Militant Design Research: A Proposal to Politicize Design Knowledge-making

Main Article Content

Bibiana Serpa

Abstract

This work reflects on how design can engage in emancipatory processes of knowledge-making through Militant Design Research. The argument draws on the work of scholars who are engaged in counter-hegemonic design research and practice, and questions the knowledge production structures within academia. ‘Militant research’ is presented as a Latin American theoretical-political approach to knowledge production in social sciences, engaging processes of research, educational, and political actions, and uniting organic intellectuals, researchers, and social movements. Inspired by this perspective, principles for Militant Design Research are outlined to stimulate alliances between designers and social movements for the collective production of knowledge, to overcome situations of oppression in and out of academia.

Article Details

How to Cite
Serpa, B. (2023). Militant Design Research: A Proposal to Politicize Design Knowledge-making. Diseña, (22), Article.4. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.22.Article.4
Section
Original articles
Author Biography

Bibiana Serpa, Design and Oppression Network

Doctorate in Design, Rio de Janeiro State University. After holding a BA degree in Industrial Design - Visual Communication from the Federal University of Santa Maria, she earned a MA in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She is a researcher at the Design and Oppression Network. Her latest publications include ‘Reviews Gone South: A Subversive Experiment on Partici­patory Design Canonsʼ (with P. Reynolds-Cuéllar, C. Grisales, M. Wong-Villacrés, J. I. Goñi, and O. A. Lemus; in PDC 2022, Vol. 1.), ‘(Anti)dialogical Reflection Cards: Politicizing Design Education through Paulo Freire’s Critical Pedagogyʼ (with M. Mazarotto; in DRS 2022), and ‘Solidarity as a Principle for Antisystemic Design Processes: Two Cases of Alliance with Social Struggles in Brazilʼ (with S. Batista; in Pivot 2021).

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