FCJ-186 Hack for good: Speculative labour, app development and the burden of austerity

This paper analyses the rise of 'hackathons' -intensive code-and data-sharing events in which participants are inspired to accomplish specific challenges -to understand their role in the ecosystem for app development and the qualities of work they promote. Charting the transformation of hacking from dangerous activity to patriotic calling, it considers the popularity of civic hackathons as a means to rebuild the social in times of economic constraint. The work involved in the civic hackathon presents a new development in the history of sacrificial labour supplementing creative industries, a bridge between the 'free labour' foundational to the early internet and the practice of spec work in design. When the hackathon is advertised as civic-minded voluntarism, the labour is doubly discounted.