example. Homi model of has been widely influential as an alternative to Bhabha’s ‘hybridity’ binaristic thinking about centre and margin (Bhabha 1994) approach allows for a more Bhabha’s fluid understanding of identity and a refusal of metanarratives. Similarly, Fernando model of Ortiz’s an object or image acquires new resonance as a result of merging ‘transculturation’ describes how and changing contexts (Ortiz 1995 [1940]). In our own century, mainstream media and academic discourses across the humanities and social sciences alike have been preoccupied with globalization (Applebaum and Robinson 2005). Where Max Weber used the model of bureaucracy to represent the society within which he wrote (Weber [1947] 1991), sociologist George Ritzer (1993) sees the fast-food restaurant as having become a more representative contemporary paradigm. Ritzer has criticised the increasingly homogenous nature of global culture using the term to denote a reconceptualization of ‘McDonaldization’ rationalization. Following design historian Anna Calvera (2005) we can see that the local, regional, national and global exist in complex interrelations with one another in late twentieth century and early century consumer markets. Calvera quotes fellow design historian Tevfik Balcioglu as recognising that of the universal communicative power of design and its ‘”the tacit acceptance multicultural identity does not only support, but also requires a global understanding of the Calvera regards this as first time design standards were seen as multicultural, the subject”’. ‘the outcome of a synthetic process resulting from the contribution of many different regions and cultural The places in which designs, materials, images, objects, realities’ (Calvera 2005: p. 371). services and other behaviours are produced conditions their characteristics and their reception. This is as true of designs intended to transcend local, regional or national contexts to pursue an international agenda, as it is of design. ‘vernacular’
example. Homi Bhabha’s model of ‘hybridity’ has been widely influential as an alternative to binaristic thinking about centre and margin (Bhabha 1994) Bhabha’s approach allows for a more fluid understanding of identity and a refusal of metanarratives. Similarly, Fernando Ortiz’s model of ‘transculturation’ describes how an object or image acquires new resonance as a result of merging and changing contexts (Ortiz 1995 [1940]). In our own century, mainstream media and academic discourses across the humanities and social sciences alike have been preoccupied with globalization (Applebaum and Robinson 2005). Where Max Weber used the model of bureaucracy to represent the society within which he wrote (Weber [1947] 1991), sociologist George Ritzer (1993) sees the fast-food restaurant as having become a more representative contemporary paradigm. Ritzer has criticised the increasingly homogenous nature of global culture using the term ‘McDonaldization’ to denote a reconceptualization of rationalization. Following design historian Anna Calvera (2005) we can see that the local, regional, national and global exist in complex interrelations with one another in late twentieth century and early century consumer markets. Calvera quotes fellow design historian Tevfik Balcioglu as recognising that ‘”the tacit acceptance of the universal communicative power of design and its multicultural identity does not only support, but also requires a global understanding of the subject”’. Calvera regards this as ‘the first time design standards were seen as multicultural, the outcome of a synthetic process resulting from the contribution of many different regions and cultural realities’ (Calvera 2005: p. 371). The places in which designs, materials, images, objects, services and other behaviours are produced conditions their characteristics and their reception. This is as true of designs intended to transcend local, regional or national contexts to pursue an international agenda, as it is of ‘vernacular’ design.