To what extent do fablabs have the capacity to transform the mass production regime (MPR)?
These organisations offer alternative ways of “making”, characteristic of the “makers”
movement (Anderson, 2017): learning how to make things in a personalised, local and
responsible way, how to do science, how to repair things, etc. Fablabs are involved in policies
and strategies aimed at giving a sustainable direction to socio-economic activities, which
despite the adoption of the SDGs in 2015 is far from being the case. Indeed, the satisfaction of
human needs remains largely dependent on globalised production with unsustainable ecological
and social effects. Attempts by companies to integrate the SDGs through CSR have produced
disappointing results (Whiteman et al., 2013; Wright & Nyberg, 2017). Could the sustainability
practices of fablabs strengthen the contribution of these third places to an ambitious and robust
socio-ecological transformation?
While fablabs remain a marginal movement in terms of their transformative impact on the
dominant modes of production, they do offer an alternative and are a beacon of hope, as
demonstrated, for example, by their actions during the COVID pandemic (Gheorghiu, 2022).
Their numbers continue to grow in France and around the world, supported by networks such
as the RFF and the Fab Foundation. Along with other Social & Solidarity Economy (SSE)
players, they are a source of territorial cohesion (Duverger, 2021) and vectors of education in
science and the circular economy (Cova & Kreziak, 2017). How can we grasp their ability to2
transform society and in particular the dominant locked-in system of satisfying human needs
via mass production? To discuss this, we propose using the multi-level perspective (F. Geels &
Schot, 2007), within which fablabs can be seen as niches that can transform the dominant
regime, in this case mass production. A sustainable direction for tackling the major challenges
facing humanity was proposed in 2015 in the form of the SDGs, and fablabs started seizing
them. What are the practices of fablabs with a view to contributing to the SDGs and to what
extent can they transform the regime of mass production? A socio-technical system operates on
the basis of rules that ensure its continuity but not necessarily its sustainability. To what extent
can fablabs, through their own practices, contribute to the achievement of the SDGs?
To answer these questions, we propose to answer the following research question: (1) How can
we account for the contributions of fablabs to help us shift away from mass production? To do
this, section 2 presents the state of the art, section 3 the method and data, section 4 the results,
and section 5 a conclusive discussion.

Slides : https://kdrive.infomaniak.com/app/drive/134229/files/796439/preview/pdf/796440