Dunbar-Hester vividly cuts to the heart of gender issues embedded within computing cultures by exploring questions of “diversity” tied to FLOSS
and hackerspace projects. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork within these sites, she reveals a wide array of motivations behind diversity programs. In doing so, she assesses the potential of such projects for political intervention, foregrounding the placement of technology at the center of social empowerment initiatives. The result of this work is a profound recognition of the continued gulf between rhetorics of plurality and claims to social power.