Relational Industry and The Economy of Contribution
The current Fordist model of the product-consumer, established in the 19th century and developed in the 20th century, is paving the way for a third phase of industrial capitalism. This is what the philosopher Bernard Stiegler calls the «hyper-industrial period» and coins the terms «intangible economy» or «knowledge industry.» New relational technologies are at the core of this revolution, and they rely on self-production and indexing (on the network), this establishes new social relations based on a logic input. The contributing figure emerges like a major economic player who is an amateur in the world of culture, comprising of this typology. The contribution of this new economy carries over the metamorphoses of work, including a reaffirmation of a libidinal economy that sustains the dissolution of boundaries between work and «life outside of work.» Bernard Stiegler is a philosopher and specialist of mutations due to technological development. He is head of the Centre Pompidou’s Institut de Recherche et d’Innovation (IRI).
