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Between the center and periphery: Commodification, formalisation, and infrastructuralisation of grassroots innovation

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  • Pengfei Fu
  • Zhipeng Zang

Abstract

The question of whether China can become a creative nation has been a topic of much debate in academic circles. The Chinese government has expressed its belief that China can develop a unique form of creativity to move the country from the periphery to the center of the global creative ecosystem. This perspective has led to a series of state-led trials and experiments, including the adoption of cultural and creative industries, creative clusters and cities, and the recent maker movement. This paper utilizes the center-periphery theory to analyze the emergence, development, and evolution of China’s maker movement, aiming to revisit the creativity issues in contemporary China. Based on three years of ethnographic research, the paper unpacks the maker movement at three interrelated levels: individual, organizational, and urban. Empirical data indicates that the transformation of China’s maker movement is characterized by commodification, formalization, and infrastructuralization processes. The tension between growth and development, and stability and control has turned the once grassroots maker movement into a contested creative hybrid. This paper challenges the conventional view that China is resistant to change and incapable of creativity due to institutional and ideological influences. It demonstrates how an alternative mode of creativity can emerge outside global creative centers and proposes a new perspective on China’s potential to become a creative nation.

Suggested Citation

  • Pengfei Fu & Zhipeng Zang, 2024. "Between the center and periphery: Commodification, formalisation, and infrastructuralisation of grassroots innovation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0290682
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290682
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Monique Bolli, 2020. "Innovators in Urban China: Makerspaces and Marginality with Impact," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 68-77.
    2. Jeremy Millard & Marie N. Sorivelle & Sarah Deljanin & Elisabeth Unterfrauner & Christian Voigt, 2018. "Is the Maker Movement Contributing to Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-29, June.
    3. Dale Dougherty, 2012. "The Maker Movement," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 7(3), pages 11-14, July.
    4. Monique Bolli, 2020. "Innovators in Urban China: Makerspaces and Marginality with Impact," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 68-77.
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