Welcome to our beautiful new site, designjustice.org! 

The redesign was a coordinated effort between the DJN Steering Committee and the Website Working Group, along with feedback from Design Justice Network Principles Signatories and Members (that means you!) The site has a fresh new look, and contains additional information and functionality. The new designjusticenetwork.org will help communicate our vision and activities as the network continues to grow. 

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Design Justice: Towards an Intersectional Feminist Framework for Design Theory and Practice

Sasha Costanza-Chock
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Harvard University - Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society
Date Written: June 3, 2018

Abstract
Design is key to our collective liberation, but most design processes today reproduce inequalities structured by what Black feminist scholars call the matrix of domination. Intersecting inequalities are manifest at all levels of the design process. This paper builds upon the Design Justice Principles, developed by an emerging network of designers and community organizers, to propose a working definition of design justice: Design justice is a field of theory and practice that is concerned with how the design of objects and systems influences the distribution of risks, harms, and benefits among various groups of people. Design justice focuses on the ways that design reproduces, is reproduced by, and/or challenges the matrix of domination (white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, and settler colonialism). Design justice is also a growing social movement that aims to ensure a more equitable distribution of design’s benefits and burdens; fair and meaningful participation in design decisions; and recognition of community based design traditions, knowledge, and practices.

Suggested Citation: Costanza-Chock, Sasha, Design Justice: Towards an Intersectional Feminist Framework for Design Theory and Practice (June 3, 2018). Proceedings of the Design Research Society 2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3189696

Download Full Paper PDF Here!

Keywords: design, design justice, intersectionality, intersectional feminism, matrix of domination

Submissions Call: Design Justice Zine #4!

Hello Design Justice Network!

We are excited to invite you to contribute to the next issue of the Design Justice Zine! We’re looking for writing and/or visual design from Design Justice Network members that reflects on any one of the Design Justice Principles

If there is a particular principle you were moved by, or one that you have implemented in your own work, please contribute! Photo essays, illustrations, poetry, analysis, theory, and written reflection of all kinds are welcome.

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Updates: Principles, Track at AMC 2018 + Getting Involved!

Hello Design Justice Network!

The Design Justice Network organizes people from a variety of design backgrounds including graphic, architecture, planning, visual art, and people who are impacted by design, to create work and processes according to a set of shared principles. Here are a couple important updates:

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1. Finalized principles
2. Design Justice Track @ AMC 2018
3. Getting more involved & supporting the network
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Design Justice Network: call for submissions

Call for writing & other zine submissions

The Design Justice Network AMC planning team is looking for people to contribute material to the third issue of the Design Justice zine, to be published for this year's Allied Media Conference. This is a chance to contribute design justice content that is: relevant to a session you may be presenting, related to work you are exhibiting, reflective of your experience, or creative/fictional. Besides writing, we would also be interested in photo essays, comics/illustrations, and tool kits. The Zines will be sold at the AMC as a way to fundraise for the network. For more information about design justice, please visit designjusticenetwork.org.

If you are interested in contributing, your materials must be submitted by May 25th, 2017.

Please upload your files to this google drive: http://bit.ly/djn-zine-submissions2017

Questions? Email: designjusticenetwork@gmail.com

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10 Ways Designers Can Support Social Justice

In this moment of widespread conservative backlash, we are heartened that the design field is increasingly engaging with pressing current issues, and that many designers are seeking to do social impact work. To this end, we encourage our fellow designers to view all design work as having a social impact, and to reflect on the ways in which our work can contribute to social injustice, but also build a more socially just future.

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