Makerspaces and urban ideology: The institutional shaping of Fab Labs in China and Northern Ireland

Abstract

Makerspaces-specifically those with a focus on digital fabrication and physical computing-are emerging as symbols of social and economic change in many cultures.Much of the empirical evidence that provides details of this phenomenon has been gathered in neoliberal market economies in Europe and North America.Existing findings have helped situate makerspaces as sites that emphasise 'commons based peer production' underscored by nonproprietary 'gift economies' (see Gershenfeld 2005, Anderson 2012, Troxler 2013, Kostakis et. al 2015).These narratives have been expanded by findings that reveal how participation is shaped-and often impeded-by the communities, platforms, and policies surrounding makerspaces (see Alper 2013, Toupin 2014, Moilanen et al 2015, Shea 2016).This paper contributes to the literature through an analysis of the institutional arrangements of Fab Labs in China and Northern Ireland.It argues that processes of institutionalisation within these makerspaces are shaped by the specific urban ideologies they are bound to.Fab Labs in Belfast and Derry (Northern Ireland) are deployed as facilitators and enablers of unification processes in a post-conflict society, while Fab Labs in Shenzhen (China) have been manipulated for a specific post-industrial agenda.Institutionalised makerspaces, shaped by these different realities, challenge existing narratives of maker cultures in several ways: first, the development of makerspaces cannot be divorced from top down processes of nation building, as a range of strategic public policy agencies are involved despite low public participation rates; second, makerspaces are a reflection of local values rather than of the 'commons based peer production' paradigm of open source culture; and third, commercial corporations are investing in makerspaces to align with public policy paradigms despite uncertain economic returns.The accounts detailed in this paper further expand dialogue towards a more critical and nuanced analysis of makerspaces and global open source cultures.

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