Call for papers – The political economy of 3D printing ------------------------------ Online journal *Re-public* invites contributions for its upcoming special issue entitled “The political economy of 3D printing”. The age of three dimensional printers and additive manufacturing has arrived, to the point to which, many analysts liken it to the first years of regular printers or even personal computers back in the 1980’s. The largely unexplored questions of its social, political, cultural and economic implications will influence its future development.The special issue will address some of the following themes: - What types of infrastructures are necessary for incorporating such equipment in the everyday process of production and what impact would this have to the economy of a country? - How can we evaluate the sustainability of such machinery, in relation to the different purposes it can potentially serve, i.e., from artistic interventions to practical applications on the architecture of developing countries and from decorative functions to medical practices? - The 3D printer as a means of production, as part of the peer-to-peer movement as well as of the transfer of open source culture to the production of physical goods. What kind of modes and relations of production are emerging from this development and to what end? A critical approach is certainly needed. - Coming back to “now”, what is the position of 3D printing in the general context of socio-technological developments and to what extent can its operation have immediate practical and useful results? Or is it that its potential impact is confined, for the time, to the more academic and scientific sphere until it becomes even more mature? This issue will try to focus on the social, cultural, economic and political aspects of the evolution of the “Do it yourself” (DIY) to the “Design and do it yourself” (DADIY) model, as well as the future implications that this might create. Send your articles (up to 2000 words) in .odt or .doc format, to the email address: [email protected] Deadline for submissions: *31 May 2012*