Mapping Design Anthropology: Tracking the Development of an Emerging Transdisciplinary Field

Abstract

The practice of design anthropology has continued to evolve since the publication of Design + Anthropology: Converging Pathways in Anthropology and Design in 2018. At that time, design anthropology was described as “an emerging transdisciplinary field.” ([1], [2]: 10, [3]). Working collaboratively with Ken Riopelle who provided analytical expertise in social network analysis, we approached this claim from the perspective of social network analysis “to investigate the human and nonhuman actors (i.e., people and institutions) that have contributed to design anthropological practice and theorizing.” [3]. Our initial goal was to determine if—and, if so, to what extent—design anthropology qualified as a disciplinary “field”. In our original analysis, we began by establishing a set of benchmarks that serve as indicators to identify a disciplinary field. In this paper, we revisit our initial analysis, updating it with new publications, contributors, blogs, groups, and other developments, to investigate if and how design anthropology has diffused.