Maker Movement: creating knowledge through basic intention

Maker movement is often celebrated as a rekindled interest in making by hand, as well as a promise for new forms of manufacturing and economic growth. In contrast to this popularized image, the theoretical background in the maker movement remains ambivalent. This article takes a look at the theoretical foundation of the maker movement and proposes a phenomenological approach to making by hand as a framework for maker movement.
A particular focus is on the knowledge making process in the maker movement following Finnish craft researcher Kojonkoski-Rännäli's account of making by hand. Basing her theory on Martin Heidegger’s philosophical analysis, Kojonkoski-Rännäli sees making by hand an essential way of existing in the world: making by hand develops not only maker’s handicraft skills but also her/his knowledge, responsibility and caring for the world as it appears to her/him through the act of making.
In this paper, I explore maker movements’ relation to Kojonkoski-Rännäli’s philosophy of making by hand. Moreover, I focus on how the maker movements approach to digital and digitalization relate to making by hand.