Neste oportuno livro, Ezio Manzini nos brinda com uma instigante reflexão sobre a complexidade contemporânea, que deixa a precisão e a solidez do passado, tornando-se o modelo impreciso e fluido do presente. Segundo o autor, foi o próprio modelo passado quem nos conduziu ao desastre socioambiental que hoje vivemos. Em contrapartida, vislumbra as possibilidades de construções de ambientes favoráveis por meio das inovações sociais. O livro advoga por uma inovação social transformadora, dando passos em direção à sustentabilidade socio-econômico-ambiental. Propõe uma mudança sistêmica com o auxílio de novas comunidades locais, ao buscar soluções por meio de novas perspectivas, estilo e modos de vida, apresentando uma nova forma de democracia ou, como diz o próprio autor, uma democracia centrada em projetos nos quais a vertente social do design vem elevada à condição política e de cidadania. Espaços esses em que diferentes atores sociais participam desde o início do projeto, tornando-os protagonistas do ecossistema e não apenas fruidores das ações empreendidas.
A really tired, and confused polemic and part time manifesto about how the world is and how it might change through design for social innovation. There is nothing new here for those who have read Manzini's other works. He uses the same examples he normally does, not even coming at them from new angles, and he makes the same points he has many times before, but this time I'm not sure there is real conviction behind them. It reads like someone going through the motions, reading a script they're not quite sure they believe anymore.
Coupled with some misreading of other people's work to support his weak and confused points and it's a troubling work bereft of any real direction, like a record stuck in the same groove. It also contains some worryingly off analysis of the origins and original motivations of platform capitalism, which is either to blame for his misunderstandings of the current version of neoliberal capitalism we are enduring, or more troublingly he's deliberately misread these things to support his arguments and beliefs.
So in summing up it is not his finest work, but there are the odd sentences here or there that contain some salient points and interesting insight... I'm just not sure it's worth investing the time to dredge them up from the malaise which surrounds them.
Fantastic, especially first half really resonated with me and gave me words for an idea that I agree with. This was about self-realisation. The second part was more about communities and how individual policy making (through action) can have an effect on large scale policy making. For example through communities.
Could have been written, or at least edited better. Lot of things feel awkward as they seem to be caught in the translation gap. As for the content - yeah, it's all swell, but it feels like a familiar yet failing mantra.