Para-Platforms investigates the social, spatial, and material reality of right-wing populism. Three case studies presented in a symposium organized by Markus Miessen at the Gothenburg Design Festival in November 2017 form the core of this collection of essays.

How can art and culture contribute to creating new imaginaries of the future within the current political and social discourse marked by misinformation, radicalization, populism, and a general crisis of representative democracy? Shaping Desired Futures draws the map of a changing Europe that can help contextualize today’s burning questions and trace still unknown narratives shared by Eastern and Central Europe. Through a series of interviews, essays, and artistic contributions, it proposes new means through which art can model alternative visions and help shaping different desirable futures.