PhD Research

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Maker movement I Technology and Society I Women and Technology I Amateur Technologies I Environmental Social Sciences I Values and Behavioural Change

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Over the last decade Makerspaces have popped up all over the world, providing amateurs with technology never available to them before, e.g. 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, etc. Through the use of these human-computer interface technologies Makers innovate, repair and create artefacts exactly to their liking instead of buying industrially manufactured products. Online sharing and collaboration facilitate community and knowledge sharing among participants, eventually forming a movement. My PhD research project is interested in the gender balance of the movement and its environmental aspects. I'm interested to look at the connections and interplay between those aspects and how they influence making practice. In a first step, a widely distributed questionnaire will map general motivations, practices and understandings of Makers in different countries. In a second step, creative interview techniques will be employed in one-on-one interviews which will explore motivations and practices more in depth.

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Masters Research

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In my Masters dissertation I have had a closer look at defining the Maker movement. The term Maker is a very broad and fluid one and demands some deliberation. My dissertation devised a working definition of not just the term but also Makers as part of a movement. In a second step, I utilized a local food frowing initiative in order to see if these kind of initiatives fit the definition of the Maker movement and if food growing activists can be referred to as Makers.