Douglas Schuler’s Liberating Voices: Patterns for Change from the Grassroots

Book: Douglas Schuler. Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution

a call for social change based on a peaceful revolution in grassroots information and communication. Inspired by the vision and framework outlined in A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander’s classic 1977 book about architecture and urban planning, Liberating Voices presents a pattern language containing 136 patterns devoted to changing the communication and information paradigm to better meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In this first installment of our discussion of Liberating Voices, as “Book of the Week”, we have a general presentation, a list of excerpts that can be consulted online, and a sample excerpt on the particular pattern of the ‘commons’

1. General presentation:

After eight years of work, the Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution book is now available. It’s a call for social change based on a peaceful revolution in grassroots information and communication. Inspired by the vision and framework outlined in A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander’s classic 1977 book about architecture and urban planning, Liberating Voices presents a pattern language containing 136 patterns devoted to changing the communication and information paradigm to better meet the challenges of the 21st century. A “pattern” is a focused presentation of a recommendation. Through their use of a common structure (title, optional introductory graphic, problem statement, context statement, discussion, solution statement and links to other patterns) each pattern presents an agenda for research as well as social critique and action. And each pattern is linked to other patterns to form a single coherent whole or what Alexander calls a “pattern language.” The patterns (which are also available online) can be used individually or in groups, sequentially or simultaneously. Each of the patterns in the book presents a conceptual detour. Each suggests a multitude of possible routes that don’t follow the ruts that today’s dominant forces (including inertia) are pushing on us. The entire set is a pattern language, a provisional, bottom-up critical theory of social change. We are proposing a new model of social change that integrates theory and practice by showing how diverse information and communication based approaches can be used to address local as well as global problems.

Liberating Voices integrates ideas and suggestions from a variety of perspectives including activism and social change, education, community informatics, governance, media, development, information science, economics, journalism, arts and culture into one integrated volume that is intended to be theoretical, critical, and practical at the same time. Liberating Voices can be used by researchers, by practitioners in a variety of fields including teachers in the classroom, by activists, and by citizens and community members throughout the world. The pattern language was developed collaboratively with nearly 100 co-authors using an online pattern language management system. For that reason, the patterns from the book are also online. Additionally, there are approximately 300 other patterns online that are in various stages of development.

We are treating the publishing of the book as an important milestone rather than the culmination of the project. While we are very enthusiastic about what we’ve produced so far we realize that people and organizations who use the patterns will often need to adapt the pattern language to their specific needs which may even include developing new patterns. For this reason and others we are transforming our web site into a full-fledged social networking site that will encourage collaborative pattern language construction and allow people to readily share ideas and experiences with others. The goal was the creation of a catalog of intellectual, social, and technological innovations, a practical manual for citizen activism, and a compelling manifesto for creating a more intelligent, sustainable, and equitable world. Now is the time to unleash the collective creativity — social as well as technological — of people around the world and develop the communication systems that humankind needs now. The following excerpt from the first page of the book acknowleges this revolutionary goal and orientation:

This book is devoted to the demolition of the official version of information and communication systems at the dawn of the twenty-first century and to the construction of alternative visions. Without denying the positive impacts that elite people can and do make, this book is dedicated to a radical orientation in which ordinary people assert their rights, and their responsibilities, as citizens of the world.”

2. List of Excerpts:

Excerpts from two patterns that reflect the P2P perspective of this site follow this discussion. While those two patterns are more obviously related to the themes of this forum, many others (including those listed below) are also relevant:

* Civic Intelligence (Pattern number 1)
* Transforming Institutions (19)
* Citizen Science (37)
* Citizen Access to Simulations (48)
* Digital Emancipation (60)
* Transparency (64)
* Privacy (65)
* Participatory Budgeting (71)
* Open Access Scholarly Publishing (76)
* Grassroots Public Policy Development (78)
* Voices of the Unheard (83)
* Design for Unintended Use (84)
* Civic Capabilities (85)
* Strategic Frame (86)
* Document Centered Discussion (92)
* Citizen Diplomacy (93)
* Mirror Institutions (94)
* Informal Learning Groups (98)
* Appropriating Technology (108)
* Control of Self Representation (109)
* Open Source Search Technology (125)
* Open Source Everything (127)

3. Sample Excerpt: The Commons

The first pattern excerpted here is The Commons (David Bollier). This pattern, along with Civic Intelligence (Douglas Schuler) and The Good Life (Gary Chapman) are the only patterns in the Theory section, the first and most general of the pattern sections. We feel that these three patterns do a good job of showing the context, the challenges, and the responsibilities of being human in the 21st Century. In The Commons, David Bollier reminds us of the absolute importance of the commons, the “space” that we learn is much more than physical alone. This pattern, like the others, begins with the pattern number, the title, and the problem statement.

Problem. One of the biggest problems in contemporary life is the unchecked growth of market values as a way to govern resources and ourselves. This is resulting in the privatization and commodification, or “enclosure,” of the commons. Resources that morally or legally belong to everyone are increasingly coming under the control of markets. Not only does enclosure result in higher prices and the need to ask for permission to use something previously available to all, it shifts ownership and control to private companies. The market efficiencies that businesses seek can be illusory, however, because they often depend on unacknowledged subsidies from the commons (e.g., discount access to public resources) and the displacement of costs onto the commons (pollution, social disruption, harm to future generations). Enclosure does not add value in the aggregate; it merely privatizes value at the expense of the common wealth.

The problem statement is followed by the context statement (not printed here) which discusses who might use the pattern and under what circumstances. The context statement is followed by the discussion which covers a broad range of issues including history of the pattern, how to use it, and what problems might come up when an organization uses the pattern.

Discussion. The commons insists that certain things should not be alienated — that is, sold and converted into money. Thus, it is inappropriate to express the value of a worker’s life or an endangered species as a dollar sum in a cost-benefit analysis. It may be morally repugnant to sell off the naming rights of public institutions much as it is considered unacceptable to allow people to sell their bodies, babies, ova, or genes. … The commons allows us to talk about the need for open spaces that haven’t been turned into “property” available to all; if too much of that space — for example, scientific knowledge, musical works, or cultural symbols — is locked up through copyrights, patents, or contracts, it can greatly impede future creativity and progress. We are already seeing the effects of such enclosure in medical research as a result of overly broad patents on basic research. . . . Increasingly the Internet is the host for countless self-organized commons such as free and open source software, social networking communities, Wikipedia, Craigslist, and Web sites for sharing photos, videos, and other creative work. One useful tool in creating these commons are creative commons licenses, which enable ordinary people to freely share their creative works while retaining copyrights for commercial purposes.

The public library and the land trust are familiar, highly effective types of commons. More people are starting to realize that public spaces like parks, community gardens, farmers’ markets, and festivals are also important to the economic and social health of a community. There is a dawning awareness that commons-based infrastructure like wireless Internet access is an important way to use a public resource, the airwaves, to help people connect with each other.

The pattern ends with a solution statement and a list of other patterns within the pattern language that it’s related to. The patterns’ solution statement solidifies the main points of the pattern. The statement here restates that using “the commons” as a new discourse is a useful way to reframe the public dialogue. Bollier believes that the “emerging commons sector … will provide benefits that corporations cannot supply: healthy ecosystems, economic security, stronger communities, and a participatory culture. And it will curb the corporate invasion of realms that we hold dear: nature, our minds, our food, and our democracy.”

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