Design for social change: a critical view of the Do It Yourself, Open Design, and Makers movements in the contemporary context

Abstract

This paper analyses the recent trend of emerging Design movements – with an idealistic discourse – which, in response to shortcomings in the current economic model, believe expanding the access to manufacturing technologies has the potential to democratize the productive autonomy, thereby catalyzing social emancipation. For their popularity, movements such as Do It Yourself, Open Design and Maker Culture are considered flagship examples of that trend. In order to understand those groups and how they integrate into the dynamics of the global system, we examine the affinity between their discourse and the legitimating ideology of contemporary capitalism through a literature review – thus presenting a reflection on how their narratives and propositions interact with current production relationships.