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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology Anthropology 2019 Making Experts: An Ethnographic Study of “Makers” in FabLabs in Japan Vaughn M. Krebs University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.026 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Krebs, Vaughn M., "Making Experts: An Ethnographic Study of “Makers” in FabLabs in Japan" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 45. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/45 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. 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Krebs, Student Dr. Lisa Cliggett, Major Professor Dr. Scott Hutson, Director of Graduate Studies MAKING EXPERTS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF “MAKERS” IN FABLABS IN JAPAN ________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Vaughn Matthew Krebs Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Lisa Cliggett, Professor of Anthropology Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Vaughn Matthew Krebs 2019 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION MAKING EXPERTS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF “MAKERS” IN FABLABS IN JAPAN “Makers” around the world cohere in a digital and physical network of technology hobbyists. “Makers" are open-source hardware enthusiasts who use machines like 3D printers and laser cutters - manufacturing tools that have only recently become accessible to laypeople - to make things. “Makers" share a vision for a world where everyone would be able to make almost anything, supplanting top-down economic systems and channels of production. This ethnographic research examines a subset of the “maker” community: “makers” in “FabLabs” in Japan. These “FabLabs” are small workshops that house the machines that “makers” need and make them open to the public. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Japan, this dissertation argues that the network of people, spaces, and machines remains coherent not because of common cultural forces like capitalist ambition, religion, geographic proximity, or even nationality. Rather, the coherence is more precisely understood - in the frame of science and technology studies - by examining the cohesive force of newly invented rituals and “active” ideas that engender hope and spur action toward a shared vision. Furthermore, the FabLab community in Japan exemplifies a novel culture of expertise wherein laypeople call on experts as-needed to accomplish their personal ambitions, flipping the usual understanding of expertise as a guarded product of insular cultural systems. I examine this unique culture of expertise and outline types of expertise developing from this dynamic, disparate, and impressively coherent FabLab network in Japan. Drawing on my ethnographic observations, I argue that laypeople, still bounded by political-economic forces in Japan, nevertheless are exercising a degree of agency that was previously the domain only of experts in manufacturing. This action by laypeople is what activates sufficient cohesive activity to sustain the community in the absence of more traditional social cohesive forces. KEYWORDS: Ethnography, Japan, Makers, Science and Technology Studies Vaughn Matthew Krebs 11/30/2019 MAKING EXPERTS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF “MAKERS” IN FABLABS IN JAPAN By Vaughn Matthew Krebs Dr. Lisa Cliggett Director of Dissertation Dr. Scott Hutson Director of Graduate Studies 11/30/2019 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Corinda, and to our children. May the sacrifices they made for this research and writing lead to their own increased joy and knowledge, recurring in perpetuity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this dissertation and the knowledge it propounds is thanks to many, many people. First, the people in Japan who participated in this research. Each was generous, insightful, and open. They exemplified what inspires me about humans and about Japan. Particular thanks are due Hiroya Tanaka, who hosted me at Keio University during the extended fieldwork and has dedicated himself with abandon to the ideals of social fabrication. Also, Youka Watanabe, for treating me as a colleague even while I asked too many questions. Then, the leaders at FabLab Kannai, where I was always welcomed warmly. Dozens more FabLab leaders and patrons gave their time, attention, and knowledge to the inquiry of this research project and to me. My successful progress through the University is largely thanks to my advisor, Dr. Lisa Cliggett, who helmed a wayfaring ship expertly. I thank Dr. Cliggett for advice that was always timely and for guidance that sharpened my work well beyond my personal limitations. Dr. Hsain Ilahiane was also an early advisor whose insights about humans and technology anchored my early inquiries and the eventual course of my research. Committee members: Dr. Sarah Lyon, Dr. Erin Koch, and Dr. Marro Inoue, each has read many versions of my work and helped me to hone each iteration. I thank them for their insight and encouragement. Thanks also to outside reader, Dr. Nicholas Lally, for his reading and comments. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements …………………………...………………………………...……….iii List of Figures ……………………………………………………………...………........ vi Chapter 1 - Introduction .......................................................................................................1 Situating This Dissertation 1 Scholarly Context for “Maker” Technologies 3 What is a FabLab? 6 Why Japan? 8 Why This Dissertation? 12 A FabLab Afternoon in Kannai, Yokohama, Japan 12 Early April, 2016 13 Summarizing the Research Project 15 FabLab Japan Maps 16 FabLab Japan Details 22 Summarizing the Research Findings 24 Overview of Chapters 24 Description of Chapters 25 Chapter 2 - Making a “Maker” Research Project ..............................................................31 Chapter Overview 31 Summer 2013 - Fieldsite Recon 31 Fall 2014 and Winter 2015 - Preparing for the Full Research Year 35 2015-2016 - The Dissertation Year 38 The Future of Industry, Mobility, and Making (A Mini-Conference Tale) 42 Limits of This Research 47 Chapter 3 - Coherence of an Emerging Network - The Components ................................49 Intro Remarks 49 Theoretical Framing 50 Network Components 50 People 51 Gathering Spaces 68 Machine Intermediaries 86 Conclusions 96 Chapter 4 - Coherence of an Emerging Network - The Practices......................................98 iv Intro Remarks 98 Ritual 100 AsaFab 101 Kannai in Contrast 112 The Showing-Off Ritual 115 Conclusions on Ritual 117 Active Ideas: Rhetoric, Hope, and Action 118 Hopeful Rhetoric 119 Hopes Run Dry 128 How Active Ideas Act 135 Chapter 5: Making Expertise in Japan’s FabLabs ...........................................................136 Literature Background 136 Bounded Domains 137 Going Outside of Domains 138 Assailing Expertise: Outside/In 140 Proactively Open/Sharing Communities 141 Who Are the Experts? 142 What are the Types of Expertise? 144 Technical Expert 145 Organizing Expert 147 Lay ‘Experts’, Using Experts As-Needed 150 Expert Practice: Performing and Negotiating Expertise 152 Conclusions 156 Chapter 6: Synthesis ........................................................................................................157 The Argument 157 Finding 1 157 Finding 2 159 Finding 3 161 Conclusion 162 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................164 CURRICULUM VITAE ..................................................................................................174 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Nineteen FabLabs Across Japan.