Description
Throughout history, non-state forces have armed themselves through alternative means to fight oppressive regimes. This paper investigates how additive manufacturing/3D-printing due to its cost, simplicity, anonymity, and accessibility reshapes non-state resistance by weakening state control over the means of violence. It seeks to address a critical gap in literature by analysing how the offensive adoption of 3D-printing technology affects the power dynamics between state and non-state actors within regimes of political suppression and arms control. The argument utilises a primary case study which examines Myanmar’s local militia, the People’s Defence Forces’ (PDFs) reliance on 3D-printed military hardware in their fight against the military junta (Tatmadaw). It also adopts a contrasting/boundary case of Syria’s HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) and their technological innovation in producing 3D-printed drones in their conflict against the Assad regime. While Myanmar illustrates decentralised additive production amongst materially-constrained grassroot insurgent actors, Syria illustrates scaling and institutionalisation of additive manufacturing within more organised insurgent ecosystems. Through these two cases, the paper illustrates the strategic and symbolic significance of additive manufacturing in these distinct conflicts. Ultimately, the paper argues that the strategic, offensive use of this technology by non-state actors reconfigures their possibilities of resistance against the state.