A Critical and Reflexive Investigation of HCI's Promise of Democratization in the Making Phenomenon

Many endeavors in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) align themselves with the promise of the democratization of technology production, a promise that has yet to be fulfilled due to gaps in access and underlying power dynamics. HCI has recently seen new glimmers of the promise of democratized technology production in the making phenomenon. In this dissertation, I present a theory project grounded in my experience of starting and running a university makerspace that engages with the concept of democratization directly. I first derive a definition of democratization, develop a normative theory that suggests a shift in values to better meet that definition, and present a series of empirical studies to develop the theory. I then use feminist utopianism as a definition of democratization to evaluate the theory and reflect on the merits and challenges of this theory project in light of HCI's promise of democratization. Contributions include insights about the merits of the NTHCM as a reflective lens for maker leaders and HCI researchers, insights about the merits of feminist utopianism to guide maker leaders and HCI researchers towards the promise of democratization, and insights about underlying assumptions of HCI that may be in the way fulfilling the promise of democratization.