Grassroots Innovation: Hacking, Making, Hobby, Entrepreneurship 1

Abstract

A hallmark of our emerging world is that the general public obtains not only access to modern technologies but also the knowledge, means, and incentives to generate new products and applications from them. While self-made inventors populated history, do-it-yourself and technological explorations outside big companies, government, and academia nonetheless become a social movement with conspicuous collectives, information channels, and media coverage. Today, hackers work on open-source, free-access software and firmware for fun and profit. Makerspaces spread everywhere for the cause of sharing manufacturing, participatory design, recycling and reuse, nurturing start-ups, or community building. Made-in-garage is a common myth in high-tech. “Mass innovation” or “STEM for everyone” is promoted by the states around the globe. In this panel, we welcome various approaches and perspectives to make sense of this phenomenon of grassroots innovation. We ask: What are its connections to the longstanding traditions of technical hobbies? Which organizational and managerial platforms do grassroots innovators introduce that influence the development of new technologies? What is the nature of the tension between non-profit and commercial, between amateur and professional, in these activities? How do the hackers’ and makers’ political actions intertwine with their technical innovation? While hacking and making are seemingly global, what are their major differences in different countries and regions, especially between the affluent North and poor South? How does grassroots innovation reconfigure the current technological landscape? What are the roles of the state and capital in shaping grassroots innovation, and how is such shaping grappled from below?

Chair

• Chen-Pang Yeang, University of Toronto

Individual Presentations

• How to push back hegemonic search? Analyzing alternative imaginaries in search engine design and their potential to contribute to more open digital futures - Astrid Mager, Austrian Academy of Sciences

• Uplifting Technological Appropriation: Reflecting on the integration of sociotechnical ideas. - Martin Andrés Perez Comisso, SFIS - Arizona State University

• Innovating at the forefront of the hardware/software collision - MC Forelle, Cornell University

Session Organizer

• Chen-Pang Yeang, University of Toronto