Material Pragmatism and Dark Design : Cricial Readings of "Atmospheres of Rejection" and "Material Interpellation"
Abstract
This paper presents the outline of a modest assembling of diverse ideas within mobilities research we might term “material pragmatism.” It does so with reference to empirical cases of “dark design” (i.e., social exclusion of homeless people by means of leaning benches, spikes, sprinklers, barbed wire, etc.). Such interventions create zones of “go and no-go areas” in the city, and thereby facilitate complex mobility patterns for socially vulnerable groups. From the perspective of material pragmatism, it can be shown that dark design contributes to an “atmosphere of rejection,” as well as having a physical impact on vulnerable human bodies. The installations of material artefacts work by a mechanism of “material interpellation” in which subjects are “addressed” by the leaning benches, spikes etc. Material pragmatism is sensitive to such material assemblages of human and non-human entities, and a pragmatic exploration of the movements and actions afforded (or prevented) by such interventions. The paper presents material pragmatism as a way of connecting different thinkers and scholars engaging actual practice and its material components.
Info
Journal Article, 2023
UN SDG Classification
DK Main Research Area
Science/Technology
