::fibreculture:: Bio/Hardware Hacking: New Special Issue published in the Journal of Peer Production

[Johan Söderberg]

[Apologies for multiple posts]


“Bio/Hardware Hacking”: a new special issue of the Journal of Peer Production is now published (LINK)


During the past two decades, hacking has chiefly been associated with software and computers. This is changing with the surge of synthetic biology, fablabs and hackerspaces, all of which suggests the wider diffusion of hacking practices and hacker politics. Hardware development and biological science are about to be infused with the same kind of contestations and contradictions that already characterize software hacking. This is because hackers are not simply innovating new technology, but are at the same time discovering new ways of engaging with the world. The issue highlights how hacking practices are inscribed in and shaped by the cultural and political contexts in which the hackers find themselves, with implications for the ways hacker politics are framed.


The special issue is curated by Alessandro Delfanti and Johan Söderberg. It includes four research papers and two invited comments:


Denisa Kera, Hackerspaces and DIYbio in Asia: Connecting Science and Community with Open Data, Kits and Protocols


Maxigas, Hacklabs and Hackerspaces - Tracing Two Genealogies


Sara Tocchetti, DIYbiologists as ‘Makers’ of Personal Biologies: How MAKE Magazine and Maker Faires Contribute in Constituting Biology as a Personal Technology


Paolo Magaudda, How to make a “Hackintosh”. A Journey into the “Consumerization” of Hacking Practices and Culture


Morgan Meyer, Build Your Own Lab: Do-it-yourself Biology and the Rise of Citizen Biotech-Economies


Mitch Altman, Hacking at the Crossroad - US Military Funding of Hackerspaces


Feel free to tweet, blog, share, comment the content of this special issue. We hope it will be a good starting point for further studies of the spreading of hacking practices outside the software field.


Finally, we take advantage of this email to invite you to attend the panel we will chair, together with Eric Deibel, at the 4S/EASST Conference in Copenhagen in October. It is titled “Hacking STS - bio-hacking, open hardware development, and hackerspaces”, and will be another space to discuss the topics of this special issue.


Sincerely,

Alessandro and Johan
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