Loose, Elisabeth (2020) a Morphological Exploration Into Gender Inclusiveness and Environmental Attitudes Concerning Maker Pract
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Loose, Elisabeth (2020) A morphological exploration into gender inclusiveness and environmental attitudes concerning Maker practices in Makerspaces in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/81629/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] A morphological exploration into gender inclusiveness and environmental attitudes concerning Maker practices in Makerspaces in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria Elisabeth Loose BA Music & Media and Regional Studies Asia & Africa MSc Chinese Studies MLitt Environment, Culture and Communication Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies School of Interdisciplinary Studies College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow September 2020 Abstract This dissertation explores the connection between amateur technology making, gender inclusiveness and environmental protection within the Maker movement. Specifically, it asks whether including more women into Makerspaces in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria would increase positive environmental impacts of Making practices in those spaces or, vice-versa, if increasing these spaces’ positive environmental impact would attract more women to join in. To answer this question, a social constructivist position is adopted. Through a convergent multi-level mixed method design that employs short interviews at Maker Faires, an online survey, and in-depth interviews, 565 Makers in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria have been consulted. The study examines its question through three steps: firstly, it devises a Making morphology which is necessary in order to differentiate between a variety of Making constellations; secondly, it examines if and how women are excluded from Makerspaces within a specifically devised Makerspace morphology for the UK, Germany and Austria; and thirdly, it explores women’s and men’s environmental considerations within their Making practice. The study concludes that, although women exhibit more environmentally friendly behaviour, they face increased challenges in joining Makerspace communities and ‘just adding them’ might not be enough to achieve sustainable inclusiveness. A masculine and patriarchal culture within Making communities is visible in the developed morphology, which often hinders women from simply joining in. The study, therefore, develops a women-inclusive morphology for Makerspaces which is more inclusive and environmentally friendly. It concludes that even though there is the potential for increased gender-diversity sparking more pro-environmental practices, and vice-versa, gender-inclusion especially appears to be a rather complex challenge that makes a straightforward answer to the question problematic. Equally, individual communities are too complex to make broad, deterministic claims. Finally, recommendations for further research and attributes of Makerspace communities to create more inclusive and environmentally sustainable communities are presented. 2 Table of Contents List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................... 6 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 8 Author’s declaration ............................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 22 2.1 Development and Conceptualisation ............................................................................... 22 2.1.1 Democratisation of Technology .................................................................................. 23 2.1.2 Democratisation of Information .................................................................................. 28 2.1.3 Conceptual Approaches .............................................................................................. 29 2.2 Community and Politics .................................................................................................. 35 2.2.1 Community .................................................................................................................. 35 2.2.2 Political Dimensions ................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 3 Research Design .......................................................................................................... 64 3.1 Scope and Objectives ...................................................................................................... 64 3.1.1 Scope ........................................................................................................................... 64 3.1.2 Objectives .................................................................................................................... 66 3.2 Research Strategy ............................................................................................................ 67 3.2.1 Social Constructivism ................................................................................................. 67 3.2.2 Devising a Morphology ............................................................................................... 71 3.2.3 Mixed Methods Design ............................................................................................... 74 3.3 Methods ........................................................................................................................... 81 3.3.1 Primary Data Collection .............................................................................................. 82 3.3.2 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 85 3.4 Reflexivity ....................................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 4 Data ............................................................................................................................. 92 4.1 Participation Overview .................................................................................................... 92 4.1.1 Online Survey .............................................................................................................. 93 4.1.2 In-Depth Interviews .................................................................................................... 94 4.1.3 Short Interviews .......................................................................................................... 95 4.2 Maker practice ................................................................................................................. 96 4.2.1 Technology .................................................................................................................. 97 4.2.2 Intrinsic values ............................................................................................................ 99 4.2.3 Community ................................................................................................................ 102 4.2.4 Politics ....................................................................................................................... 106 4.3 Environmental Views .................................................................................................... 107 4.3.1 Environmental Considerations: Level of Importance ............................................... 108 3 List of Tables 4.3.2 Environmental Considerations: Effects ..................................................................... 115 4.3.3 Gender and Environmental Views ............................................................................ 120 4.4 Inclusiveness .................................................................................................................. 125 4.4.1 General beliefs .......................................................................................................... 125 4.4.2 Gender Inclusiveness ................................................................................................ 129 4.4.3 Tackling Gender Issues ............................................................................................. 136 Chapter 5 Morphology of the Maker Movement ....................................................................... 141 5.1 Core Concepts ..............................................................................................................