The Crossroads of the Commons: Citizen Laboratories in Transit

Abstract

"The article documents, in an exploratory manner, a research about the relationship between citizen laboratories and the process of commoning that characterizes them and also distinguishes them from other, similar experiences of experimental workshops. In particular, the paper seeks to uncover the transit of this concept from Europe, where it was born, to South America, as well as some of the transformations it has been undergoing, by comparing three different projects: Medialab-Prado, in Madrid; The Citizen Innovation Laboratories (LABIC) led by the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB); and LAB Procomum, in Brazil, the latter built by initiative of a civil society organization. The study of the theoretical and practical differences and similarities that characterize these projects aims to contribute to the affirmation of the possibility of production of art, science, technology and innovation geared towards the common good and the overcoming of the current economic model."