Dialogues on Decolonial Participatory Design Praxis During a Revolution
Reem Talhouk, Sarah Armouch
Abstract
On the 17th of October 2019, people from across Lebanon participated in nation-wide protests which ignited a revolution condemning the political elite and the dire socioeconomic conditions they have engendered. Such events through which people are (re)imagining their lifeworlds prompt us as Lebanese design researchers to (re)imagine Participatory Design within a decolonial and decolonizing narrative. In an effort to (re)imagine PD so that we think/do with and from the revolution, we present dialogues held amongst: ourselves, with Lebanese public health practitioners/activists and with decolonial/decolonizing literature. Through these dialogues we unsettle our entanglements and raise the contradictions and questions within PD that we are contending with. In doing so we contribute to the growing efforts to decolonize PD so that we create worlds otherwise.