Governmentality and power in 'design for government' in the UK, 2008-2017: an ethnography of an emerging field

Over the last 15 or so years, design – as a practice – has become something one does in the public sector, a methodology one might deploy in pursuing the aims of the state. This thesis is an investigation of how and why design has become relevant to, and enmeshed within, government. I identify a rapidly emerging ‘apparatus’ (an assemblage of discourse, practices, knowledge, institutions, subjects, and objects) of design for government, and dissect it to see how it works, and what it functions to achieve. To do this, the thesis makes use of data accumulated during several years of professional practice in this field in the UK from 2008 to 2017 (from the point at which I entered the field, to the point at which I temporarily left in order to focus on research), and with a particular focus on design projects undertaken from 2015- 2017 while working for a design agency. This insider perspective is contrasted with a discourse analysis of the dominant narratives accounting for the development of the field. The methodology thus combines auto-ethnography with a ‘Foucauldian’ theoretical toolkit of discourse, technologies, practices and objects/ subjects. Building on studies that critically examine the construction of discursive formations, epistemic communities, disciplinary apparatuses, and regimes of practices, the thesis breaks away from an instrumental mode of researching and conceptualising design. The original contribution of the thesis is, first, in treating design as a contingent, mobile, and discursively constructed idea through methodologically blending an insider ethnography of design with a theoretical account based in governmentality. And, second, through investigating and countering many of the existing claims made in design research for this practice and its instrumental value to the public sector. The study finds that ‘design’ in such a context has been discursively and practically re-modelled and deployed to respond to, and align with, a dominant political dogma about the necessity of reforming the machinery of state to become more innovative. The popular claims made for the value and effectiveness of ‘design for government’ do not adequately capture its observable mechanisms and effects: ‘performances of change’ divert attention from the lack of it, users are not understood but invented, and, far from being innovative, the technologies of ‘design for government’ mainly reproduce the logics and ideologies coursing through its environment. Its most substantive achievement is the production of itself as a field of knowledge and practice, through the continual recruitment of new acolytes. In this way, the apparatus of ‘design for government’ can be said to have profound governmental effects. Not only – or even primarily – on the ‘end user’, but on the designers and civil servants re-modelling their professional selves in its image, and it does this predominantly via a positive strategy of seduction. Overall, the apparatus functions to achieve an embodiment of the political-managerial critique of bureaucracy, an ever-expanding market for design and those calling themselves designers, and the colonisation of yet another domain by the contemporary mythology that is design

Beyond Usefulness: Exploring the Implications of Design in Policymaking

This paper reflects on the convergence of design and power in the emerging trend of design being used within policymaking processes. The author’s personal experience of working as a design consultant in this field in the UK is used to surface questions about the role design is playing in contemporary politics and governance, and how this might be understood. The paper reviews the growing body of literature around ‘design for policy’ and highlights the extent to which it is preoccupied with a purely instrumental account which neglects a broader political interpretation. Three possible alternative analytical approaches are then discussed – a critical design history, Foucault’s governmentality lens, and Latour’s account of the different political stages in the trajectory of issues – all of which have the potential to deepen our understanding of the present

Aestheticising Change: Simulations of Progress

If, following Rancière, politics revolves around who has power to articulate ‘the sensible’, then designers, as aesthetic practitioners, must be caught up in questions of politics. This is particularly so when design practice becomes part of the way public sector actors negotiate, envision and catalyse change in relation to public ‘problems’. However, this is also typically a form of design practice that eschews any talk of aesthetics — presenting as de-skilled, democratic and ‘de-aestheticised’, in a sense. By analysing and re-describing such design practice in aesthetic terms here — illustrated with an example from practice — we provide an alternative characterisation to the more instrumental account of design as a reliable route to innovation for public sector managers. This opens up a different perspective on what such practices function to achieve, and what is at stake: an effacing of the political nature of design decisions, and an obscuring of the real work of change by the seductive techniques of simulation

