Posthumanism and Design

TLDR

Design has traditionally been human‑centered, but technological and environmental changes now push designers toward addressing complex socio‑technical systems. The article aims to trace and review posthumanist discussions and examples across disciplines to inform new design methodologies and practices. It reviews literature from actor‑network theory, feminist new materialism, object‑oriented ontology, non‑representational theory, transhumanism, and critiques from critical race and decolonial theory to shape design practices.

Abstract

Since at least the mid-1980s, design has been dominated by a human-centered and user-centered paradigm. Currently, the implications of technological and environmental transformations are challenging designers to focus on complex socio-technical systems. This article traces emergent discussions around posthumanism from across a range of disciplines and perspectives, and considers examples from emerging design practices that emphasize the interrelations between human and nonhuman actors. Specifically, this article reviews literature from actor-network theory (ANT), feminist new materialism, object-oriented ontology, non-representational theory, and transhumanism to inform the development of new methodologies and practices in the field of design. Finally, this article presents critiques of posthumanism from critical race theory and decolonial theory to consider how emergent design perspectives might better support values such as equality and justice for humans and nonhumans that have been traditionally ignored in design processes.