
Blame theories and design practices, criticise political economy, subvert the status quo. Keep designing.
Research Paper on Academia:
Interpreting controversial political art through relational aesthetics
![What lies ahead when there is no [design] future.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fe3c0803cdb2c6a37c13f79/1733911443768-S2DYSFH4DDRFY2JS0TCM/Marco_Versfeld-blog-slavoj_zizek-review.jpg)
What lies ahead when there is no [design] future.
Marco Versfeld critically examines Too Late to Awaken by Slavoj Žižek and Libidinal Economy by Jean-François Lyotard, comparing their theoretical insights on desire, ideology, and systemic transformation. It contrasts these perspectives with Matthew Wizinsky's Design after Capitalism, which advocates for post-capitalist design practices as a response to capitalism's crises. Marco critiques Wizinsky's framework for overlooking the libidinal economy and the persistence of human drives, highlighting how post-capitalist systems might reproduce the same dynamics of commodification and fetishism they seek to dismantle. Ultimately, Marco argues for integrating insights from Žižek and Lyotard into post-capitalist design to address both material and libidinal dimensions of systemic change.

Is Post-Capitalist Design Anarchist?
Peter Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902) stands as a cornerstone of anarchist thought, championing cooperation as a force underpinning both evolution and society. While Kropotkin’s anarchism is explicit, contemporary frameworks like Matthew Wizinsky’s post-capitalist design (PCD) operate within a seemingly non-political discourse of critical and speculative design, yet their principles resonate strongly with anarchist ideals.

Subversive affirmation in design
One thing that I have been curious about, a thing that I have found myself drawn back to time and time again is our ability, including and especially my own, to do the opposite thing that you initially intend or asked to do. For example: don’t think of pink elephants!