* Book: “Money and Sustainability: The Missing Link” by Bernard Lietaer, Christian Arnsperger, Sally Goerner and Stefan Brunnhuber. Triarchy Press, 2012 Excerpted from Graham Barnes: “The authors first ‘make explicit’ the prevailing economic paradigm and contrast this with an ecological economics approach (which they claim is rooted in the response to Limits to Growth [the… Continue reading
Date archives "March 2013"
Project of the Day: Jua Kali, Open Source Machinery for Africa
This Kenian site houses information on nearly a dozen farm tools and other devices, many with open-source construction guides. Rob Goodier explains: “Ask for a pair of door hinges at a hardware store in Kenya and the shopkeep might offer two options: regular and “Jua kali” hinges. The jua kali pair could cost half the… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: the Counter Cartographies Collective
The Counter Cartographies Collective (3Cs), propose a specific form of counter-mapping, autonomous cartography, to understand and intervene in social processes. “The Counter Cartographies Collective (3Cs) combines research with critical mapping to produce alternative ways of visualizing and inhabiting the world and our university. This paper advocates for an autonomous cartography, 3Cs’ combination of militant research… Continue reading
How the for-profit B-Corporation is leading to a decline of the Couchsurfing sharing community
Why has Couchsurfing become so gendered? Why is the community weak? I think the blame lies in an organization that has decided to focus on growth over building a community. The site went for-profit last year, and now, following time-honored corporate practices, is focused solely on growth. Membership growth. Quantity over quality. The more members… Continue reading
Book of the Day: the Global Political Economy and the Stratification of Labour
* Book: Zak Cope, Divided World, Divided Class: Global Political Economy and the Stratification of Labour Under Capitalism. This is “a book on the history of the labour aristocracy and its interrelationship with the rise of social-democracy as the political expression of the imperialist rent required for the maintenance of that class, with all the… Continue reading
Project of the Day: Hack Your PhD
Hack Your PhD is a community that aims to build much-needed collaborative relationships between those involved in knowledge production. Célya Gruson-Daniel explains: “Hack your Phd” launched in October 2012. Brings together a diverse community of doctoral researchers, designers and social entrepreneurs around the issues of Open Science and Open Knowledge. The goal here is to… Continue reading
Book: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources
* Book: Enough is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources by Rob Dietz and Dan O’Neill (Berrett-Koehler, 2013). An excerpt by Rob Dietz and Dan O’Neill: “To appreciate why an economy based on enough is worth striving for, it is useful to examine the failings of an economy that forever… Continue reading
Project of the Day: Swaraj University
Swaraj University is a self-designed learning program on green entrepreneurship. Here are some details: “Swaraj University was birthed in 2010 as a two year learning programme for youth. The focus of the programme is on self-designed learning and on green entrepreneurship, including exploration of basic business skills within the context of ecological sustainability and social… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: the Ouishare global community
OuiShare is a pro-sharing advocacy community: an international network of entrepreneurs, citizens, activists, journalists and designers working toward the development of the collaborative economy. Though increasingly well-known and expanding fast, here are some details on its history and characteristics. Francesca Pick explains: “With hubs in Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome and Brussels, Ouishare is an… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Bankrupting Nature
* Book: Bankrupting Nature – Denying our Planetary Boundaries. By Johan Rockström and board member Anders Wijkman. Earthscan/Routledge, 2012. This is a re-written version of the Swedish book “Den stora förnekelsen”, which was published in 2011. The book is an official Report to the Club of Rome. Sturle Hauge Simonsen summarizes the topics addressed in… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: Hacker Scouts
The Hacker Scouts are a youth club for “Maker” ahd “Hacking” activities. Some extra explanation: “Why “Hacker” instead of “Maker”? The term “hacking” has a bad rap. Unfortunately, there are some who associate the term with illegal activity. Hacking is simply taking something- like an object or idea- and changing it to fit one’s own… Continue reading
Is free education a bad thing for human equality?
Here is my own take first: “Technologies like MOOC open a emancipatory potential, as they open access to knowledge to more people; but this only works without a faith in technological determinism; instead, it needs an integrative approach geared towards general social inclusion and epuipotentiality; whatever the potential problems with universally free mooc education will… Continue reading
Resilience after Modernism
Via Øyvind Holmstad: Nikos A. Salingaros has recently published two magnificent essays, one about resilience (together with Michael Mehaffy) and another about modernism as a break with everything human, natural and sacred. Unfortunately, most people cannot really believe that the image in which we created our world in the last century is entirely wrong and evil,… Continue reading
Project of the Day: the Uncollege un-curriculum
The Uncollege is “a college experience for unschoolers, or: “UnCollege is a social movement designed to help you hack your education.” “UnCollege isn’t just an idea or a website. It’s a movement. It’s a lifestyle. We believe that college isn’t the only path to success. UnCollege is a social movement changing the notion that going… Continue reading
In the Corporate-State Education System, Students are the Product
The current educational system is essentially a Taylorist-Fordist mass production system, organized on a batch-and-queue basis, geared to supply a uniform, standardized and graded input for corporate employers. According to Cathy Davidson (“Standardizing Human Ability,” DML Central, July 30, 2012), education changed drastically, radically—as did all of Western society—during the great era of Taylorist standardization… Continue reading
Project of the Day: The Open Master’s Program
“Socially-activated, self-directed higher education – organized in small groups and peer reviewed”. The project is “A participant-run, member-supported project that emerged as a P2PU Labs project with a grant from the Shuttleworth Foundation, building directly on the experience and community of P2PU and Citizen Circles.” Some extra details: * On the Rhythm of the Open… Continue reading