BeautifUl text and appeal by Edgar Morin: “Now that the fantastic adventure begun in the 15th century has come to an end, the shout of Columbus’ lookout man takes on at last a planetary meaning: Land! Land! Even up to 1950-1960, we were living on a misapprehended Earth, on an abstract Earth. We were living… Continue reading
Date archives "July 2013"
On the need for collaborative capital and open governance
Republished from Simone Cicero: (for a version with links and illustrations, go to the original here) * Introduction What happens when the productive infrastructure, being digital or not, becomes affordable? When, in the meantime, new cooperative models for capitalization and venture financing emerge, like all those making up the crowdfunding universe? What new perspectives from… Continue reading
Essay of the Day: Futures of (P2P) Power in the Network Era
Strongly recommended, from our friend Jose Ramos: * Article: The Futures of Power in the Network Era. By Jose Ramos. Journal of Futures Studies, June 2013, 17(4): 71-92 “This article asks questions about the futures of power in the network era. Two critical emerging issues are at work with uncertain outcomes. The first is the… Continue reading
Video: Miquel Ballester Salva on Fairphones with Open Supply Chains
Via: “Technology brings great human developments. But the way we produce it is too often the cause of unfair conditions along the whole lifecycle of tech devices, like smartphones. Miquel will talk about how closed technologies enable opaque supply chains and how we need to strive for transparency as a driver for sustainable development.” Watch… Continue reading
Video: Jos Poortvliet on Open Governance Rules Done Right
Interesting problematic: “When building up a community, governance is something to think about. Should there be rules? What rules? Who should be in charge, or should nobody be in charge? The answers to these questions have far reaching consequences on the future of a project. You can stifle progress with too many rules and committees,… Continue reading
The importance of the emergence of the Multi-Stakeholder (aka ‘Social’ or ‘Solidarity’) Co-op phenomenon
A new type of cooperatives is now structurally internalizing the common good and the general interest of the citizenry, writes Pat Conaty: “In Europe and in North America we have strong Co-op sector good practice to build upon. What is fascinating at present and spreading internationally as a new tendency is the Multi-Stakeholder Co-op phenomenon…. Continue reading
Launch of new ‘Radical Realities’ zine of the Alternate (G8) Collective in Birmingham
Via Nicolas Ripley: “Alternate have published our first e-zine, Radical Realities, with contributions from John Hilary, Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Heather Marsh and Michel Bauwens. The Alternate Collective was formed out of Occupy Birmingham, UK. The collective comprises of radical practitioners that promote and publish about democratic and cooperative governance. We aim to propose practical… Continue reading
Alain Badiou on the philosophy of money
Alain Badiou sees money as a stand in for a general, abstract and unlimited desire. Worth watching and carefully listening to! (in french, english subtitles) Watch the video here:
Essay of the Day: Peer Mutualism, Market Power, and the Fallible State
* Article: Practical Anarchism: Peer Mutualism, Market Power, and the Fallible State. By Yochai Benkler. Politics & Society41(2) 213–251 Here is a summary of its contents, followed by some excerpts: ‘Based on several examples of working anarchies in the networked environment Benkler argued that peer mutualism works in certain contexts. Even though it is not… Continue reading
Critiques of empathy from the point of view of reason: are they valid?
Tom Atlee is reacting to the point of view expressed in the following two essays: * The Baby in the Well by Paul Bloom and * The Case Against Empathy by David Harris-Gershon – that critically compare empathy with reason. Tom Atlee: “These two essays maintain that empathy causes us to focus on the narrow… Continue reading
Building Trust and Limiting Risk in the Sharing Economy
“Maintaining trust and safety is critical for businesses built on peer-to-peer exchanges. As the sharing economy grows, so does the importance of systems to verify user identity, build community, and otherwise support trust and safety. What tools are businesses developing today, and what trade-offs do they face when balancing security, privacy, growth, and community?” Watch… Continue reading
Announcement on Two Psyop Operations Targetting the P2P Foundation and its Networked Relationships
Dear friends, This is an important announcement. We probably won’t give more details than this, except orally through Skype or some other more confidential medium. A sister organisation and the p2p foundation were victims of two ‘psy-ops’ that came in the form of forgeries and intrusion that resulted in the blocking and email deletions of… Continue reading
On the Importance of Recognising Post-Capitalist Spaces in Capitalist Society
* Article: Towards a Post-Occupy World: the importance of recognising “post-capitalist” spaces in “capitalist” society. By Richard J White. Here are 3 excerpts from this interesting essay: 1. From the Introduction: “Running deeply through radical critiques that have emerged across dissident academic, activist and public communities – critiques that have pricked the mainstream consciousness through… Continue reading
Social Media as a Facet of Neoliberalism
Excerpted from William Davies: “The fact that it is social media that is facilitating this new form of state power, that it is social networks that are the object of its gaze, may indicate that neoliberal government no longer places quite so much emphasis on the market, as a mechanism for organizing knowledge, regulating freedom… Continue reading
Alternate G8 Interview on Open Government
This interview appeared in the first issue of the ‘zine’ Radical Realities published by the Alternate (G8) Collective which also features a keynote on peer governance by Heather Marsh. This issue selects transcripts of speakers from the AG8 Conference hosted by the Collective in Birmingham, UK on June 22nd 2013 (mine was a remote intervention… Continue reading
In Brazil, the Mídia Ninja citizen journalist group is making waves
Republished from Rachel “Rio Gringa”: (the original has links) “One of the most interesting elements of Brazil’s protests, which continue to simmer across the country in smaller numbers, is the use of new media to plan, broadcast, and report on the demonstrations. Mídia Ninja is perhaps the best known group to emerge, and has used… Continue reading