• Hacking Diversity: The Politics of Inclusion in Open Technology Cultures

    Author(s):
    Christina Dunbar-Hester (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Group(s):
    Science and Technology Studies (STS)
    Subject(s):
    Science--Study and teaching, Technology--Study and teaching, Race, Ethnicity, Computers, History
    Item Type:
    Book
    Tag(s):
    Hacker culture, Open Source, Science and technology studies (STS), Gender studies, Race/ethnicity, Computer history
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/dwpg-w139
    Abstract:
    Hacking, as a mode of technical and cultural production, is commonly celebrated for its extraordinary freedoms of creation and circulation. Yet surprisingly few women participate in it: rates of involvement by technologically skilled women are drastically lower in hacking communities than in industry and academia. Hacking Diversity investigates the activists engaged in free and open-source software to understand why, despite their efforts, they fail to achieve the diversity that their ideals support. Christina Dunbar-Hester shows that within this well-meaning volunteer world, beyond the sway of human resource departments and equal opportunity legislation, members of underrepresented groups face unique challenges. She brings together more than five years of firsthand research: attending software conferences and training events, working on message boards and listservs, and frequenting North American hackerspaces. She explores who participates in voluntaristic technology cultures, to what ends, and with what consequences. Digging deep into the fundamental assumptions underpinning STEM-oriented societies, Dunbar-Hester demonstrates that while the preferred solutions of tech enthusiasts—their “hacks” of projects and cultures—can ameliorate some of the “bugs” within their own communities, these methods come up short for issues of unequal social and economic power. Distributing “diversity” in technical production is not equal to generating justice. Hacking Diversity reframes questions of diversity advocacy to consider what interventions might appropriately broaden inclusion and participation in the hacking world and beyond.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Book     Show details
    Publisher:
    Princeton University Press
    Pub. Date:
    2020
    Version:
    Excerpt
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    2 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
    Share this:

    Downloads

    Item Name: pdf dunbarhester-hacking-diversity-toc_ch1-excerpt_index.pdf
      Download View in browser
    Activity: Downloads: 586

    Back to Deposits