Round Table n°3 - Solidarity: What will be its post-pandemic legacy?
SOLIDARITY:
WHAT WILL BE ITS POST-PANDEMIC LEGACY?
Interview n°3
PRESENTATION
Solidarity is a fundamental value of our society. Proclaimed up high from French national republican buildings beneath the word ‘Fraternity’, it stands for the bond that connects every person sharing a same ideal. The respect shown for lockdown measures has shone a light on how alive this solidarity is, in particular towards the elderly and the most vulnerable groups in our population.
Taking different forms during the crisis, these movements have been supported by the government, public services and civil society to give them more clout. Many of these movements have been shared by the media, which have most commonly represented: ‘An infected, sick human in intensive care who can be saved,’ explains Alice Casagrande in (nommer la source). ‘We need a narrative of achievement, of success, because this crisis has disrupted our routines and the way we regard health and vulnerability.’
This need for a narrative is very particular to humankind and its need to consider what comes after. Designers harness this need for narrative and their imagination in their work in a bid to define and share common vocabulary in a way that allows us to come together to imagine society, solutions and services of the future.
As such, might solidarity be an important component of these new narratives? What legacy of these solidarity movements will we keep for tomorrow? Do these new forms of solidarity express a need to build a new form of democracy or create an alternative society? Do these acts of solidarity, which connect us all with one another, inject new life into our caring society? How can design contribute to the construction of this caring society? Is it a tool or a key element of its values?
The video in French is available by clicking on FR in the banner at the top of the page.
Vincent EDIN
JOURNALIST
An independent journalist and regular contributor to Usbek & Rica, he is very involved in education as he coordinates the Master in Political and Public Communication at the ECS, where he lectures in political rhetoric, a subject he also teaches at Sciences Po with international students.
He has also written many essays, including Lancer sa collecte de fonds (Dalloz 2012) and Chronique de la discrimination ordinaire (Gallimard 2012), Recruter Autrement (Lab’Ho 2015) En finir avec les idées fausses sur les professionnels du spectacle (l’Atelier 2015) and En finir avec les idées fausses diffusées par l’extrême droite (l’Atelier 2016) and La gauche est immortelle (Editions de l’Observatoire, 2019).
Lastly, he leads a number of events and seminars, specialising in social innovation, public issues and instigators of change in the business or charity sector. For five years, he worked on Jacques Attali's Positive Economy events and is an editorial advisor for Les Napoléons.
Antoine FENOGLIO
DESIGNER
CO-FOUNDER OF SISMOS
Antoine Fenoglio is a designer and co-founder, with Frédéric Lecourt, of Les Sismo, a design studio established in 1997. They are based in Paris and Lavaufranche, in Creuse. Today, Les Sismo has 30 designers whose collective skills and fine-tuned and relevant approach provide design, strategy, and production services for humanist projects in the private and public sectors, always governed by their “design with care” philosophy. With philosopher Cynthia Fleury, they lead projects that combine the disciplines of design and philosophy to explore and think of innovative ways to deal with major transformations in contemporary society.
Les Sismo and Cynthia Fleury are co-curators of the Maison POC Care, a crux of WDC Lille Metropole 2020 and World Design Capital®.
