[Air-L] CFP: Expanding the frontiers of hacking

[Mathieu ONeil]

(apologies for cross-posts)

Expanding the frontiers of hacking
Bio-punks, open hardware, and hackerspaces
A special issue of Critical Studies in Peer Production
Edited by: Johan Soderberg and Alessandro Delfanti

Call: 500-word abstract
Both theoretical and empirical contributions accepted

During the past two decades, hacking has chiefly been associated with software development. This is now changing as new walks of life are being explored with a hacker mindset, thus bringing back to memory the origin of hacking in hardware development. Now as then, the hacker is characterised by an active approach to technology, undaunted by hierarchies and established knowledge, and finally a commitment to sharing information freely. In this special issue of Critical Studies in Peer Production, we will investigate how these ideas and practices are spreading. Two cases which have caught much attention in recent years are open hardware development and garage biology. The creation of hacker/maker-spaces in many cities around the world has provided an infrastructure facilitating this development. We are looking for both empirical and theoretical contributions which critically engage with this new phenomenon. Every kind of activity which relates to hacking is potentially of interest. Some theoretical questions which might be discussed in the light of this development include, but are not restricted to, the politics of hacking, the role of lay expertise, how the line between the community and markets is negotiated, how development projects are managed, and the legal implications of these practices. We welcome contributions from all the social sciences, including science & technology studies, design and art-practices, anthropology, legal studies, etc.

Interested authors should submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by July 10, 2011. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by July 31. All papers will be subject to peer review before being published.

Abstracts should be sent to delfanti at sissa.it.

Critical Studies in Peer Production (CSPP) is a new open access, online journal that focuses on the implications of peer production for social change. http://cspp.oekonux.org/