[Open Design + Hardware] Journal of Peer Production #5: Shared Machine Shops

Tue Dec 2 07:14:20 UTC 2014

Hi Kat and all, 

I think what this Special Issue shows is that these are *not* all assumptions. 
Rather, what we assume (and want) to happen with the maker movement is not actually happening on the ground - empirically - as much as we’d like. If we practitioners cannot critique and constantly evaluate our own actions then we’re in real trouble. And if the positive good stuff in maker spaces is hidden and remains grassroots and localized, well, that’s good but in a limited way. 

I’d also like to discuss this more. I’m sure Peter would jump in too. 

Cheers
Cindy in Helsinki 

On 3 Nov 2014, at 12.08, Kat Braybrooke <kat at mozillafoundation.org> wrote:

> Very interesting insights below, especially around the following assumptions: 
> 
>  * Shared Machine Shops are not new.
>  * Fab Labs are not about technology.
>  * Sharing is not happening.
>  * Hackerspaces are not open.
>  * Technology is not neutral.
>  * Hackerspaces are not solving problems.
>  * Fab Labs are not the seeds of a revolution.
> 
> Once people have given the pieces a read, I'd love to discuss more. While I can't say I agree with all of the assertions, they certainly come at a time-salient moment. 
> 
> - Kat
> 
> ____________________________________
> Kat Braybrooke | Content and Curation Lead
> Mozilla | Hive Learning Networks | @codekat
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Maurizio <maurizio.teli at gmail.com>
> Date: Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 8:48 AM
> Subject: Journal of Peer Production #5: Shared Machine Shops
> 
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> *****************************************************************************
> 
> ===> Journal of Peer Production #5: Shared Machine Shops -- out now! <===
> 
>                .oO{  http://peerproduction.net/  }Oo.
> 
>                       \\ Release: 2014-10-31 //
> 
>                            .Public domain!.
> 
>                                  <*>
> 
> +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> 
>  * Editing:
> 
>      + Maxigas
>          Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
>      + Peter Troxler
>          International Fab Lab Association
>          Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences
> 
> +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> 
> Despite the marketing clangour of the “maker movement”, shared machine
> shops are
> currently “fringe phenomena” since they play a minor role in the production
> of
> wealth, knowledge, political consensus and the social organisation of life.
> Interestingly, however, they also prominently share the core transformations
> experienced in contemporary capitalism.  The convergence of work, labour and
> other aspects of life -- the rapid development of algorithmically driven
> technical systems and their intensifying role in social organisation -- the
> practical and legitimation crisis of institutions, echoed by renewed
> attempts at
> self-organisation.
> 
> Each article in this special issue addresses a received truth which
> circulates
> unreflected amongst both academics analysing these phenomena and
> practitioners
> engaged in the respective scenes. Questioning such myths based on empirical
> research founded on a rigorous theoretical framework is what a journal such
> as
> the Journal of Peer Production can contribute to both academic and activist
> discourses. Shared machine shops have been around for at least a decade or
> so,
> which makes for a good time to evaluate how they live up to their
> self-professed
> social missions.
> 
> Here is an executive summary:
> 
>  * Shared Machine Shops are not new.
>  * Fab Labs are not about technology.
>  * Sharing is not happening.
>  * Hackerspaces are not open.
>  * Technology is not neutral.
>  * Hackerspaces are not solving problems.
>  * Fab Labs are not the seeds of a revolution.
> 
> +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> 
> #=================================+
> # T A B L E  O F  C O N T E N T S |
> #=================================+
> #
> #-------------------+
> # EDITORIAL SECTION |
> #-------------------+
> #
> # * We Now have the Means of Production, but Where is my Revolution?
> #     by maxigas and Peter Troxler
> #
> # * Digitally-Operated Atoms vs. Bits of Rhetoric
> #     by Ursula Gastfall, Thomas Fourmond, Jean-Baptiste Labrune and Peter
> Troxler
> #
> # * Critical Notions of Technology: Promises of Empowerment in Shared
> Machine Shops
> #     by Susana Nascimento
> #
> # * Distributed and Open Creation Platforms as Key Enablers for Smarter
> Cities
> #     by Tomas Diez
> #
> # * Fab Labs Forked: A Grassroots Insurgency inside the Next Industrial
> Revolution
> #     by Peter Troxler
> #
> # * Cultural Stratigraphy: A Rift between Shared Machine Shops
> #     by maxigas
> #
> #----------------------+
> # PEER REVIEWED PAPERS |
> #----------------------+
> #
> # * Technology Networks for socially useful production
> #     by Adrian Smith
> #
> # * The Story of MIT-Fablab Norway: Community Embedding of Peer Production
> #     by Cindy Kohtala and Camille Bosqué
> #
> # * Sharing is Sparing: Open Knowledge Sharing in Fab Labs
> #     by Patricia Wolf, Peter Troxler, Pierre-Yves Kocher, Julie Harboe &
> Urs Gaudenz
> #
> # * Feminist Hackerspaces: The Synthesis of Feminist and Hacker Cultures
> #     by Sophie Toupin
> #
> # * Beyond Technological Fundamentalism: Peruvian Hack Labs
> #     and “Inter-technological” Education
> #      by Anita Say Chan [html] [pdf]
> #
> # * Becoming Makers: Hackerspace Member Habits, Values, and Identities
> #      by Austin Toombs, Shaowen Bardzell, and Jeffrey Bardzell
> #
> # * Shared Machine Shops as Real-life Laboratories
> #      by Sascha Dickel, Jan-Peter Ferdinand, and Ulrich Petschow
> #
> # ... Respect for all the contributors, peer reviewers, and readers! ...
> #
> v ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
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>                  2014-10-31 20:00, Renströmsgatan 6, Göteburg, Sweden
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