Alternative Histories in DIY Cultures and Maker Utopias.
Special Issue, Digital Culture & Society Journal.
Guest Editors Cindy Kohtala, Yana Boeva, @trox
abstract submission deadline 31 May 2019.
This special issue of the Digital Culture & Society journal invites theoretical and methodological contributions discussing the histories and historiographies of DIY maker cultures worldwide.
From craft guilds to abandoned factories to intentional communities, the richness of DIY maker culture is manifest in the histories and methodologies we aim to collate in this Special Issue. Possible themes for contributions to this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:
-20th and 21st century craft and making collectives and movements;
-State-sponsored or state-organised maker and craft cooperatives / initiatives;
-Making and craft industries;
-Historical small-scale, alternative manufacturing collectives;
-Histories of makerspaces or workshops (the physical building, e.g. a former factory, and/or regional industrial histories);
-Methodologies for studying the past of maker social movements (e.g. digital culture).
Journal sections:
- Field Research and Case Studies (full paper: 6000 – 8000 words)
We call for historical studies, historiographies and archival accounts of specific DIY maker spaces and/or communities. - Methodological Reflection (full paper: 6000 – 8000 words)
We welcome contributions in this section that address the methodological and ontological challenges in examining technocultural antecedents and histories. - Conceptual/Theoretical Reflection (full paper: 6000 – 8000 words)
Contributions in this section can present theoretical perspectives on the histories of DIY making, from e.g. philosophical or postcolonial standpoints. - Entering the Field (2.000 – 3.000 words; experimental formats welcome)
Practitioners and researcher-practitioners are welcome to submit short papers on their experiences with local making histories, such as how practitioners have researched histories, how technocultural antecedents have impacted local practices and/or how local histories are used for tactical identity building or decolonising strategies.
please click the link for more details on the Special Issue and submission instructions.