Bringing in communicative rationality into design participation

Abstract

This article is an attempt to examine the extent to which Bourdieu's concepts of field, communicative rationality and rational deliberation is useful in designing game-like activities in design participation. We attempt to advocate the idea that changing the nature of the game is crucial in our understanding of the nature of design participation. In order to do this, we should design activities which could firstly reveal the nature and rules of the design games, and sensitize participants and designers to be aware of the constraining factors that would undermine the possibility of achieving 'the interest in disinterest' -- a sentiment that would reduce the harmful effects of systematic distortion which comes from our socialization, social positions and collective learning. We also suggest that the study of body techniques to explore new domains of experience through which social inclusion is more likely to be realized. The study of the experience of two Inclusive Design workshops supports this suggestion.