Design is neither singular nor neutral. Yet its mainstream history has often been told as if it were—through universalist, modernist, and human-centred narratives that obscure the multiplicity of perspectives, practices, and struggles shaping it. In reality, design is a situated practice that both shapes and is shaped by the political, economic, and cultural forces of its time. How do different positionalities reflect the complexity of design in the present? And how can we learn to read, write, and discuss design across differences—without erasing them?

Today, a growing set of critical approaches in design research and practice is challenging its modern legacy and Anglo-European biases by introducing alternative roles, ontologies, and epistemologies of design. These perspectives reveal design as a political technology—a field entangled with histories of colonialism, capitalism, racism, patriarchy, and environmental exploitation, yet also a site for imagining and enacting otherwise. This means recognising design’s complicity in systems of oppression and privilege while tracing counter-histories and alternative imaginaries that resist them.

This seminar approaches design as a contested territory, where knowledges and practices are negotiated across geographies, worldviews, and power structures. Through weekly readings, writing, and discussion, we will explore intersections between design and feminist, decolonial, anti-racist, queer, posthuman, and Indigenous perspectives—touching on areas such as design politics, design and gender, decolonising design, pluriversal design, more-than-human design, ontological design, and speculative design. Rather than seeking one “right” definition of design, we will practice recognising its many implications, sharpening our ability to situate ourselves within them and developing the critical and contextual awareness needed to navigate and contribute to design thinking and practice in more accountable, just, and transformative ways.