Abstract
Singapore, as a “tabula rasa” (Khoolas, 2010) and a “survivalist technocratic state” (Goh, 2001), values design, particularly innovative and creative thinking, in building a nation lacking natural resources. In this narrative, the role and identities of designers are evolving rapidly within the discourse of globalized creative skills. This investigation examines designers who employ participatory methodologies outside institutional confines yet exert agency in decision-making processes concerning societal issues. While navigating multiple identities—designer, facilitator, and care worker—they co-create policies and social welfare with Singapore residents. Influenced by human-centric design and the Creative City initiatives, design practitioners aim to democratise decision-making by engaging diverse stakeholders in the co-creation process. This research draws on Hall’s (1990) cultural identity theory to understand how designers’ cultural identities operate within Design Justice (Costanza, 2020), offering an alternative approach that prioritises community engagement and challenges Singapore’s traditional technocratic pragmatism (Goh, 2002). Methodologically, this qualitative study uses ethnographic fieldwork, including interviews and observations with three designers leading workshops in the “Challenge X” project at the Singapore Design Week 2024 exhibition, to evaluate how they strategically navigate identities, impacting institutions and public narratives. It contributes to understanding how creatives balance paradoxical identity regulation, requiring differentiation and alignment with internal identities and external expectations. Ultimately, this research calls for rethinking linear identity politics and exploring nuanced dynamics, considering the precarity of creative labour while envisioning a more inclusive society.
Presenters
Cheng ChenStudent, PhD in Cultural Studies in Asia, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Participatory design, Civic Engagement, Co-creation, Pragmatism, Design Facilitation
