Hacking Collective as a Trading Zone. Notes from the Ethnography of Hackerspaces in Poland

Development in computing resulted in creation of various communities devoted to nonformal computer science and engineering practices. The article examines Polish hackers, defined as a legal part of computer subcultures, and compares studies of hackers done abroad with findings from ethnography done in Poland. Applying actornetwork theory as a methodological framework, it also shows how hacking collectives contribute to ecologies of knowledge on different scales. This contributions, observed as various technological, scientific, or political actions, construct hackerspace as a trading zone. The paper also discusses problems with merging descriptions of hackers’ culture with ANT approach.