Design Activism in an Indonesian Village

Abstract

Many design practices in Indonesia combine a sense of urgency around environmental crises with very local forms of community organizing and alternative economies. Located in the village of Kandangan in an agricultural area of Central Java are two organizations called Magno and Spedagi, as well as a cluster of other design activist projects. This paper aims to bring some of these practices and projects into broader discussions about design activism and sustainability, while resisting the urge to define design activism as a global movement.