As generative activists, designers have a hugely
important role to play in transforming our
current systems into those that would support

a sustainable world.

Generative activism is powerful both as physical things and
ideas. When an idea spreads, by being featured in publications,
presented at conferences and experienced by visitors, it has reach.
And even if, as a thing, it exists in only one town or neighborhood,
its presence can affect spatial norms on a much bigger scale. For
example, the us Green Building Council used a relatively small
sample of green buildings to develop a rating system that has
become a norm for many public agency building codes. Similarly,
the success of Rebar’s pocket parks in parking spaces has led sev-
eral cities to create pocket park policies.

So when you look at design activism or do your own projects,
consider power. You'll most likely create positive disruptions that
help people bargain for something better. How can you frame your
offer for the right target audiences? Where in the design process, or
lifecycle, should you look for an opportunity to disrupt norms? Can
your power have reach? What can you do to give people the best
bargaining chip?

TRANSFORMATIVE VERSUS REFORMATIVE APPROACHES

As generative activists, designers have a hugely important role to
play in transforming our current systems into those that would
support a sustainable world. That’s because designers’ experimen-
tal and innovative approaches help us cope with new and complex
situations.

Historically, activists have proposed reformist solutions. Many
major movements of the last century have sought to expand rights
to marginalized groups, extending to women the right to vote
and gay people the right to marry [12]. These changes do not
involve inventing new solutions, but rather reforming our existing
approach. We are now dealing, however, with complex systems
and new connections among issues where frequently there is no
basis for reform.

For example, suburban development patterns, blamed for
increasing our automobile dependence and thus damaging the
environment (through carbon emissions, loss of habitat, et
cetera), are now also empirically linked to a wide range of health
issues such as obesity, depression and high blood pressure
[14; 10]. Similarly, research increasingly shows links between cli-
mate change, food production and diet [1].

Although in the past, diet and food may have been seen as
human health issues and suburban sprawl may have been seen as
an environmental issue, these two areas now share a lot of com-
mon ground. They are both environmental and human health
issues. For tackling health, suburban development and climate
issues together, we have no specific basis for reform, since no exist-
ing laws or infrastructure address these linkages.

Activists act on the idea of shaping a better society, and design-
ers can have a strong role in shaping our visions for that better soci-
ety, particularly in cases where there is no basis for reform. These
cases require innovation and invention to create appealing visual

and experiential bargaining chips. Only with bargaining chips like
these can people support and enact transformational ideas.

TO GENERATE!

Generative activism is a constructive way to understand design
activism and its power to bring about change. In creating new
ideas for new kinds of problems, generative activism builds power
by providing compelling visions of a better society that people are
then able to bargain for. With generative activism, designers are
relieved of the negative connotations of protesting or resisting,
while the process of materially and spatially framing the debate
plays to designers’ strengths. ©

REFERENCES

fh] Audsley E., M. Brander, J. Chatterton, D. Murphy-Bokern, C. Webster, and A. Williams.

How Low Can We Go? An Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the uk Food

System and the Scope for Reduction by 2050. United Kingdom: wwr, 2009.

Benford, R.D., & D.A. Snow. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview

and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26 (2000): 611-639.

[3] Bhamra, T., A.D. Lilley, and T. Tang. “Sustainable Use: Changing Consumer Behavior
through Product Design.” In Changing the Change. Turin, Italy: Allemandi Conference
Press, 2008.

[4] Boulding, Kenneth E. Three Faces of Power. Thousand Oaks, ca: Sage, 1989.

[5] Dovey, Kim. Framing Places: Mediating Power in Built Form. London: Routledge, 2008.
1-13.

[6] Gecan, Michael. Going Public: An Organizer’s Guide to Citizen Action. New York:
Anchor Books, 2004.

[7] Hess, D.J. “Product-Oriented Movements: Approximating Social Movement Studies
and Science and Technology Studies.” Science, Technology, and Human Values 30.4
(2005): 515-535.

[8] Jordan, Tim. Activism! Direct Action, Hacktivism and the Future of Society. Ed. B.
Bullen and P. Hamilton. London: Reaktion Books, 2002.

[9] Lockton, Dan, David Harrison and Neville Stanton. “Making the User More Efficient:
Design for Sustainable Behaviour.” international Journal of Sustainable Engineering
1.1 (2008): 3-8.

[10] Lubell, Sam. “Researchers Explore Link Between Sprawl and Poor Health.”
Architectural Record 191.12 (2003): 24

[11] McAdam, Doug and Su Yang. “The War at Home: Antiwar Protests and Congressional
Voting, 1965 to 1973.” American Sociological Review 67.5 (2002): 696-721.

[12] Polletta, Francesca, and James M. Jasper. “Collective Identity and Social
Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 283-305.

[13] Scott, John. Power. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001.

[14] Speck, Jeff. “Our Ailing Communities: Public-health Advocate Richard Jackson
Argues that the Way We Build Cities and Neighborhoods is the Source of Many Chronic
Diseases.” Metropolis Magazine October 2006.

[15] Thorpe, A. Architecture & Design Versus Consumerism: How Design Activism
Confronts Growth. London: Earthscan/Routledge, 2012.

[16] Tilly, C. “Contentious Repertoires in Great Britain, 1758-1843.” Repertoires & Cycles of
Collective Action. Ed. M. Traugott. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.

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