The Design of Trade: extractivism & material flows

Block Seminar Design Theory 3rd semester

Lecturer:
Dr. Joëlle Bitton

The module takes place over 1 week, from 09-13.09.24, from Monday to Friday, 9.00-17.00 - see timetable below for details.

Topic

As we rediscover materialities in a digital world, we are confronted with a growing need to understand how things are made, where they come from, which knowledge, legacies, and traditions are embedded in them, and how those things are transported, discarded, and recycled by whom, and where, etc. These questions tie with a general concern for environmental impacts of consumerism and waste, and the human rights entangled with them. The very finite materials that are being mined in remote locations by exploited labor demonstrate the extension to which extractivism damages local ecosystems and cultural heritage.

These notions of material flows through geography, history, trade agreements, mining of indigenous resources, migrations are now crucial to grasp for a study of making, craft and fabrication.

Objectives of the course

This seminar aims to tie the larger socio-economic context of material sourcing and transformation together with practices of fabrication.

The seminar is structured as a dialogue and the students will work on certain questions themselves. In the end, an outcome should be created to showcase an approach to the topic. 

In this course, a range of aspects will be touched upon as parts of a systemic perspective:

• Trade routes & supply chains (geopolitics of extractivism)
• Materials and mining
• Exploitation of labour and resource extraction
• Commodifying animal life and ecosystems
• Entanglements with design and consumer society: tensions and contradictions of values / Disconnections between raw value - end price, between resources -  processes of transformation & fabrication - end products
• Emergence of Empires (conglomerates & nations both)
• Trafficking
• Systems & Infrastructures
• Global exchange of materials and techniques
• Innovation and development / cultural exchanges
• Environmental and social consequences
• Indigenous viewpoints
• Trade agreements and trade wars
• Swiss context

Structure

The class will be structured around discussions, lectures, presentations of case studies, in-class exercises, and collective mappings.

Deliverables

• Assignment 0 (before Monday 9.9)
  • Read 
    • Jan Zalasiewicz. 2010. Chapter 1. "Stardust", In The Planet in a Pebble, A Journey into Earth's Deep History. Oxford University Press.
      

• Assignments 1 (prepare on Monday 9.9 afternoon) - send reading notes by email on& post material research on Miro Board on 9.9 by 19.00
  
  
  • Read 
    • Robin Wall Kimmerer. 2018. "Mishkos Kenomagwen, the Lessons of Grass: Restoring Reciprocity with the Good Green Earth”. In Nelson & Shilling (eds), The Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability. Cambridge University Press.
    Write 2-3 paragraphs about your impressions on the paper, remarks (what concept is new to you, inspiring aspects, positions you disagree with, etc..), questions...
    The remarks should capture learning points and possible critiques of the papers.
    
    
  • Investigation of materials from Switzerland or emblematic of Swiss market
    Pick 1 material and conduct a research to find out: where that material comes from, how it has been extracted & by whom, how it is transformed & where, its lifecycle, its history & importance for local population and distant users, its trade, its legislation, its raw price value, and its price value on mainstream market, the companies involved in the supply chain, its availability (or rarity), its uses (or un-uses), and its environmental impact. Post research findings on Miro Board. Bring a sample in class for presenting some of the findings. (Examples: chocolate, mineral water, gold, cement, banking, agriculture...)
    
    
• Assignments 2 (prepare on Tuesday 10.9 afternoon) - send notes by email on 10.9 by 19.00
  
  
  • Read 
    • Giorgi Riello. 2009. "The Globalization of cotton textiles. Indian Cottons, Europe, and the Atlantic World, 1600–1850". In Parthasarathi & Riello (eds), The Spinning World: A Global History of Cotton Textiles, 1200-1850. Oxford University Press.
    •  G. Dobler & Kesselring R. 2019. "Swiss extractivism: Switzerland’s role in Zambia’s copper sector". In Journal of Modern African Studies, 57, 2. pp. 223-245. Cambridge University Press.
    Write 2-3 paragraphs about your impressions for each paper, remarks (what concept is new to you, inspiring aspects, positions you disagree with, etc..), questions...
    The remarks should capture learning points and possible critiques of the papers.
    
    
  • Find 1-2 projects that show how the design & art fields can address those issues and propose alternatives (you will present 1 or 2 of them in class with 1 - 2 sentences each). Post link, author(s), title, date, picture, comment on Miro board.
    
    
• Assignment 3 (prepare on Wednesday 11.9) - send notes by email on 11.09 by 21.00
   
  • Read 

    • Victor Crochet. 2022. "Trade Defence Instruments: A New Tool for the European Union’s Extractivism". In European Journal of International Law, 33, 2. pp381-410. Oxford University Press.

    • Damian White. 2019. "Just Transitions/Design for Transitions: Preliminary Notes on a Design Politics for a Green New Deal". In Capitalism Nature Socialism. Routledge.

    Write 2-3 paragraphs about your impressions for each paper, remarks (what concept is new to you, inspiring aspects, positions you disagree with, etc..), questions...

    The remarks should capture learning points and possible critiques of the papers.
    
    
• Assignment 4 - Final Work: The format of the final outcome is decided by each student- it will be an online representation of your approach of the topic (possibly 1-page website, written essay, video, or use of hosting platform such as TikTok, filmed performance, games, new object...). Individual work (some works can be in connection with one another). Your work needs to be in adequacy with the intention and the process. The collection of works from each student will constitute together an online exhibition.
  • +500 words to give context to the piece.
  • 3-5 mn presentation : why you made it, how it relates to the topic
  • the ideas could represent your position on a topic above or on a case study discussed in class, your new proposal, or your interpretation of an issue
  • who is your desired audience and how do you reach it?
    
    
• Final presentation in class - upload on platform on 13.9 by 13.00 & present in class concisely. Send me as well a hard copy via email / wetransfer by 11.30.

Expectations, Gradings and Presence

Grades for this class are passing or failing. Assignments are general class participation, exercises, readings&reflections through response notes, and final work.
Any assignment that remains unfulfilled receives a failing grade.  

Arriving late may also affect the passing grade.
Contributing to constructive group discussion is an essential aspect of class participation. 

Attendance of all the input sessions are imperative (3 mornings session and 1 afternoon session).  
Zoom-etiquette during online sessions: please be present on screen (no commuting/travelling or doing another activity in parallel of the class), on time, and with camera turned-on as much as possible. 
Classes online and in presence at the same time are not possible.

Timetable