On design, development and the axes of pluriversal politics: An interview with Arturo Escobar

Abstract

This interview deals with Arturo Escobar’s recent work on Pluriversal Politics and the Pluriversal transitions. The discussion is divided into three main themes: the first section addresses Escobar’s reflections on the contemporary civilizational crisis and the politics of the pluriverse; the second section engages with the contents of the Theme Issue, particularly those aspects of the transition that include radical relationality, the transition strategies, ontological and pluriversal struggles, and the notion of terricide. The final section reflects on Escobar’s work on development and its implications for the future. The conversation has been edited to fit the guidelines for publication of this journal and supported with the most recent work, both published and unpublished by Arturo Escobar.

Reworlding: Participatory Design Capabilities to Tackle Socio-Environmental Challenges

“…By stressing the re-in 'reworlding', we underline the ambition expressed by feminist, postcolonial and design scholars to move beyond an anthropocentric, Eurocentric and patriarchal position. In doing so, we echo Escobar's thoughts on "redesigning the world" [16], using the prefix of 're' to indicate an act of reweaving diverse models of worlding to understand how 'worlds' come to be as separate. Our intention is to embracein line with the conference theme -diverse cosmologies by elaborating on possible socio-environmental implications of worlding in the field of PD in pluriversal ways [12].…”

“…car dependency) and excluding or silencing less powerful (human and more-than-human) actors. In line with the idea of political ontology, design disciplines increasingly engage with ontological [16], non-anthropocentric and more-than-human perspectives [17] [18], foregrounding other worldviews and marginalised positions [10] [19] [20], challenging one-world models of development and growth.…”

From Fieldwork to Mutual Learning: Working with PRATEC

“…They see themselves as simply supporting what the peasants are doing, their silent retaking of the lands and re-establishing there their own mode of cultivating the land and of organising themselves. Since the term 'culture' has come under severe criticism lately in anthropology for its essentialising and colonising tendencies and generally been replaced by the term 'hybrid' (Clifford, 1988;Escobar, 1993;Garcia Canclini, 1990;Hall, 1990;Said, 1993;Trinh, 1994 and others), a discussion of terms would be in order.…”