Fablab as the seed of the democratizing transformation of market economy

Abstract

This paper disagrees from a fatalistic scenario for institutions organization, especially those linked to economic matters. For Roberto Mangabeira Unger this is called 'dictatorship of no alternatives'. This scenario defies us to think about alternatives. We discuss about Unger’s social theory, emphasizing a notion of productive vanguards, connecting them to a practical, productive experience is growing worldwide: the FabLabs and the Maker Movement. With a bibliographical research characterizing the main points of the productive vanguards, as well as a field visit to a FabLab in Rio de Janeiro, we concluded that some of its particularities, such as tolerance with error, the task-review process and the sharing practice, connect the FabLabs with the notion of vanguards, in order to deepen the democratic transformation of the market economy.

Keywords

• experimentalismo institucional
• roberto mangabeira unger
• vanguarda produtiva
• movimento maker
• fablab