Summary of SEAA READS, session one 4/2022
SEAA READS met online for its inaugural book club discussion on Saturday, April 2, 2022 from 8 to 9:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to discuss Sylvia M. Lindtner (2020), Prototype Nation: China and the contested promise of innovation , which was awarded the SEAA annual Francis L. K. Hsu book prize at the end of 2021. The Zoom meeting was hosted and moderated by the 2021 prize committee chair, Marvin Sterling, from Indiana University. The prize committee’s citation follows; the text is online at https://seaa.americananthro.org/awards/past-seaa-awards/ The book is centered on the city of Shenzhen’s maker culture. This is a form of do-it-yourself (or DIY) culture involving the creation or retooling of electronic technology, often initially pursued as a hobby but also sometimes pursued into the realms of entrepreneurial activity, venture capitalism and mass production. Professor Lindtner explores the state’s moves to co-opt the creative and experimental ethos of maker culture in its ef...