Hi Ann,
 I hope all is now settled in riot-torn London?   In response to your request, some immediate thoughts come to mind, from a quick scan of your timeline.

To start  - Thorstein Veblen on conspicuous consumption. From the US - Vance Packard (The Waste Makers, etc), Ralph Nader (Unsafe at any speed) and less relevant directly for design, but none-the-less, - John Galbraith (private affluence and public squalor) . Specifically to the UK - Mike Cooley and his activism at  Lucas Aerospace in the 1970s. This episode is mostly now forgotten now  but was hugely influential at the time (Architect or Bee). Or what about the Ulm school in Germany? If you list the Bauhaus then surely the Ulm HfG is worth a mention for its innovation and agitation of  a design eduction system  preoccupied with 'other matters'.
In my own backyard - the EcoDesign Foundation and the Society for Responsible Design - both kicked off in Sydney during the early 1990s.

best wishes,

Miles 
Program Director
Industrial Design UNSW


On 20/08/2011, at 9:00 AM, PHD-DESIGN automatic digest system wrote:

> There are 5 messages totaling 342 lines in this issue.
> 
> Topics of the day:
> 
>  1. Wikipedia? The PhD-Design list? (3)
>  2. Timeline on design activism (public interest design, social design) (2)
> 
> 
> Date:    Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:28:56 +0100
> From:    Ann Thorpe <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Timeline on design activism (public interest design, social design)
> 
> Hello All (who are not on vacation),
> 
> I'm developing a timeline of "design activism" for a forthcoming book that
> examines design, the pressures of economic growth and consumerism, and
> activist tools (borrowed from social movements) that designers might use to
> confront consumerism. I welcome input on the timeline from members of this
> list on items that may be missing or debated.
> You can see the whole draft timeline at
> http://designactivism.net/archives/385
> 
> I've already had a comment about a number graphic design related dates,
> which I am considering. The book is explicitly oriented around spatial and
> material politics (and hence around architecture and industrial/product
> design), but there are always blurred edges where representation and
> visualization come into it, where people cross disciplinary boundaries, and
> so forth. There is a UK/USA English language bent, due to the context for
> the book, but I'm open to a wider context for the timeline.
> 
> Of particular interest, and perhaps known to this group, is information
> about any academic centers taking on design and politics explicitly. The
> ones I'm familiar with, and their founding dates, include:
> TU Delft chair in politics and design, 2009
> Goldsmiths: center for architectural research 2005
> Manchester Architecture Research Center 2006
> 
> It is perhaps a hopeless task to try to find and include all relevant
> points, but one can try. Any thoughts welcome. Perhaps someone on the list
> is familiar with other similar timelines?
> 
> Many thanks,
> Ann Thorpe
>