THE ROLE OF DESIGNERS IN A DEMOCRACY
Mathias Jr
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Abstract
There's been a recent call for designers around the world to take more than a cursory interest in democratic discourses and political happenings in their domains; although, this is aimed at strengthening democratic practices, the intricacies and dynamics of contemporary political systems currently makes this, antithetical to the traditional role of the designer in a society. Thus, this paper highlights the conflicts surrounding the characterizations and practicality of contemporary democracy and the challenges of associating it with design and designers. It further argues that the design community as an entity lacks the requisite credibility to lead a pro-democracy campaign in view of its own questionable democratic credentials. The paper concludes that rather than join the populist bandwagon of slogan-chanting pro-democracy activists, the design community as an entity should become politically agnostic, but more socially-conscious – focusing solely on the social welfare of the people in every community it serves – whether in democracies, monarchies or communist states.
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