Re-Public The political economy of 3D printing

by Vasilis Kostakis and Michalis Fountouklis

"Customisation and variance seem imperative in a fast changing world.

It has been a common assumption during the last decade or two that the world has been shifting towards information- and networked-based structures, with information production in the limelight. During the installation period of the current techno-economic paradigm, based on and led by Information and Communication Technology (ICT), two parallel shifts have taken place: not only did the economically most advanced societies move towards an information-based economy, but the declining costs of ICT also made them available to a much wider part of the world population

This has led to the creation of a new communicational, interconnected and virtual environment from which new social productive models are emerging, which seem to be radically different from the previous industrial ones. These models are being formed by and form, disperse communities of experts and amateurs which collaborate towards the realisation of certain information production projects."

Re-Public The political economy of 3D printing

Dimitris Papalexopoulos "The 3d printing technology fantasy"