\n
Reviewer: Anonymous<\/h1>\n1) Is the subject matter relevant?<\/h3>\n
Yes, there is value in understanding how new technological assemblages may (or may not) empower humans in the digital environment. It\u2019s a little unclear what actual argument the paper is making though \u2013 the conclusion does not link the theory with the hackerspace analysis in any clear way.<\/p>\n
2) Is the treatment of the subject matter intellectually interesting? Are there citations or bodies of literature you think are essential to which the author has not referred?<\/h3>\n
Yes, again, the paper proposes a theoretical framework, and then presents a mapping and analysis but fails to present a convincing argument around the subject matter. See comments below.<\/p>\n
Castells\u2019 \u201cThe Rise of the Network Society\u201d and Latour\u2019s Actor Network Theory might provide useful further context<\/p>\n
3) Are there any noticeable problems with the author\u2019s means of validating assumptions or making judgments?<\/h3>\n
The paper attempts to situate a mapping of hackerspaces as ‘spaces of transformation’ in a theoretical framework that draws on a particular (post) digital reading. Setting aside my reservations around the reality of our post digital existence (it’s ongoing development and contestation suggests to me we are not yet “post”), there are two issues with the analysis as presented.<\/p>\n
Firstly, the relevance of the introductory theoretical explanations to the mapping is not particularly well drawn. The notion of quasi-objects (and indeed spaces of transformation) could be more strongly tied to hackerspaces.org – which superficially appears to exist as little more than a list of links to quite disparate web presences. We need deeper understanding of those presences, and how they relate to the theoretical constructs.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the analysis from the mapping is overly descriptive. It mostly draws attention to geography and typologies and does little to answer any significant research questions. For example, what is important about the various types of linkages and activities, what is at stake in this network – and building on the first issue, how does the theoretical approach inform this analysis.<\/p>\n
Overall, the paper fails to make a convincing argument.<\/p>\n
4) Is the article well written?<\/h3>\n
Mostly. There are some grammatical issues and the writing can be overly dense at times<\/p>\n
5) Are there portions of the article that you recommend be shortened, excised or expanded?<\/h3>\n
A better balance between the theoretical exposition (probably too long) and the analysis (too short and insufficient in scope) would help.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reviewer: Anonymous 1) Is the subject matter relevant? Yes, hacklabs and hackerspaces play an important role in the peer production ecosystem, both at the local and global level. 2) Is the treatment of the subject matter intellectually interesting? Are there citations or bodies of literature you think are essential to<\/p>\n
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":7868,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_full_width.php","meta":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8014"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8014"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8199,"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8014\/revisions\/8199"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/peerproduction.net\/editsuite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}