* Essay: FabLabs, 3D-printing and degrowth – Democratisation and deceleration of production or a new consumptive boom producing more waste? by Charlotte Knips, Jürgen Bertling

This was a ‘Stirring’ Paper for the Degrowth Conference in Leipzig 2014

Summary:

“No technology can be sustainable in itself – for it to contribute to a truly green economy in a degrowth society the attitudes and needs of the people have to be addressed as well (Grunwald 2002, Lipson 2013). Thus the technology of a decentralized production holds a twofold potential: on the one hand the risk of exploding production and consumption of easy-to-make, easy-to-throw-away gadgets and on the other hand new possibilities for sufficiency, ecological design and repair-culture.”