O'Donovan, C;
Smith, A;
(2020)
Technology and Human Capabilities in UK Makerspaces.
Journal of Human Development and Capabilities
, 21
(1)
pp. 63-83.
10.1080/19452829.2019.1704706.
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Abstract
The relationship between technology and human capabilities is an ambivalent one. The same technology can expand capabilities for some users under certain circumstances, whilst diminishing capabilities for others situated differently. In this paper we analyse human capabilities in relation to digital design and fabrication technologies as configured, sociotechnically, in makerspaces in the UK. Through a combination of methods, the study identifies how some of the capability benefits claimed for makerspaces are experienced in practice, whilst noting that other capabilities claimed appear absent. Q-method in particular enables the study to examine systematically the plurality in these expansions and absences. We discuss how capabilities might be expanded, how our methods might be of wider use, and we draw some conclusions for theory regarding sociotechnical configurations and human capabilities.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Technology and Human Capabilities in UK Makerspaces |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/19452829.2019.1704706 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2019.1704706 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
| Keywords: | Capability approach, Technology, Makerspaces, Innovation policy, Q-method, Sociotechnical configurations |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Science and Technology Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10089210 |
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