Critical Animal Design : Contesting Human Exceptionalism in Design Research

• As part of a larger “animal turn” in the arts and humanities, the field of design research has increasingly oriented itself towards multispecies efforts. Notions of “multispecies design”, “more-than-human design”, “biocentric design”, or “non-anthropocentric design” are prominent in contemporary design research, practice, and education. Various “post-anthropocentric” approaches – often influenced by strands of actor-network theory, posthumanism, and new materialist thinking – are increasingly used as theoretical grounding for design work. Explicit references to critical animal studies are still rare in design. In this paper we sketch the landscape of design research that is first-and-foremost driven by a critique of animal oppression. Through a mapping and discussion of such design projects this paper assembles a repertoire of tactics, methods and materials that may be of use for CAS scholar-activists interested in crafting tangible prototypes and proposals for more desirable ways of living with animals. We also elaborate on how a firm commitment towards animal liberation troubles the human-centric foundations of the design field.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Design (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Design (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Design

Critical Animal Studies

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)