*Pivot 2020: Designing a world of many centers—Towards the Pluriverse*
What does a world of many centers look like? How might we get there?
The Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking
(Taylor) at Tulane University together with the The Pluriversal Design
Special Interest Group of the Design Research Society (DRS) invite you to
join us in *jointly reimagining a world of many centers*. We are
co-hosting a mini-conference and writing retreat in June 4-6, 2020 in New
Orleans to encourage conversations around shifting centers, methods,
epistemologies and ontologies.
We invite you to pivot the discussion of decolonization from an academic
critical perspective to a creative and generative one: What does a world in
which many worlds fit look like? What is needed to create this reality? Who
is needed to create this? How does it operate?
Western Europe and, subsequently, North America have been viewed as the
main focus of what is good, innovative and desirable —namely The Center.
The rest of the world and its countless cultures, worldviews, ways of
knowing and ways of designing have been peripheral to the main narrative of
the world. As the movement to decolonize design gains strength, more
diverse voices have been featured on the stages of the Center—including,
for example, Indigenous voices, more people of color, and more people from
countries from the Global South (not just predominantly white men from the
Global North). In short, the Center is slowly starting to include people
who have been excluded from the main narrative of design.
We believe, however, that the purpose of a radical design practice is not
to fix the Center, but to help to create a world with multiple centers — in
which many realities can co-exist. To refer to this world, we adopt the
concept of the Pluriverse, proposed by Arturo Escobar (2017), inspired by a
Zapatista dictum, that refers to a “world where many worlds fit”. The
Pluriverse does not only refer to the immense diversity of worlds—of
diverse ontologies and epistemologies— available on our planet; but also to
the fact that these multiple worlds have been shaped and harnessed,
oppressed and suppressed by the scientific, technological, and hegemonic
forces of Colonialism and Modernity.
In design literature, we see two different notions of the term *design*:
design as problem-solving and design as world-creating. In the relationship
between the Center and its so-called periphery, the first notion tends to
be the most noticeable, emphasizing design to address societal challenges.
Yet *design*, in its essence, is not only about making things “less bad”,
but about making something new. Design can be defined as the ability
to *imagine
what does not yet exist and to bring it into tangible reality* (Nelson &
Stolterman 2012).
*Aims*
The aims of the conference are to:
· *Nurture, cultivate and connect changemakers through the
Pluriversal Design community*
· *Build and support a network of collaborators and allies with
shared values*
· *Connect across disciplines in the work of decentering mainstream
practices*
· *Share knowledge about how to decenter design practices*
· *Create space for scholars who are often invisible: to offer
support, greater visibility and recognition*
· *Create conversations that are meaningful and generative*
· *Decolonize /deconstruct the conventional academic conference model*
*What to expect: *
During the conference, participants will have the opportunity to be
inspired by change leaders in New Orleans who are creating their own
“centers” and disrupting the traditional narratives of their fields. The
experience will include keynotes, workshops, networking, and field trips.
There will be opportunities for individual support with your draft
manuscripts to get them ready for publication/dissemination; to connect
with new people and ideas and to surface more generative partnerships; to
continue design/research practices in the Pluriversal Design Special
Interest Group.
*How to participate: *
We are inviting interested scholars to submit long abstracts, draft papers,
or other scholarly work in progress to participate in this conference.
During the conference we will also collaborate on joint publication of the
work.
*We will accept contributions in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. *
Contributions are welcomed from a wide range of disciplines: design
studies, social sciences, policy and planning, anthropology, critical
theory, history and other fields.
We also welcome a variety of contributions — such as case studies,
theoretical
reflections, visual presentations, and methodological considerations — as
long as the work considers a world of many centers and the relationships
between these many centers.
Submissions may address one or more of the following themes:
- Strengthening centers at the margins
- Moving the Center
- Widening the Center
- Connecting multiple centers
- Teaching across centers and margins
- Unlearning oppression
- Building bridges
- Global/local challenges
- Building empathy across centers
- Alternative modes of practice - between “centers” and “margins”.
The deadline for submissions is March 30, 2020 11:59 PM CST.
Please submit applications, (or request further information) by email:
*[log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>*
*How to participate: *
*Face to Face *
Pivot 2020 will take place June 4th – 6th, 2020 at Tulane University in
New Orleans.
A nominal registration fee ($200) will cover the cost of lunch and
transport/field trips. Participants will be expected to pay for their own
airfare to New Orleans and 3 nights local accommodation and meals outside
of the conference program.
*Can’t join us in person? *
We still want to hear from you! We are aiming to co-publish, and therefore,
even if you can’t join us face to face, this call can be considered a Call
for Chapters. So please contact us if you still want to be part of the
conversations. We will have regular online discussions with the
participants of this mini-conference.
*Organizing Committee: *
*Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, *Tulane University,
*Dr. Renata Marques Leitão, *OCAD University
*Dr. Maria Mater de O’Neill, *Rubberband Design Studio
*Prof. Michele Washington, *Fashion Institute of Technology
*Dr. Laura Murphy, *Tulane University
*Dr. Maille Faughnan, *Tulane University
*Samantha Fleurinor, *Tulane University
Learn more about
DRS: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/cpages/sig-pluriversal-design
Taylor: https://taylor.tulane.edu/
*References: *
ESCOBAR, A. (2018). *Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence,
Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds.* Durham: Duke University Press.
FRY, T. (2017). “Design for/by ‘The Global South’”. *Design Philosophy
Papers*, 15(1), 3-37.
MIGNOLO, W. D. (2018). “The Decolonial Option”. In W. D. Mignolo & C. E.
Walsh (Eds.), *On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis* (pp.
103-244). Durham: Duke University Press.
NELSON, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2012). *The Design Way: Intentional Change
in an Unpredictable World* (Second ed.). Cambridge, London: The MIT Press.
SANTOS, B. S. (2018). *The End of the Cognitive Empire: The Coming of Age
of Epistemologies of the South*. Durham: Duke University Press.
SMITH, L. T. (1999). *Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous
Peoples*. London & New York: Zed Books.
Lesley-Ann Noel, PhD
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