A
guidebook to the institutional transformation of design theory and
practice by restoring the long-excluded cultures of Indigenous,
Black, and People of Color communities.
From the excesses of world expositions to myths of better living
through technology, modernist design, in its European-based guises,
has excluded and oppressed the very people whose lands and lives it
reshaped. Decolonizing Design first asks how modernist design
has encompassed and advanced the harmful project of colonization—then
shows how design might address these harms by recentering its theory
and practice in global Indigenous cultures and histories.
A leading figure in the movement to decolonize design, Dori
Tunstall uses hard-hitting real-life examples and case studies drawn
from over fifteen years of working to transform institutions to
better reflect the lived experiences of Indigenous, Black, and People
of Color communities. Her book is at once enlightening, inspiring,
and practical, interweaving her lived experiences with extensive
research to show what decolonizing design means, how it heals, and
how to practice it in our institutions today.
For leaders and practitioners in design institutions and
communities, Tunstall’s work demonstrates how we can transform the
way we imagine and remake the world, replacing pain and repression
with equity, inclusion, and diversity—in short, she shows us how to
realize the infinite possibilities that decolonized design
represents.