Accomplices or Militant Adversaries?

PGJ42 Editorial

Abstract

Issue 42 of Progetto Grafico appears at a historical moment and within a geopolitical context marked by numerous international conflicts and a condition of profound political, social, and economic instability, in which ethical principles such as democracy, the sovereignty of peoples, inclusivity, equality, tolerance, and sustainability are being seriously called into question. In this scenario, communication design, in its capacity as translator of contents, device for access to knowledge, vehicle of information, and means of persuasion, finds itself invested with new responsibilities and deep antinomies: to serve the new political strategies, or to pursue the ethical values linked to progress and the common good that have inspired it for many decades. Drawing on a topic proposed jointly by Valeria Bucchetti and Gianni Sinni, the volume addresses the theme Design Under Attack. Politics, Values and Responsibility Principles, interrogating the role and the epistemic, ethical, and operative statute of communication design in the face of a global context marked by growing inequalities, migration crises, regressions of civil rights, climate catastrophes, and information warfare.