The introduction of design to policymaking: Policy Lab and the UK government

The use of design within government institutions is a rapidly accelerating trend of global dimensions. The emergent nature of these design practices, and cultures, raises questions about what exactly is happening in the interactions between design and political institutions, and how that might be understood in broader socio-economic and political terms. This paper reports on a series of interviews with senior level civil servants working in UK central government, all of whom have had some exposure to design methods and techniques through interaction with the UK Policy Lab. The paper sets out the ways in which the epistemology and practices of design, as introduced through Policy Lab, both expose and challenge those of the political institutions and policy professionals they seek to change

Practice Research in Social Design and Sustainability: Case Studies

ReGo is a practice research project led by Dr Francesco Mazzarella at the UAL Centre for Sustainable Fashion, which leverages the power of fashion activism, social design, and storytelling. ‘ReGo’ means to rethink our ego and go again and again through a continuous process of change both in oneself and in society. The aim of the project is to shift the prevailing narratives around youth violence and respond positively to this systemic problem by providing educational and employment opportunities for young people in fashion. Working with communities and industry partners in East London, including Catalyst for Communities, and funded by Foundation for Future London, ReGo co-created knowledge as well as products with young people, and provided opportunities for the young people involved to gain new skills and build employability. In doing so, it expands the idea of what fashion is and can do to address social justice and nurture sustainability and prosperity for all

Practice research in design: Towards a novel definition

This working paper offers a new characterisation of practice research in design through an interdisciplinary, exploratory endeavour to find a shared perspective and vocabulary. It starts by recognising the ongoing debates among academics, practitioners and funders in design, media and the arts about what practice research is and how it can be conceptualised, articulated and communicated. The need to make sense of practice research in design as research—and not just as practice—is a response to arguments separating scientific knowledge from practical knowledge and the formal assessment of research quality in art and design higher education institutions. As design and design research are increasingly called on to produce new solutions and contribute knowledge to address social and public policy issues, these discussions have become more pressing. The paper’s contribution is to propose a new characterisation of practice research in design, through two related frameworks and a definition

12 Principles of Social Design

The goal of this workshop is to facilitate a rich discussion of the field of social design, which is increasingly becoming a contested space. To support this, we have drafted ‘12 Principles of Social Design’, which we want to share with the NORDES community as a starting point for an open conversation about the goals of social design as an area of academic inquiry and a field of reflective practice. Our plan for the workshop is to have a discursive structure that allows us to dig deeper into the Principles and the issues that sit behind them. Participants will be invited to bring their own case studies to see how the Principles perform against practice. The workshop will thus be used to test the principles and improve them, to build and strengthen the connections between design researchers working in this area, and ultimately to influence the direction of social design

Design Economy 2021 – Introductory Paper

This series of papers sets out a methodological proposal for Design Economy 2021: Design Council’s flagship programme of research assessing UK design. Previous iterations of this research have focused predominantly on the economic significance of design: on the numbers of designers and design firms, on the use of design in business, and on the financial value generated for the UK economy through design activity. The scope of Design Economy 2021 goes beyond this, looking at the social and environmental value of design as well as the economic; looking at how design is used and understood in the public sector, as well as by businesses, and the public understanding of design. It also has a greater emphasis on investigating issues of equality, diversity and inclusivity in design, including across the UK’s nations and regions. Further, Design Economy 2021 will be not only backward-looking, a snapshot of design as it is today, but forward-looking, in setting out a positive vision of where design might be in 2050, and what it will take to get there

Design Economy 2021 – Environmental and Social Value of Design

This paper proposes a methodology for Design Economy 2021 that will provide data and stories on the environmental and social value of design in the UK, in addition to economic value. It envisages a programme of research over several years which, as well as articulating the social and environmental impact and value of design, will result in new capacities in the design economy, new kinds of evidence and a stronger orientation to understanding the links between design skills, action and social and environmental outcomes and, ultimately, changing practices