international political design . . .
At the forefront of my research agenda is the development of a unique programme bringing together the work of political sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and cognate social scientists focused on world political dilemmas with work within the fields of political design (critical design, development engineering, architecture, speculative design, ergonomics, etc.). This research programme advocates for a substantive shift in the vocation of the social sciences exploring international affairs through an extension of its praxis beyond a focus on epistemics (explanation, prediction, etc.) towards active forms of material, technological, and aesthetic intervention into world political problems. This programme is being developed with collaborators from across the social sciences, including leading scholars of world politics within social science, members of the Forensic Architecture research group, engineers and other applied scientists, and practitioners. Although in its early stages, this research programme has already produced a number of important publications, pilot applications to the problem of political violence, and a series of workshops entitled Politics Beyond Technology. Together with my collaborators, we have tentatively named this research programme the development of an International Political Design.
Since 2023, the core of this agenda has been progressed in my role as Principal Investigator for the multi-year transdisciplinary research project The Future of Humanitarian Design (HUD). HUD continues my working leading the Violence Prevention Initiative, but promises to translate its basic scientific research on the conditions of possibility underlying political violence prevention into concrete action through collaborations with architects, engineering scientists, and leading humanitarian organizations. HUD is funded by a 3.2 million EUR Swiss National Science Foundation grant.
Jonathan Luke Austin 