This book, the work of a number of writers, evaluates a new kind of economic production and social participation.

Lovers of certain objects – works of art, music, wine, technology, fashion, gastronomy, antiques -, the lover (in French “amateur”) unfold experience and skills in order to exercise and perfect his or her judgment as well as enjoyment. The current power of the “lover/amateur” – that in the 17th century designated a member of the Académie de peinture who worked to promote the work of painters by practicing the art himself – comes notably from the development in technology that facilitates access to art works, their production and their reproduction. This mediation, in particular the Internet has encouraged a transformation of the balance between producers and consumers, that is to say a redefinition of the suggestion techniques of marketing and the authority of the “expert”.