I first asked for permission to republish this important and straight to the core essay for another blog back in 2012, but they never put it up. So I’m grateful to now have been given the opportunity to present it on the p2p-blog. One of the authors, Mark Anthony Signorelli, wrote a follow-up essay in September… Continue reading
Date archives "December 2013"
P2P PhD Research Opportunities in the UK
AHRC funding for UK/EU Arts and Humanities research students The Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Partnership will be awarding 410 PhD studentships over a five year period to excellent research students in the Arts and Humanities. The DTP, a collaboration between Nottingham Trent, Nottingham, Birmingham, Birmingham City, Leicester and De Montfort universities, provides research candidates with cross-institutional… Continue reading
The Living Bridges network and the new models of facilitation
Living Bridges a model of Facilitation bounding Social Capital, Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship AI Practitioner May 2013 AI and Communities of Practice by Glauka The full issue is available here – http://www.aipractitioner.com/appreciative-inquiry-practitioner-may-2013
The Network is the Vanguard: a new approach to labor mobilization?
Excerpted from Dan Gallin: “I believe you are also right in saying that there is a critical mass out there for a militant union and left-socialist movement, very inchoate at this time, but when I mentioned critical mass in my last e-mail I meant something else, I meant the critical mass it would take to… Continue reading
Essay of the Day: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media
* Article: Digital Marx: Toward a Political Economy of Distributed Media. Andreas Wittel. tripleC 10(2): 313-333, 2012 From the Abstract: “This is the claim: In the age of mass media the political economy of media has engaged with Marxist concepts in a rather limited way. In the age of digital media Marxist theory could and… Continue reading
The Communal State model in Venezuela
Excerpted from Dario Azzellini: “In January 2007, Chávez proposed to go beyond the bourgeois state by building the communal state. He thus picked up and applied more widely a concern originating with anti-systemic forces. The main idea was to form council structures of all kinds (communal councils, communes, and communal cities, for example), as bottom… Continue reading
Design in Communal Endeavours
* Dissertation: Expanding Design Space(s). Design in Communal Endeavours. By Andrea Botera. Aalto University, 2013. Description “The present study explores collective design processes that both closely tied communities and emergent collectives are increasingly engaging in. The hypothesis was that collaborative design in these settings is better understood at the intersection of the evolution of the… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: the Tech Co-op Network
“a network of Worker-Owned Tech Collectives: “worker cooperatives (businesses owned and democratically controlled by our workers) offering a wide range of media, communications, and computer technology goods and services.” Brian Van Slyke explains: “On in late October, 18 worker co-ops joined together to launch the Tech Co-op Network. The Network’s purpose is to take cooperation… Continue reading
Is cyberlibertarianism undermining the future of the left ?
Excerpted from David Golumbia: (the whole article is well worth reading, though in my opinion, it advocates a sectarian view of the left, that would preclude it to seek commonality with other social forces) “If digital communication technology promotes leftist values, why has its spread coincided with such a stark decline in the Left’s political… Continue reading
Podcast of the Day: Richard Heinberg on the End of Growth
Here’s a two-in one podcast special featuring Richard Heinberg. First up is a segment from our friends at The Extraenviromentalist Podcast, followed by a Q&A between Heinberg and the Post-Carbon Institute. Heinberg on The Extraenviromentalist: http://xepodcast.com/extraenvironmentalist/028-at-growths-end.mp3 European economies are teetering on the brink of collapse as low rates of GDP growth are no longer able… Continue reading
Toward Resilient Architectures 3: How Modernism Got Square
by Michael Mehaffy, Nikos A. Salingaros, originally published by MetropolisMag.com As we enter a transition era that demands far greater resilience and sustainability in our technological systems, we must ask tough new questions about existing approaches to architecture and settlement. This comes as post-occupancy evaluations show that many new buildings, as well as retrofits of some… Continue reading
Can 3D Printing Lead to Mass Manufacturing ?
Excerpted from ARJUN BHARADWAJ: “Industrial scale 3D printers have for a long time now threatened to change the face of traditional assembly line manufacturing, but it hasn’t really kicked-off the revolution yet. The greatest known limitation of additive manufacturing is its inability to mass-produce. To replace the millions of parts manufactured daily in an assembly… Continue reading
6 Ways Community Currencies Could Learn From Bitcoin
6 Ways Community Currencies Could Learn From Bitcoin by Joel Dietz Alternative currency evangelists have long had a tough, uphill battle to fight. Despite some notable current examples, including Berkshares, Chiemgauer, and Brixton Pound, many community currencies have a hard time getting started, and gradually fizzle out after time due to lack of enthusiasm. Bitcoin,… Continue reading
The Role of Cooperatives in Societal Transition
Excerpted from Gavin Mendel-Gleason and James O’Brien: “The question of which system is desirable, in detail, is quite important. Unfortunately we cannot determine in abstract which system will work best and what problems will develop, though we can make guesses. To fully understand the consequences of an economic system can only be decided experimentally. This… Continue reading
The Experience of Commonness is necessary for the political revitalization of the West
Excerpted from Slawomir Sierakowski of the Polish group Krytyka: “What may really persuade people to come together is common experience as the experience of commonness. It is undertakings rather than abstract theory. In today’s world, it is not the argument or emotion that can form social bonds, but common actions that build real and long-term… Continue reading
Podcast of the day: The Extraenviromentalist: Carbon Democracy
From our friends at The Extraenviromentalist Podcast, whom we’ll be featuring regularly on the P2P blog. From the episode notes: “The ideas we have about our government systems have been dramatically shaped by the energy sources that power them. If the physical characteristics of coal and oil have developed the expectations of our 20th century… Continue reading