"On making"

One of the lenses through which we regard ‘making’ lies in its social dimension: making for and by yourself, making for and by a small group, and making for and by communities. The six articles included in this special issue provide alternative lenses, which, superimposed on our model, create a matrix. We realize of course that in such a superimposition the articles will not fit neatly in individual cells of the matrix, but indicate (future) lines of investigation. For example, the salient aspects of the articles in this special issue include: (1) the notion of making as critical thinking; (2) the democratization of making, including tools platforms and toolkits; (3) connected to this, the notion of expertise; (4) making as social practice; (5) the tension between intellectual ownership and business. When addressing these topics through our lens of scale, reflections emerge such as “What does the democratization of making mean for the traditional craftsman, for the composition of maker teams of for the inclusion of laymen in the process?”, “Is there such a thing as collective critical making?”, or “Do the current models for intellectual ownership and business suffice at the level of the individual, small group or community?” These are of course only three of the countless reflections that will emerge from the current dynamics in the world of making. Through this special issue we hope to provide a glimpse of these perspectives on making, and to provide inspiration for future research on making for the individual researcher, research groups and our research community