Design, Manufacture and Save. Coronavirus Makers During the COVID-19 Crisis in Spain

Abstract

This research analyses the Coronavirus Makers in Spain, focusing on three characteristics: the hybrid organisation, the use of technologies, and the cultural impact. To do so, we carried out a multimodal ethnography (Dicks, Bella, Bambo Soyinka, and Amanda Coffey. 2006. “Multimodal Ethnography.” Qualitative Research 6 (1): 77–96) from March to June 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19. Coronavirus Makers’ activity can be framed as a pandemic movement, enhancing expressions of solidarity, social mobilisation, and resilience. The decentralised collective work and the anti-commercial logic (i.e. promoting open designs and protocols) tackled the immediate shortage of medical materials and structural deficits in health services. This network embraced the Spanish legacy of social mobilisation, as during the 15M, yet it presents actions that are circumscribed to the pandemic context and deserve further attention.