Tom Bieling

The point of departure for this project is the hypothesis of a close interrelationship between design and in-/exclusion combined with the assumption that design and technology demarcate the boundary zone between disability and “normal” so that design is involved in processes through which disability is simultaneously constructed and interpreted. The aim is to localize different points of reference of design and inclusion, to identify concrete fields of action for design (research) and to thereby create a basis for discourse on this complex interaction within and outside of the design field. Special attention will be paid to different forms and dimensions of participation as well as to the different intersections at which designers operate. Fields of interest range from institutionalised participation (Bieling 2019a), design as empowerment (Bieling et al. 2015) and participation in the design process (Bieling 2019b) to certain forms of (design) activism (Bieling 2019c) and corresponding strategies for counter-narratives which focus on a revised visibility of marginal groups.