Conference Paper
The Hackerspace Manifested as a DIY-IoT Entity: Shaping and Protecting the Identity of the Community
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Text/Conference Paper
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Date
2017
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Publisher
European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET)
Abstract
This paper explores how cooperative identity is produced and preserved within a Hackerspace in Denmark. Specifically, we explore how the cooperative identity emerges conceptually and physically as a ‘DYI-IoT’ entity shaping the activities in the space. We argue that the cooperative identity of the Hackerspace was created through participants’ interests and ideas expressed through their commitment to the space, which turns into productive dependencies demonstrating individuals’ attachments to the space. Our data demonstrates that an exclusive mechanism was inherent in the collaborative dynamics producing the identity of the Hackerspace. While the participants were open and welcoming, the exclusive nature of the cooperative identity emerged in their practices, and was fundamentally about protecting the cooperative identity of the space. Hacking of the physical surroundings serves as affective bonds between the participants, artefacts, and the Hackerspace. People who could not participate in the hacking activities were not able to create these affective bonds, thus failing to contribute to shaping the cooperative identity of the Hackerspace.