Reliving the Past and Making a Harmonious Society Today: a Study of Elderly Electronic Hackers in China

Sun, Y., Lindtner, S., Ding, X. , Lu, T. and Gu, N. (2015) Reliving the Past and Making a Harmonious Society Today: a Study of Elderly Electronic Hackers in China. In: 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '15), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 14-18 Mar 2015, pp. 44-55. ISBN 9781450329224 (doi: 10.1145/2675133.2675195)

Abstract

This paper tells a story of DIY (do it yourself) making that does not neatly fit more familiar narratives of making: as individual empowerment, as a democratizing force, and as technoscientific innovation. Drawing on ethnographic research with a collective of elderly electronic hackers in China, we provide insights into the socio-technical and politico-economic processes of hacking and making. This paper examines how the activity of making functioned for elderly DIY enthusiasts as way of remaking and reliving the past and as a means for expressing class belonging and citizenship. We show that making and hacking is not practiced in a void independent of social, political or economic forces. Rather, making unfolds in relation to, and is contingent on, societal norms and specific techno-cultural histories. As much as hacking empowers certain people, it excludes others and functions as a site for the exercise of power and social distinction making.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ding, Dr Sharon
• Authors: Sun, Y., Lindtner, S., Ding, X., Lu, T., and Gu, N.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISBN: 9781450329224