The Struggle for Interdependence

The struggle for interdependence: On the impossibility of co-existence in postnormal societies

In this edition of Design Interrupted, Noortje Marres will speak about postnormal societies, which emerge when disruptions of everyday life become chronic, and how this condition gives rise to struggles over interdependence. Following the talk, she will be in conversation with cross-disciplinary researchers Helena Valve, Guy Julier, and the evening's host, Sampsa Hyysalo. This is a hybrid event, happening on-site and online. Reserve a seat on Eventbrite for participating on-site.

About the speaker:

Noortje Marres is Professor in Science, Technology and Society in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies at the University of Warwick (UK), and the author of Material Participation (2012) and Digital Sociology (2017). In her work, Marres studies the intersection of innovation, politics, environment, and everyday life, investigating the emergence of new forms of object-oriented engagement with public affairs in technological societies and how real-world testing in social environments like roads transforms the background conditions of collective life. Noortje has collaborated extensively with designers in developing research methodologies such as issue mapping and situational analytics. She is currently a Visiting Professor in the Centre for the Media of Cooperation at the University of Siegen (Germany).

About the host:

Sampsa Hyysalo is a professor of co-design and head of research at Aalto University, Department of design. He is the author of Design Participation (2025) and Citizen Activities in Energy Transition (2021), and The New Production of Users (2016), which investigate the designer-user relations and how they affect sociotechnical change. His works bridge Design Research and Science & Technology Studies and contribute to the analysis of alternative ways of organizing participation in design, as well as to the development of new participatory formats, for instance, in governing sustainability transitions.

About the panelists:

Guy Julier is a professor of design culture at Aalto University, and author of Economies of Design (2017) and The Culture of Design (2014). Julier researches global changes in design, economics and society and has been credited with having established Design Culture as a research field. During his time in Leeds Metropolitan University, he founded and directed DesignLeeds, a cross-disciplinary research and consultancy unit specializing in social design. Julier, together with Lucy Kimbell, have led initiatives and projects developing cross-disciplinary thinking and methods in social design.

Helena Valve is a principal researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute. She is a social scientist with extensive experience in environmental policy research, whose work draws from science and technology studies, as well as human geography and policy studies. She researches topics ranging from circular economy solutions to ecosystem restoration and biodiversity action. Through a focus on knowledge (co)production, material (re)ordering and policy instrumentation, Valve contributes to the analysis of power and politics in environmental governance.