“…I want to see us recognize the work of the educators, those that analyze and characterize and critique, everyone who fixes things, all the other people who do valuable work with and for others—above all, the caregivers—whose work isn’t about something you can put in a box and sell.”
Debbie Chachra, “Why I Am Not a Maker,” The Atlantic, January 23, 2015.
Debbie Chachra’s article for the Atlantic raises an interesting discussion on makers and the importance of recognizing those who help support, educate, and bring up makers but don’t get the status of a “maker.” To nobody’s surprise, Chachra points out throughout their article how male-dominated the field of Digital Humanities and how many other factors and people play a role in the field but aren’t given recognition. This quote grabbed my attention because I believe that it’s not only applicable in the world of Digital Humanities, but also in the general world around us. To use a business-related example that I encountered during an internship recently, the process to make, say a Kemps gallon of 2% milk, is longer than most people think about…
For that gallon of milk to end up in the store, a multitude of events must occur before that milk can be bought and drank by a customer. These events include the making of the plastic for the bottle, forming the plastic into the bottle’s shape, milking the cow, pasteurizing the milk, and so on and so forth. While it’s (arguably I guess?) not needed to recognize those that are part of the milk production process for Kemps, for the evergrowing field of Digital Humanities I believe (as Chachra does) that it is vital to recognize those who are apart of the process because the end product isn’t necessarily the only important part of a digital humanities project.
This term, I’m really excited to pursue the various forms of data visualization that have been created and adapted in the world of Digital Humanities. As an international relations major, data visualization is really powerful for research and analysis within the subject and being able to grow my skills with data visualization could provide some interesting conclusions and opportunities as a student as well as post-graduation.
One reply on “The Importance of Non-Makers”
This quote similarly grabbed my attention! Prior to reading this article, I hadn’t even considered a definition of “maker” beyond dads doing DIY projects, but now I cannot seem to extricate the notion of makers with the study of digital humanities, and with it the superiority afforded to the title. I love your milk analogy, as I feel like it really captures Debra’s main point of discussion and expands upon it.