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PHD-DESIGN  March 2020

PHD-DESIGN March 2020

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Subject:

Re: mansplaining about sustainability design

From:

Alex Bitterman <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 23 Mar 2020 16:16:01 -0400

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Hi Shemal —

Thank you for taking the time to write — It’s good to hear your voice. I can’t help but think of how brave you are, being a brown, queer educator in the Global South. Bravo to you!

I understand the apprehension to use your voice, and I support you. I was in India recently and I do believe that some light is being shed on LGBT issues there. I hope it continues to get better and better in that regard. I’m glad you’re in “the group” and I thank you for your kind words and interest. 

:-)

All best,

Alex Bitterman




> On Mar 23, 2020, at 13:51, Shemal Pandya <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Dear Alex (and Ana and Ami and everyone),
> 
> While I was aware of the blatant heterosexism in academia (Pinar 1998) and
> have often faced it in my extremely short time in it, it is both saddening
> and infuriating that people end up being so caught up in their own import.
> 
> While I have been a silent spectator, and most of the times do feel like I
> have to be super careful of how I present myself (as a brown, queer
> educator from the Global South), I have been unable to articulate my voice
> because I felt that a) I might sound too naive, b)that I might be
> uninformed or offend someone, or c) have to continuously justify my own
> inexperience and (Indian) context.
> 
> As a space, it has been one which is fraught with anxiety, and if not for
> the relevance and the occasional spikes of interest, I might have left it
> long ago.
> 
> However, the recent voices in this space have me filled with hope, and I do
> hope that you, and people who are equally silent, start voicing themselves.
> 
> Your paper *is* super interesting for me, and while I, caught up in the
> frenzy of conducting classes / protocols for conducting classes online, not
> had the time to go through it, it is right here, waiting on my laptop. So
> while I may not be "the group," I am in the group. :)
> 
> I also echo Ami (and your reassertion of the same) that not all people are
> nice, but the Ursula-Paul confrontation has ignited a fissure of this
> space, but the fissure is one full of possibilities. Much has been said on
> it, and I was silent for the most part, and I think I owe an apology for
> not voicing my opinions when the time was ripe, but I will try my best to
> not do the same henceforth.
> 
> So I thank you all wonderful people, who are nudging this space to be more
> safe, more brave.
> 
> _______________________________
> 
> 
> Pinar, W. F. (1998). Queer Theory in Education. Routledge.
> https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410603760
> 
> 
> On Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 7:50 PM Alex Bitterman <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> Dear Ana (and Ami, and everyone),
>> 
>> As a (gay) male and a 20+ year member of this group, I tend to agree with
>> you. I’ve always perceived the group operating as a group of self-important
>> old(er) men talking about their work, and whenever ANYONE who isn’t in that
>> group pipes in, they seem to be treated with disdain or disregard. I
>> monitor the group because often, helpful information is passed along that I
>> can, in turn, pass along to my students.
>> 
>> In 20+ years, I have made 3 posts (now 4) to the group. My very first one
>> (inviting members to contribute to a new academic journal that I was
>> struggling to get off the ground) was met with an IMMEDIATE shut down by
>> one of the founding members of the group (and a very ‘big’ name in design
>> history) who demanded that I be removed from the list. He then went to the
>> lengths to send me an e-mail off list to chastise me and warned me that I
>> should never post such “spam” to the group again, despite the fact that he
>> posted similar messages frequently.
>> 
>> Just this past week, I sent out a note about my most recently published
>> article (about gay neighborhoods) and received a few kind direct replies.
>> Though as expected, the post got no traction within the group and
>> apparently wasn’t philosophical enough to warrant any kind of
>> acknowledgement or discussion by “the group.”
>> 
>> Considering that our world faces one of the most grave crises of our
>> lives, I find it perplexing that the majority of posts on this board still
>> are stuck in the weeds discussing the finer points of design theory rather
>> than discussing the glaring issues at hand (that design practice could
>> address).
>> 
>> I agree with Ami, below, not all people are nice (especially, perhaps, in
>> academia), but I think it’s high time that we begin to pipe up and speak
>> about what is of interest, value, and relevance to us as a broader/larger
>> group of design thinkers. We can only do that together and if everyone
>> plays an equal part. While I certainly acknowledge and understand your
>> frustrations, perhaps now, more than ever, during this crisis, we all must
>> endeavor to work as a team, despite our differences and personal
>> frustrations?
>> 
>> All best,
>> 
>> Alex Bitterman
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Mar 22, 2020, at 08:19, Heidi Overhill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear Ana,
