Additive Manufacturing May Redesign Global Politics
This article provides a fascinating exploration of the possible structural and far-reaching political effect of 3D printing. The technology’s developments, combining digital design and new modes of automated production, and its open spaces for experimentation, which are for the moment mainly visible in communities of technophile tinkerers like “fab labs” (“fabrication laboratories”) and “hackerspaces.” But, since these tools are designed to be eventually accessible to the broader public, it would be useful to look beyond the still experimental nature of these initiatives. One can indeed make the hypothesis that changes in the political realm, and potentially profound changes, can also occur by the accumulation of dispersed practices even if they appear merely technical (just as computer connections over the Internet have not only opened up new possibilities of communication, but also catalyzed political changes).
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