Decolonisation

Decolonial theory offers one of the most important intellectual foundations for pluriversal design. Emerging primarily from Latin American scholars like Walter Mignolo, Aníbal Quijano, and Arturo Escobar, decolonial thought critiques how modernity and coloniality are inseparable. The “colonial matrix of power” continues to shape knowledge, governance, economies, and design by positioning Eurocentric norms as universal. Pluriversal design draws from this critique to resist dominant, Western-centric models of progress, development, and design thinking. Instead of exporting solutions to “underdeveloped” contexts, it seeks to amplify local epistemologies and lived realities. This is not about adding diversity to design, it’s about delinking from modernity as the sole frame of reference and recognising multiple coexisting world realities.

Indigenous knowledge

Indigenous worldviews and design practices offer profound alternatives to Western modes of design. In many Indigenous cosmologies, design is not a neutral act, it is spiritual, relational, and embedded in reciprocal responsibilities to land, ancestors, and non-human beings. Knowledge is often passed through story, ritual, community practice, and direct engagement with place. Pluriversal design draws inspiration from these traditions by centring relationships over objects, interdependence over individualism, and long-term ecological balance over short-term gains. Rather than universalising solutions, Indigenous frameworks value what is place-based, contextual, and culturally held. These ways of knowing challenge the myth of the expert designer and shift design into a form of stewardship, listening, and care.

Political ontology

Political ontology, as developed by scholars like Mario Blaser, explores how different communities do not simply perceive the world differently, they enact different worlds. These aren’t multiple perspectives on one reality, but multiple realities in action. Pluriversal design builds on this idea: it argues that no single worldview should dominate how we define problems or imagine futures. Mainstream design often enforces ontological closure which flattens difference into a single system. Political ontology resists this by emphasising ontological plurality or a “pluriverse” where many lifeways, cosmologies, and systems of meaning can coexist. In design, this means letting go of one-size-fits-all frameworks and embracing plural paths, especially those historically excluded or erased by modernist, colonial, or capitalist logics.

Postdevelopment and Buen Vivir

Postdevelopment theory challenges the assumption that all societies must follow a Western trajectory of industrialisation, consumption, and GDP growth. Scholars in postdevelopment argue that “development” often masks neocolonial agendas and imposes alien logics on local communities. In response, alternatives that rooted in Indigenous Andean worldviews like Buen Vivir (Good Living) prioritise balance with nature, communal well-being, and spiritual connection over material accumulation. Pluriversal design integrates these critiques by rejecting economic growth as a default design goal. Instead, it supports projects rooted in care, autonomy, and cultural vitality. Design becomes a way to support local lifeways and resist extractive development, rather than a tool for assimilating people into the global market system.

Critical and participatory design

Though grounded in the Global North, critical and participatory design traditions provide useful tools for pluriversal design. Thinkers like Tony Fry, Ezio Manzini, and Pelle Ehn have long emphasised that design is not just about objects. It is a political, social, and ethical practice. Critical design questions assumptions embedded in technologies and systems, often using fiction or provocation. Participatory design values democratic co-creation. Pluriversal design goes further by questioning who is invited into these participatory spaces, whose knowledge is recognised, and whose realities are prioritised. These traditions help pluriversal designers build platforms where communities shape their own futures, rather than being “included” in someone else’s vision.