up speed in the middle.” (D&G 2004; 28) From this middle we should also pick up our energy for action. It is in-between that we will have room for action. With skill and perspective the small actor might even become strong enough to enliven a shift in roles, from that of the entrepreneur (leasing in-between), to that of a complementary “entredonneur” (giving in-between), a shift proposed by design researcher John Wood (1990). This would suggest a possibility of a designer or actor, using their action spaces for the common good, playing a role in the market economy while still being a “merciful entrepreneur” (Palmås 2003). This last “entredonneur” or “merciful entrepreneur” could be an influence for a designer role revisiting the “Buddhist economics” of E.F. Schumacher (1989). Schumacher paints a scenario of another form of economy, another nuance or a complement to the global materialist economy we experience today. He means that while “the materialist is mainly interested in goods, the Buddhist is mainly interested in liberation.” (60) Even though this thesis does not have a Buddhist approach we will find a lot of his thoughts resonate throughout this thesis, from his ideas to use “appropriate technologies” (188ff), to develop skills and to produce “from local resources for local needs” (62). We should leave this passage with his view of work is really about. The Buddhist point of view takes the function of work to be at least threefold: to give a man a chance to utilise and develop his faculties; to enable him to overcome his ego-centredness by joining with other people in a common task; and to bring forth the goods and services needed for a becoming existence. (58)
It is within these setting we must imagine a new designer role emerging. It is one operating the abstract machine of hacktivism, intersecting many disciplines and participatory paths, yet remaining a hands-on crafter. This would be a new hacktivist designer role.
a new crafter and designer role There are always possibilities for new designer roles to emerge, and history is full of evolutionary mutations and leaps in how the designer finds his or her place in society and the modes of production. Throughout this research we must imagine a com-
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