Abstract
In this paper, we intend to make explicit the shared ontological foundation of design and management and question them in light of the advent of the Anthropocene. To do so, we first draw these disciplines closer before qualifying their common ground as an underlying “cosmology they share”. This cosmology is characterized by the centrality of the notion of organization. We argue that design as well as design knowledge must be assessed with regards to this peculiar cosmology. We call for the need to go beyond what we call the “monism of organizations” or the “organized world”. We propose a new direction for design oriented equally a) toward the organized world, setting the task of suitably deconstructing it or properly shutting it down, and b) towards the Earth itself, in search of a new, more adequate cosmology and more sustain-able forms of life rather than trying to hubristically improve the habitability of the world.
Keywords
anthropocene, cosmology, design, organization
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.654
Citation
Bonnet, E., Landivar, D., Monnin, A., and Navarro Aguiar, U. (2022) Design beyond the human world of management and organizations: Towards a cosmology for the anthropocene, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.654
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Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Design beyond the human world of management and organizations: Towards a cosmology for the anthropocene
In this paper, we intend to make explicit the shared ontological foundation of design and management and question them in light of the advent of the Anthropocene. To do so, we first draw these disciplines closer before qualifying their common ground as an underlying “cosmology they share”. This cosmology is characterized by the centrality of the notion of organization. We argue that design as well as design knowledge must be assessed with regards to this peculiar cosmology. We call for the need to go beyond what we call the “monism of organizations” or the “organized world”. We propose a new direction for design oriented equally a) toward the organized world, setting the task of suitably deconstructing it or properly shutting it down, and b) towards the Earth itself, in search of a new, more adequate cosmology and more sustain-able forms of life rather than trying to hubristically improve the habitability of the world.