From the guest editors: “design, populism and politics”

Abstract

Today, ‘design’ has become a concept that is frequently used in every field, in an awkward and populist manner. Hair design, nail design, feng shui design, wellness design, and city design are some of these conceptions that reduce the value of design, manipulate its meaning, as well as empty its content. For professional designers and design scholars, this situation has become more critical, as they start losing their intellectual voice and professional legitimacy among all those who use and consume the concept of design, regardless of its context. On the other hand, when we consider it from a global perspective, we see that design is one of the most dominant concepts in the strategic planning and development policies of developed and/or developing countries. In a way, it has also become a powerful tool of politics, re-conceptualized in populist discourses and practices of authorities and decision-makers.