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Paper short abstract:

The paper seeks to explore the actual and potential role of Brazilian makerspaces using digital fabrication in promoting social inclusion, based on empirical evidence collected from interviews and visits to makerspaces in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Paper long abstract:

Brazil is a country where many initiatives connected to making have recently sprouted. It is also a country in which poverty and social exclusion are still major problems. Seeking to intervene over these issues, several experiments on "social technologies" - artefacts, processes and methods oriented towards promoting social inclusion - have been developed. There are also many interesting "gambiarras", creative technical solutions produced under scarcity. While many of them somehow fit into the broad "making" category, there is a very limited number of experiences that draw from the promises of digital fabrication tools towards promoting social inclusion, most of which are related to improving housing conditions on poor urban communities and "favelas" in major cities. Motivated by this perception, this paper seeks to explore the actual and potential role of Brazilian makerspaces using digital fabrication in promoting social inclusion, based on empirical evidence collected from interviews and visits to makerspaces in the city of São Paulo, arguably Brazil's making capital and the first municipality in the country to create an effective public policy to foster making initiatives. The main questions we seek to answer are: is there a consensus among Brazilian makers about the role of digital fabrication as a tool for social inclusion? Are there relevant innovations for social inclusion being generated? And are makerspaces connecting to organized movements and agendas such as solidary economy and social technology? By answering these questions, we expect to grasp a better understanding of how digital fabrication may fit into sociotechnical transitions to inclusiveness.