ABSTRACT
The means of production is central to how society operates. Currently, production is in the hands of multinational corporations who lack best interest in communities and the environment. This chapter argues that production should be put back into the hands of the consumer as this represents a serious challenge to the larger capitalist system, but more specifically it counteracts alienation from the economy and from community. Local production groups such as makers are filling an economic niche that also positively contributes to individual and collective psychology by reclaiming production and denying the formal economy their participation. Those producing in small scale are interrupting the formal economy, and empowering community members to take control of the process of production and de-alienate the process of production. This chapter includes a case study on Makers in Kitchener, Waterloo, and reference to Maker movements in Africa including South Africa and Accra, Ghana.
