The promise of the Maker Movement: Policy expectations versus community criticisms

Abstract

The rise of the Maker Movement brings along promises of extended citizen participation to science and innovation. In this paper, we investigate policy expectations about the Maker Movement and contrast them with views about science and society prevailing within communities of the movement itself. The analysis is based on a study of European Union policy documents and interviews with experts and practitioners of the Maker Movement. We obtain a self-portrait of the Maker Movement characterized by a set of aspirations, values, and motivations about the science-society relationship that deviate from of policy expectations. We conclude that, the Maker Movement, apart from being a target of policy hopes of increased citizen participation in science and innovation, can also be characterized as a source bed of criticism of mainstream science and innovation. The tension between policy expectations and community criticisms provides lessons for both sides.