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‘We deserve new things’: (anti-)bricolage in Lomé’s makerspaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2023

Janine Patricia Santos
Janine Patricia Santos*
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, KU Leuven, Belgium
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article traces bricolage in the city of Lomé, Togo, as it is given meaning, practised and resisted by the ‘makers’ involved in the city’s makerspaces. While the Lévi-Straussian definition of bricolage as ‘making do’ given limited resources is heralded as an innovative practice in the Euro-American Maker Movement, Lomé’s makers appear to distance themselves from the concept due to its perceived stigmatization in both Lomé and Francophone Africa as a devalued survival practice through improvisation. Through their identification as ‘makers but not bricoleurs’, and their expression ‘we deserve new things’, I unpack the ambiguous relationship Lomé’s makers have with bricolage, and how their disavowal of the concept reveals more about the global infrastructural inequalities that surround it. By foregrounding the critical self-awareness of Lomé’s makers, I explore how ethnography allows for the de-centring and decolonization of foundational concepts and ideologies, as the makers challenge and reclaim bricolage to arrive at a future where it is no longer a necessity but a choice.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article décrit le bricolage dans la ville de Lomé (Togo), tel qu’il est interprété, pratiqué et défié par les « makers » qui travaillent dans les « makerspaces » de la ville. Alors que la définition lévi-straussienne du bricolage, à savoir le fait de « faire avec » compte tenu de ressources limitées, est proclamée comme une pratique novatrice dans le mouvement maker euro-américain, les makers de Lomé semblent prendre leurs distances vis-à-vis de ce concept en raison de sa stigmatisation perçue, tant à Lomé qu’en Afrique francophone, comme une pratique dévalorisée de survie par l’improvisation. À travers leur identification en tant que « makers mais pas bricoleurs », et leur expression « on mérite du neuf », l’auteur analyse le rapport ambigu que les makers de Lomé ont avec le bricolage, et comment leur désaveu du concept en dit plus sur les inégalités infrastructurelles globales qui l’entourent. En mettant en avant la conscience critique que les makers de Lomé ont d’eux-mêmes, l’auteur explore la manière dont l’ethnographie permet le décentrage et la décolonisation d’idéologies et de concepts fondateurs, alors que les makers contestent et se réapproprient le bricolage pour arriver à un futur dans lequel il n’est plus une nécessité mais un choix.

Resumo

Resumo

Este artigo traça a bricolagem na cidade de Lomé, Togo, tal como lhe é dado significado, praticada e resistida pelos ‘makers’ envolvidos nos ‘makerspaces’ da cidade. Enquanto a definição Levi-Straussiana de bricolage, como ‘fazer’ com recursos limitados, é considerada como uma prática inovadora no movimento euro-americano de makers, os makers de Lomé parecem distanciar-se do conceito devido à sua estigmatização em Lomé e na África francófona como uma prática de sobrevivência desvalorizada através da improvisação. Através da sua identificação como ‘makers, mas não bricoleurs’ e da sua expressão ‘merecemos coisas novas’, desvendo a relação ambígua que os makers de Lomé têm com a bricolagem e a forma como o seu repúdio do conceito revela mais sobre as desigualdades infraestruturais globais que o rodeiam. Ao colocar em primeiro plano a autoconsciência crítica dos makers de Lomé, exploro a forma como a etnografia permite a descentralização e a descolonização de conceitos e ideologias fundamentais, à medida que os makers desafiam e reclamam a bricolagem para chegarem a um futuro em que esta deixe de ser uma necessidade e passe a ser uma escolha.

Type
Money, class and makers
Information
Africa , Volume 93 , Issue 4 , November 2023 , pp. 496 - 521
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute

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