks. Image theater was implemented using 3D doll modeling, digital whiteboards, and audio-chat conferencing. The rainbow of desire was the most elaborate: we used a whiteboard canvas with custom avatars for each blocked desire.
Video series
In 2020, we have studied and discussed the work of Paulo Freire, Frantz Fanon, and bell hooks in relation to contemporary design issues such as participation, social justice, bias, and dialogue. We held a live dialogue on Youtube about each author’s potential contribution to design.
Collaborative, participatory, and emancipatory design
The network activities are all weaved together through horizontal collaborations between its weavers. The network has an open #metadesign activity every week to change and add new interaction structures. The intention is to provide an experience of anti-oppressive and liberating design within the network itself.
Participation in events
The D&O network members participate in various academic and professional design events pushing forward a critical, liberating, and progressive agenda.
Hope for a better future
The network is driven by the dream of living in a world that is free from any kind of oppression. The network weavers experience this dream coming true during events and encounters promoted by the network. These are not completely free of oppression neither is the rest of the world, however, participants replenish their hope to keep fighting for that utopian future.
Fact sheet
- 800 Youtube subscribers + 5,000 combined views
- 230 Newsletter subscribers
- 20-50 weekly participants
- 13 complicators
- 5 conference participations
References
Serpa, B.O., van Amstel, F.M., Mazzarotto, M., Carvalho, R.A., Gonzatto, R.F., Batista e Silva, S., and da Silva Menezes, Y. (2022) Weaving design as a practice of freedom: Critical pedagogy in an insurgent network, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June – 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.707
Saito, C., Serpa, B.O., Angelon, R., and van Amstel, F. (2022) Coming to terms with design wickedness: Reflections from a forum theatre on design thinking, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June – 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.668
Van Amstel, F., Sâmia, B., Serpa, B.O., Marco, M., Carvalho, R.A.,and Gonzatto, R.F.(2021) Insurgent Design Coalitions: The history of the Design & Oppression network, in Leitão, R.M., Men, I., Noel, L-A., Lima, J., Meninato, T. (eds.), Pivot 2021: Dismantling/Reassembling, 22-23 July, Toronto, Canada. https://doi.org/10.21606/pluriversal.2021.0018