Alison Clarke

Alison J. Clarke is a British design historian and trained social anthropologist and author of Design Anthropology: Object Cultures in Transition. Formerly based at the Royal College of Art, London, she is presently a Professor of Design History and Theory and Director of the Papanek Foundation at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria. She lectures internationally, combining anthropological and historical approaches to the field of design and object cultures. Her most recent book ‘Victor Papanek: Designer for the Real World ‘ (MIT Press) explores the counter-culture and Cold War politics of design in the context of social responsibility and decolonization. Her ground-breaking monograph ‘Tupperware: The Promise of Plastic in Post-War America’ charts the inception and reception of everyday design technology in the context of the ethnic and gendered social relations of postwar US culture, and formed the basis of a USA Emmy Award-nominated film-documentary. She is a Professor of Design History and Theory at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where she is also Director of the Victor J. Papanek Foundation.