Making, Hacking, Coding: Fablabs as Intermediary Platforms for Modes of Social Manufacturing

Abstract

The article suggests that the emergence of FabLabs and other collaborative spaces of innovation imply new modes of manufacturing, based on a more social, inclusive, and open approach than current industrial mass-production models. We argue that FabLabs are platforms of social manufacturing, allowing different combinations of interactions between industries and individuals, through their activities around making (producing goods from raw materials), hacking (re-using/combining produced goods), and coding (producing and re-using digital goods). The article also defines four different modes of social manufacturing depending on the technologies used (open or proprietary) and the location of manufacturing (local or industrial). The article contributes to the literature on collaborative spaces by explaining prospective scenarios of development in relationship to new modes of production. It also complements the literature by contextualizing the physical spaces where social manufacturing takes place.JEL codes: D20, L23, L60