Social matter, social design : for good or bad all design is social

his publication challenges the way we look at, think of, and interact with the social realm by emphasising the role of materiality. The field demands that design incorporates a more nuanced and complex reading of how the social is intertwined with the material, which confronts the often reductive or simplistic notion of “social design” and offers novel forms of critical and meaningful engagement in today’s world of mounting social contradictions. Essays by more than 25 contributors explore and unveil connections, assumptions, and more, and focus on critical junctures for transformation. The analyses centre around four major themes: the body, the earth, the political, and technology.