Harare Review of Books

136 pages.

Expected publication date: Feb 14, 2023.

Non-fiction.

Design justice was a topic I had never really considered, and this book has been transformational in shaping my thoughts on it. Dr Tunstall is eminently positioned to speak on the subject, as a scholar, educator and design professional who has worked in three countries, and who is also from a minoritised background.

Some important things I learnt were:

• The importance of decolonisation to the field of design (why decolonise at all?)
• How to centre Indigenous people in decolonial discourse (and this is true no matter where in the world one is);
• The European Modernist myth of technology bringing progress, or “better living through technology,” which, historically, has only been true for a very specific subset of people—this, in Chapter Two, was truly fascinating to me, and a compelling argument;
• Some excellent thoughts on the positionality of African Americans with respect to Indigenous people in the US and Canada, with an introduction to the concept of the native-settler-slave triad.

The final chapters detail practically how to decolonise design teaching programmes, and deal with the financial aspects. Although none of this is applicable for me, the section on reparations is excellent, and makes a good starting point for thinking about reparations in general.

This is a very accessible and highly recommended read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to MIT Press for access to this ARC.