2026/04/16 by Alborz Dianat · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Central European national history #Cybernetics and Technology in Society #Philosophy, Science, and History
paper · doi:10.1093/jdh/epag017
openalex publication_date 2026/04/16 · openalex created_date 2026/06/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/25
Abstract A pictorial process for the simplified display of information, the principles of Isotype originated in socialist Vienna in the 1920s, but the system migrated alongside its directors to Britain and West Africa in subsequent decades. This article explores the evolving usage of Isotype in connection with women’s movements in these regions. Originally known as the Vienna Method, the system was used in Austria as a tool for social reform, employed by campaigners and the Social Democratic Workers’ Party. Forced to emigrate, Isotype’s directors shifted to deliver propagandist material for the British state, with illustrations encouraging women’s contributions to the Second World War. Arriving in the Western Region of Nigeria in the 1950s, Isotype director Marie Neurath was commissioned to support a patriarchal political agenda, while plans for a local Isotype branch saw the prominent role played by women as designers threatened. Archival records document uneasy alliances forged by Isotype in different cultural contexts, reflected in the system’s inconsistent usage for issues of universal suffrage, maternal services, equal employment, and equal pay. Adapted to represent women’s causes in different political contexts, the usage of Isotype in Austria, Britain, and Nigeria demonstrates the susceptibility of design to the agendas of external actors.