Abstract
This paper presents a first approach to a Latin American feminist design method based on three actions proposed by the Chilean feminist sociologist Julieta Kirkwood who said feminist praxis required to (1) know the structures of oppression, (2) recognize our place in them and (3) transform them through our practice. Although the intersection between design and feminism has successfully pointed out the false neutrality in design practice and its potential to imagine more equal futures, practical approaches are still needed as a guidance to put feminist design into practice. Therefore, this design method based on understanding, recognizing ourselves and transforming would have two main areas of impact: First, it would promote design interventions that improve the lives of women and other marginalized subjects, and second, it would become a reference for other designers who want to move away from apolitical ways of designing.
Keywords
feminist design, feminist methods, design methodologies, intersectionality
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.618
Citation
Sánchez-Hidalgo, D. (2026) Recognize ourselves, understand and transform: An approach to a Latin American feminist design methodology, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.618
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Recognize ourselves, understand and transform: An approach to a Latin American feminist design methodology
This paper presents a first approach to a Latin American feminist design method based on three actions proposed by the Chilean feminist sociologist Julieta Kirkwood who said feminist praxis required to (1) know the structures of oppression, (2) recognize our place in them and (3) transform them through our practice. Although the intersection between design and feminism has successfully pointed out the false neutrality in design practice and its potential to imagine more equal futures, practical approaches are still needed as a guidance to put feminist design into practice. Therefore, this design method based on understanding, recognizing ourselves and transforming would have two main areas of impact: First, it would promote design interventions that improve the lives of women and other marginalized subjects, and second, it would become a reference for other designers who want to move away from apolitical ways of designing.