>>> I agree that there is bashing on the list, often of women, but I don't
>> believe that such bashing is done only by men. I personally was called
>> "naive," by a man, for pointing to a philosophical text as something
>> relevant for design. But far more hurtful comments came from a woman, who
>> decided that what I had meant as a constructive suggestion was in fact a
>> personal attack on her, and responded in kind.
>>> My conclusions are:
>>> 1) nuance does not convey in email2) not all people are nice.
>>> If the list sometimes offers interesting tips or news in addition to
>> bashing, you should stay on it.
>>> For example, thanks to your post, I was able to follow your link and
>> find your short film about the dance of "the third old man." For anyone
>> developing a media list for these interesting times, I recommend it. Only
>> 13 minutes long. Off-list, I will send you something I wrote about
>> choreography and museums.
>>> Thanks for the film,Heidi
>>>   On Saturday, March 21, 2020, 06:26:44 p.m. EDT, Ami Skanberg
>> Dahlstedt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I support the women of the list, but I never had the time to follow up
>>> discussions.
>>> However, I leave this list now, tired of seeing my female peers being
>>> pushed aside as particularities.
>>> I am so tired of the mansplaining, and the unwelcoming tone,
>>> the neglect of perspectives that for some of you are made 'exotic' and
>>> 'different'.
>>> 
>>> Exhausted by this ignorance.
>>> ENOUGH.
>>> 
>>> vänliga hälsningar från, best wishes from
>>> Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt
>>> Lecturer in dance theory
>>> Academy of Music and Drama
>>> University of Gothenburg
>>> <
>> https://medarbetarportalen.gu.se/personalkatalog/person?userId=xskaam&departmentId=086120&languageCode=sv
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> <
>> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail
>>> 
>>> Virusfritt.
>>> www.avast.com
>>> <
>> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail
>>> 
>>> <#m_-5216961130481242695_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
>>> 
>>> Den sön 15 mars 2020 kl 19:32 skrev Ursula Tischner <
>> [log in to unmask]
>>>> :
>>> 
>>>> Dear all,
>>>> 
>>>> I like to give one more response to this, but honestly, I think this
>>>> bilateral discussion between Paul and myself has already taken up too
>> much
>>>> space in the PhD list and we could move on to more important things…
>>>> 
>>>>  First a comment to Francesco Galofaro, who wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> “Coming to the question, in my opinion the reported discussion is not a
>>>> case of "mansplanning". As far as I read, Paul Russel argues his
>> position.
>>>> His arguments can be wrong, but if the answer is "I have a 40th years
>>>> experience in the sector" and "Please read the book I wrote 20 years
>> ago",
>>>> these can not be considered arguments: frankly speaking, they are a
>> plain
>>>> form of the fallacy of "arguing from authority" (cf. Jeremy Bentham, The
>>>> Book of Fallacies). ….
>>>>> 
>>>>> Caveat: Obviously my position is biased because I read only on the mail
>>>> by Paul Russel broadcasted by Ursula Tischner (I have not the whole
>>>> conversation). Furthermore, I am a man, I am Italian, and - as I said -
>> the
>>>> level of conflict on language that politically correctness reached in
>> the
>>>> Anglo-Saxon environments always puzzles me. Please excuse me if I have
>> been
>>>> rude.”
>>>>> 
>>>> Well, Francesco, thank you for your comment, but how much value can it
>>>> have, if you did not even bother to read through the whole conversation
>> but
>>>> only refer to what Paul wrote about what I wrote?
>>>> 
>>>> Paul is wrong: I have not insulted him, nor have I accused him of
>>>> anything, nor have I claimed anywhere in my posts that I have done
>>>> something fantastic new.
>>>> 
>>>> Quick recap:
>>>> 
>>>> My first post was a very short and friendly response to Paul and
>> Juergen’s
>>>> discussion about “world design responsibility” and “humanity focused
>>>> design”. I wrote that it is an interesting discussion and suggested that
>>>> they should dive a bit more into the Sustainability Design discussion
>> and
>>>> literature that started in the early 1990ies because quite a few people
>>>> have thought and written and worked on humanitarian and social and
>>>> responsible design back then and even before that. I suggested to google
>>>> the term and literature because meanwhile there is so much good
>> literature
>>>> about that out there and I did not have the time to come up with
>>>> recommendations.
>>>> 
>>>> Then Paul felt insulted by my proposal “to google” the term and
>> literature
>>>> and wrote a pretty aggressive response (my perception).
>>>> 
>>>> So, I gave a couple of literature recommendations (Martin Charter’s and
>> my
>>>> book Sustainable Solutions from 2001 was only one of those, there is
>> more)
>>>> and explained a bit about how the sustainability design discussion
>> emerged
>>>> together with the new paradigm of Sustainable Development as defined by
>> the
>>>> UN. I wrote that with that new paradigm the social, ethical,
>> humanitarian
>>>> etc. discussion got included in design in addition to ecological and
>>>> environmental issues, that had been discussed before under headers like
>>>> Ecodesign and Green Design. So in a way you can say, that this was new
