Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and Knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0

Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and Knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0

by David Gauntlett (Author)

Synopsis

In Making is Connecting, David Gauntlett argues that, through making things, people engage with the world and create connections with each other. Both online and offline, we see that people want to make their mark on the world, and to make connections. During the previous century, the production of culture became dominated by professional elite producers. But today, a vast array of people are making and sharing their own ideas, videos and other creative material online, as well as engaging in real-world crafts, art projects and hands-on experiences. Gauntlett argues that we are seeing a shift from a sit-back-and-be-told culture' to a making-and-doing culture'. People are rejecting traditional teaching and television, and making their own learning and entertainment instead. Drawing on evidence from psychology, politics, philosophy and economics, he shows how this shift is necessary and essential for the happiness and survival of modern societies.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 232
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 04 Mar 2011

ISBN 10: 0745650023
ISBN 13: 9780745650029

Media Reviews
Gauntlett offers a terrific account of how creativity, craft, and community intersect in the 21st century. Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody Making is Connecting is an inspired call to recognize the relationship between encouraging creativity and fostering an engaged citizenry. If you want to understand how emerging practices in digital participatory cultures can lead to positive transformations in our individual lives and in our societies, you need to read this book. Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Denver Making is Connecting is a remarkably clear, convincing and engaging work. Perhaps the best thing about this book is the way in which Gauntlett draws together the existing literature in this field of creativity and community (particularly online). The book makes sense of Leadbeater, Anderson, Lanier, Shirky and others and shines a light on their strengths and weaknesses in a lucid and convincing fashion. Andrew Dubber, Birmingham City University
Author Bio
David Gauntlett is Professor of Media and Communications at University of Westminster, UK, and author of several books including Creative Explorations.