4S session…
The abstract for a session I’m putting together with Jofish Kaye for the 2004 Society for Social Studies of Science meeting (in Paris):
Hackers and Tinkerers: Amateur ways of doing technologyFrom computer hackers to ham radio operators, from audio and videophiles to hot rodders, enthusiast cultures have often proved integral to the lives of technologies. Such cultures tend to exist at the fringes of mainstream technological practices, and their members explicitly define their activities in opposition to traditional understandings of productive work. This panel aims to explore the issues at play for this unique (and crucial) category of users. What is at stake for amateurs who claim technological expertise outside the norms of a traditional professional identity, and what does this mean for our notion of expertise? Who are these amateurs; how and why do they cohere as distinct communities, and how do they maintain this group identity in the face of more popular understandings of their chosen technology? What role do these amateurs play in the broader technological landscape?
Looks like a fun bunch thus far, and we’re still waiting for a few others…if you happen to be interested and are doing relevant work, drop me a line…