Struggling for Design for the Pluriverse in the Global North

Abstract

This article explores the difficulties of conducting pluriversal design in the Global North. The point of departure is Arturo Escobar’s discussion on design for the pluriverse, which is a critique of modernity and unsustainability. The analysis centers on a project to develop a game to uncover the unsustainability integral to modern commerce, in the form of value chains of products produced in the Global South and consumed in the Global North. The researchers follow and document their experience with the development of the game aimed at sensitizing school students in the Global North to the injustices, resource overuse, and violence integral to value chains. The analysis describes how the intention to apply pluriversal design principles risks being betrayed by the same designers committed to them, because of their embeddedness in modernity. The authors propose two concrete strategies: first, recognizing that activating pluriversal principles will create discomfort in the designers and the design process; second, developing a vision to activate pluriversal principles.