Abstract

PRIETO NANEZ, Fabián M.. Designs for the Other 90%. Humanitarian Design and Representations of Technology Use in the Global South. univ.humanist. [online]. 2017, n.83, pp.277-301. ISSN 0120-4807.  https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.uh83.ddhr.

Closely related to the promotion of social innovation, the movement called “humanitarian design” seeks to address the problems of population in poverty from design processes that take into account their user’s environment. This paper problematizes this type of design, examining the exhibition Design for the Other 90% -which toured several US cities between 2007 and 2009- from the links of humanitarian design with market-based approaches that perceive in poverty a growing niche for the economy. Through an analysis of this exhibition, we explore how nature, technology, and the bodies are represented to legitimize narratives on technology production and consumption in the global south. In turn, we reflect on how this exhibition appeals to lifestyles in the United States, articulated to forms of consumption and understandings on humanitarian aid.

Keywords : humanitarian design; museums; technology; users; entrepreneurship; representations of the global south.

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