The Citizens Foundation is an Icelandic non-profit organization focused on developing and promoting tools for citizen democracy worldwide>. They write that: “All the software it creates is released as open source which anybody can use for free. The Citizens Foundation is and will be a neutral entity whose main objective is to foster collaboration between… Continue reading
Date archives "May 2013"
Book of the Day: Campaigning Online for Labor and Winning
* Book: Campaigning Online and Winning . How LabourtStart’s ActNOW Campaigns Are Making Unions Stronger. By Eric Lee and Edd Mustill. Here`s the summary of a useful manual for labor organizers: “LabourStart has 15 years of experience running online campaigns in partnership with trade unions around the world. This book serves as an introduction to… Continue reading
Can Venture Capital Deliver on the Promise of the Public University?
I want to keep ‘public higher education’ public in a sense for-profit content disseminated on the internet is not. A large part of Coursera’s appeal lies in your own nearly-socialist vision of an informational Common to which access should no longer be restricted based on the scarcity of places at existing universities and colleges. I… Continue reading
Manfred Max-Neef on Moving to a Stable Economy
Beautiful and important speech by the father of “Barefoot Economics”. Watch the video here for a ‘true economics 101’: Details: “How to move from the current crisis to a stable economy ? Manfred Max-Neef is a Chilean-German economist in the field of international development. His most important books are: “From the Outside Looking In; Experiences… Continue reading
Reporting on the OuiShare Fest 2013
Excerpted from Ariane Conrad: “Doc Searls’ presentation on Friday morning, kicking off Day Two, reminded us of our power as an inevitable disruptive force in the world. He outlined the revolution we are living through: the rise of the differentiated-but-connected individual. The Industrial Era made us think we were all the same. It needed us… Continue reading
Nicolas Mendoza of Bitcoin magazine, interviewed by Layne Hartsell 1/4
First of a four-part interview on the importance and workings of Bitcoin. Layzne recommends turning up the volume for the parts where Nicolas Mendoza is speaking. Watch the video here: Details: “Nicolas Mendoza (Colombia) is a scholar, artist and researcher in global media, and serves on the editorial board for Bitcoin Magazine. He has worked… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: Challenge Corporate Control of Water
Jessica Conrad introduces the interview with water commons activist Shayda Naficy: “Corporate Accountability International, a grassroots corporate watchdog organization, has protected human rights, public health, and the environment for more than thirty-five years by “waging and winning campaigns challenging the abuses of some of the world’s most powerful corporations.” Shayda Naficy directs the organization’s international… Continue reading
Jeremy Rifkin’s Distributed Capitalism Scenario
Via: distributed energy + distributed manufacturing + distributed marketing and logistics Jeremy Rifkin: “Energy regimes shape the nature of civilizations—how they are organized, how the fruits of commerce and trade are distributed, how political power is exercised, and how social relations are conducted. To understand how the new Third Industrial Revolution infrastructure is likely to… Continue reading
A mature understanding of the role of the internet in the Middle Eastern revolutions
Really interesting interview of Zeynep Tufekci. This is very close to my own understanding of the role of technology. The interview (excerpts) The European: What are the inextricable linkages between politics and technology that we’ve seen exposed in Tunisia or Egypt? Tufekci: Autocratic regimes don’t stay in power for decades by governing randomly; rather, they… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Critical Explorations on the World Social Forum
The new generation of activists (indignados, occupy), gathered around Global Square, recommend this book about their predecessor movements: * Book: World Social Forum: Critical Explorations. OpenWord, 2012 Global Square writes: “This is an extraordinary book about an extraordinary phenomenon. From the outset of the 21st century, the World Social Forum has been the premier venue… Continue reading
Simone Cicero: beyond the sharing economy to a fair economy
In this review of the marvelous Ouishare fest, Simone Cicero also reacts to my closing keynote speech at the event, which called for an ethical economy. Excerpted from Simone Cicero: “Bauwens kindly reminded everyone in the room that capital, the inc, the corporate has one principle in it’s very raison d’être : that of shareholder… Continue reading
Book of the Day: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages
* Book: The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages by Jean Gimpel An important classic of technological history, now available in full text at Scribd: “The Middle Ages, writes French scholar Jean Gimpel, saw an extraordinary flourishing of technological development throughout Europe. With the era came waterwheels and clock towers, nearly uniform… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: Force11 for open scholarship
Force11 is a community of scholars, librarians, archivists, publishers and research funders that has arisen organically to help facilitate the change toward improved knowledge creation and sharing. Individually and collectively, we aim to bring about a change in modern scholarly communications through the effective use of information technology. Force11 has grown from a small group… Continue reading
Nadia El-Imam (Edgeryder’s) Open Letter to Michel Bauwens After Ouishare
I will of course respond to this in the next few days! Nadia El-Imam writes: “Dear Michel, It was a pleasure meeting you at Ouishare fest, a fun gathering of various actors in the so-called Collaborative Consumption/ “sharing” /“New Economy” movement. Sharing, it seems, is growing: the revenue flowing through the share economy directly into… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Measurement and the Economic Emergence of the Modern World
* Book: The Institutional Revolution. Measurement and the Economic Emergence of the Modern World (Markets and Governments in Economic History. Douglas W. Allen. University Of Chicago Press, 2011. Jeff Jarvis has reviewed the book: ” I just read a fascinating book by Douglas W Allen, The Institutional Revolution, which attempts to explain England’s transition from… Continue reading
Essay of the Day:Open Review
* Open Review: A Study of Contexts and Practices. MediaCommons and NYU Press, 2013. Here is the summary: “In April 2011, MediaCommons and NYU Press jointly received a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a year-long study of open review practices and possibilities. The document that follows is a draft of the… Continue reading