Design and Capitalism

No designer wants their work to contribute to the erosion of human relationships, the destruction of the planet, or the deepening of social inequality. Yet within a consumer-driven society, a fundamental question arises: what role can design play today — and how can it position itself between economic pressures, social responsibility, and personal ethics?

For decades, theorists and practitioners such as Viktor Papanek, Matthew Wizinsky, Hal Foster, Adrian Forty, Ezio Manzini, Deyan Sudjic, Stuart Walker, Tony Fry, and Jonathan Chapman have grappled with this dilemma. Their work reveals that design is often not only part of the solution but also part of the problem — shaping systems that perpetuate overconsumption, alienation, and environmental destruction.

Against this backdrop, the 2-days-conference at Moholy-Nagy-University Budapest (MoMe) aims to serve as a platform for critical reflection and exchange on alternative design approaches. It will focus on strategies that operate within the cracks of capitalism—approaches that see design as a means to enrich human relationships and experiences rather than exploit them.

Organised by Eszter Babarczy, Anna Keszeg, István Povedák, Ákos Schneider and Anna Sidó, it will present and discuss initiatives, models, products, interfaces, services, and studios that foster social collaboration, care, relational thinking, or prosocial behavior. Such projects may resist the logic of consumerism or exist independently from it. The goal is to collect inspiring examples and practices from both the past and the present that can guide and motivate a new generation of designers—one that understands design as a tool for social transformation.

12 NOVEMBER

9:00 Opening Remarks
9:15 Eszter Babarczy: Capitalism as a Design Problem
10:00 Session 1
11:00 Coffee Break
11:30 Roundtable Discussion
12:15 Session 2 & 3
13:15 Lunch Break
14:15 Roundtable Discussion
15:00 Session 4
16:00 Coffee Break
16:30 Matthew Wizinsky: Design After Capitalism
17:30 Session 5
18:30 – Film Screening

13 NOVEMBER

9:00 Márton Szentpéteri: Cybernetic Socialism and Masonic Rationalism: Cybersyn, Allende, and the Politics of Design in the Chilean Road to Socialism (1971–1973)
9:45 Session 6
10:45 Coffee Break
11:00 Roundtable Discussion
11:45 Session 7 & 8
12:45 Lunch Break
13:45 Roundtable Discussion
14:30 Session 9
15:30 Coffee Break
16:00 Session 10 – Declensions of the IKEA Paradigm
17:00 Closing Roundtable Discussion
17:45 Closing Remarks