I wrote a piece on feminist hackerspaces and their potential to function as intersectional, technofeminist sites for learning-by-doing. You can find the full article here. It is available as open access. It is an important topic to me, and also an insightful example for field sites that remind us that hacking and hackerspaces come in many forms and shapes.

This topic is close to my💜 so I am delighted and nervous at the same time to see my paper on feminist #hackerspaces published as part of the LMT special issue on feminist learning, media, and educational technology. #FeministLMThttps://t.co/eY8GzwbdMW

— Annika Richterich (@anniric) March 10, 2022

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To recap my conclusion: the case of Mz Baltazar’s Lab shows how hackerspaces can support experiential learning approaches that foster critical, hands-on engagement with and discursive explorations of technology. This also serves as a reminder that experiential learning concerning technology does not (and should not) need to be tech-centric. In contrast, the events at Mz*B’s start from a politically motivated desire to examine intersecting inequalities of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality – in relation to technology and feminist values. Community members and participants educate themselves with and about technology: paying particular attention to its implications for persons/groups marginalised in societies privileging white, male, and heteronormative positions. Reflecting the nexus of feminist activism and intersectional theory, feminist hackerspaces confront misconceptions of technology as a white-masculine domain. At the same time, they critically interrogate technology’s role in gender relations, racial injustice, and heteropatriarchy. Thereby, Mz*B’s also highlights that feminist hackerspaces can function as intersectionally-aware, technofeminist sites for experiential learning. Long story short