>> to
>>>> the design discussions back then, even though heroes like Papanek had
>>>> talked, written and worked on these aspects before that time. And we
>> were
>>>> quite aware of these heroes and quoted them in our work frequently ;-)
>>>> 
>>>> I recommended that people who join this discussion later should do a
>> good
>>>> literature research to avoid that they reinvent the wheel.
>>>> 
>>>> In my post to Paul I mentioned experts, I mentioned organizations and
>>>> tried to explain that the sustainability design discussion, that started
>>>> with the formulation of the new paradigm Sustainable Development by the
>> UN,
>>>> indeed included all sorts of social, ethical, gender, equality, social
>>>> justice and humanitarian aspects.
>>>> 
>>>> Then Paul wrote another pretty aggressive response telling me that I am
>>>> wrong, that it is not true that the Sustainable Development Paradigm and
>>>> the new Sustainability Design discussions included the focus on the
>> social,
>>>> ethical, humanity etc. aspects from the beginning on, trying to
>> “correct”
>>>> what I wrote. His opinion is still that it only started in 2007 with
>> Tracy
>>>> Bhamra’s and Vicky Lofthouse’ publication Design for Sustainability: A
>>>> Practical Approach  <
>>>> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7691164-design-for-sustainability>
>>>> I am sure, if Tracy or Vicky were part of this list, they would tell us,
>>>> that this perception is not true.
>>>> 
>>>> So again, I gave some more links to the proper definition of Sustainable
>>>> Development and the Agenda 21, gave some more evidence that indeed the
>>>> aspects, Paul wants to see covered, were actually part of the
>> Sustainable
>>>> Development paradigm and thus discussions around Design for
>> Sustainability
>>>> early on.
>>>> 
>>>> In addition to what I wrote before I can give you even more evidence, if
>>>> you like, e.g.
>>>> 
>>>>      Prof. Han Brezet started at TU Delft as Professor in sustainable
>>>> product design in 1992 and established the Design for Sustainability
>>>> program, where among other subjects they also focused on design for the
>>>> base of the pyramid and emerging markets.
>>>>      The Design Council London has started their RED projects in 1997.
>>>> RED was a 'do tank' that developed innovative thinking and practice on
>>>> social and economic problems through design innovation. They did
>> projects
>>>> focusing on preventing ill-health, managing chronic illnesses, reducing
>>>> energy use at home, strengthening citizenship, reducing re-offending by
>>>> prisoners, and improving learning at school etc.
>>>>      Design Academy Eindhoven (where I was professor for Ecodesign from
>>>> 2002 to 2009) established a master program called “Man & Humanity” in
>> 2002
>>>> that I had the pleasure to be the head of together with Birgitta de Voss
>>>> for a couple of years. And as the name says, we were very much focusing
>> and
>>>> working on the socio-cultural, ethical and humanitarian aspects of
>> design
>>>> alongside with the environmental and economic.
>>>> 
>>>> I could go on, but how much evidence do you need to convince somebody,
>> who
>>>> does not want to be convinced?
>>>> 
>>>> I can give all of this evidence because I had the great pleasure to be
>>>> part of a wonderful group of designers (and other professionals) that
>> had
>>>> shared these discussions and activities from the early 1990ies on. So
>>>> obviously I know this for sure, because it is my authentic experience.
>>>> There is no element of authoritarian power play, I just liked to share
>> this
>>>> experience with the PhD group.
>>>> 
>>>> But still, Paul does not believe it and insists on telling me that he is
>>>> right and I am / my experience is wrong, really?
>>>> 
>>>> The Merriam-Webster definition of Mansplaining is as follows:
>>>> “Mansplaining is, at its core, a very specific thing. It's what occurs
>> when
>>>> a man talks condescendingly to someone (especially a woman) about
>> something
>>>> he has incomplete knowledge of, with the mistaken assumption that he
>> knows
>>>> more about it than the person he's talking to does.”
>>>> 
>>>> And I think this is exactly what Paul did and obviously still does. In a
>>>> private mail to me, Paul even admitted that he has a good overview about
>>>> the literature in Design for Development and the related UN
>> documentation
>>>> and approach to Humanitarian Development, but not that much knowledge in
>>>> the sustainable design literature. But still he likes to tell me that he
>>>> knows better???
>>>> 
>>>> But it is ok. Let’s move on.
>>>> 
>>>> Sorry for the long post.  And a big thank you to Britta, Veronica and
>>>> Milena for their supporting messages.
>>>> 
>>>> All the best
>>>> 
>>>> Ursula Tischner
>>>> 
>>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> PhD-Design mailing list  <[log in to unmask]>
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>>>> 
>>> 
>>> <
>> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail
>>> 
>>> Virusfritt.
>>> www.avast.com
>>> <
>> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail
>>> 
>>> <#m_-5216961130481242695_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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>> 
>> 
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Best,
> Shemal
> 
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
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