Les “tiers lieux”, des microcultures innovantes ?

Abstract

The development of “third spaces” (Fab Labs, co-working spaces, hackerspaces, etc.) is presented by their promoters as a means of fostering the construction of social ties, the sharing of knowledge and skills and an a-hierarchical way of functioning. To what point are these promises kept in their representing organisational and/or social innovations ? To answer this, we proceeded through observations and interviews with the founders and animators of two co-working spaces – one in Paris, the other in Brittany – and of a Fab Lab located in Normandy. The innovative character resides in how the various animation techniques are placed at the service of projects blending the will to succeed and respect for militant values. What allows them to make these paradoxical injunctions compatible resides in the animators’ and the most engaged users’ ability to elaborate and perpetuate a mode of autonomous regulation and “microcultures”. More­over, the micro-cultures orient the space’s functioning along the lines of a participative democracy, which, in turn, facilitates exchanges and involves the greatest number in the structure’s functioning and the process of creativity.

Keywords

• innovation
• microculture
• management micro-arrangements