Simondon and the maker movement

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe maker movement is an eclectic network of people who make their own things in community-based workshops (makerspaces) and share their designs online. Although the movement is driven more by an enthusiasm for technological experimentation than any coherent political agenda, makers are creating physical and digital spaces where people can relate to technical objects not as consumers or users but as active participants in their genesis. Based on an ethnographic study of several makerspaces, I relate the maker movement’s practices to Gilbert Simondon’s philosophy of technics and his prescription for greater technological education. I argue that the maker movement highlights both the strengths and limitations of Simondon’s critique of our current relationship to technology. Ultimately, the maker movement reveals that Simondon’s prescription hinges on moving beyond his analysis to a wider critique of the material conditions under contemporary capitalism.