It is 50 years now since Herbert Marcuse published his influential book "One-dimensional man". This has been one of my favorite books since the first time I read it. I have frequently returned to it and is every time inspired by it, usually in a new way than before. It is a book rich of big ideas. Recently I wrote a book chapter on how Marcuse is relevant to the field of interaction design research (hopefully to be published soon).
I am of course not the only one who returns to this seminal book. In a really interesting review, written in relation to the 50 year anniversary, Ronald Aronson explains the immensely important role that Marcuse has had over the decades. This review is thoughtful and insightful. I was while reading it first a bit concerned by the argument that the conditions during the time when Marcuse authored the book have changed so much that it is not relevant in the same way anymore. However, later in the article Aronson makes the case that I would do, namely that the present society is not the same as in those days but that it has the same foundational qualities, maybe even in a way that makes Marcuse's analysis even more relevant today. It is not the cold war with the big (given) enemy that is the system's engine, instead it is consumerism and the comfortable life. One-dimensionality has maybe never been stronger than today!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"Thinking on Paper" - notes on how to write and design
In 1989 I got the book "Thinking on Paper : Refine, Express, and Actually Generate Ideas by Understanding the Processes of the Mind...
-
Nigel Cross has for a long time been one of the most prominent researchers of design. He has a background as an architect and industrial des...
-
It is obvious that 'design thinking' as an approach to change has never been more popular than now. Everywhere on the web it is poss...
-
I have for many years liked the ideas of Paul Virilio. He is a fascinating and highly challenging thinker. Unfortunately his writings are qu...
1 comment:
Interesting review Thanks for sharing
Post a Comment