Project Chanology has never had a hierarchy and in fact almost by definition of the group cannot have one. So right away I have this example of a group that has never had leadership for three years. Why does Tufekci think this is not possible? A contributrion by Jeff Jacobsen : “Dr. Zeynep Tufekci is… Continue reading
P2P University accepting course proposals
The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) wants you to get involved in organising the next cycle of courses for 18 April. If you’ve got an idea for a course, study group or workshop you’d like to participate in, simply create a course plan or view existing course drafts to see how fellow organisers are planning… Continue reading
Berkman Center launches the Digital Public Library of America
The Berkman Center will convene a large and diverse group of stakeholders to define the scope, architecture, costs, and administration for a proposed Digital Public Library of America. This initiative was launched in December 2010 with generous support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Planning activities will be guided by a Steering Committee of library… Continue reading
How Developing Countries Can Manage Intellectual Property Rights to Maximize Access to Knowledge
“Access to Knowledge” project has undertaken research and supported initiatives at the domestic and multilateral levels aiming at promoting access to knowledge as a tool for development. The main project activities have been twofold: (1)policy-oriented research in the areas of IP law, knowledge governance and media convergence, and (2) technical assistance and capacity-building activities provided… Continue reading
Interview: On Marvin Brown’s ‘Civic’ Economics of Provision
Paul M. Davis, Neal Gorenflo of Shareable and I sent questions to Marvin Brown, author of our book of the year at the P2P Foundation, i.e. Civilizing the Economy: A New Economics of Provision. Excerpted from the edited version at Shareable: “Michel Bauwens: The key topic of your book, as I see it, is the… Continue reading
The role of citizenship, institutions, and the state in social change
We can’t stand by and leave political institutions to those who want to be free of the pressures of the power of self?determining citizens. We need to occupy those institutions where we can while at the same time organising to replace them The following is taken from an interesting dialogue between John Holloway and Hilary… Continue reading
Fight Back!: exploring the horizontalism of the UK anti-cuts movement
A number of themes cut through the different sections of the book. One underlying theme is the importance of forms of organizing based around fluid networks and consensus decision-making (see the chapter by Guy Aitchison and Aaron Peters). A related theme is the importance of social media in coordinating action within these networks. Fight Back!… Continue reading
Academic Knowledge, Open Access and Democracy: A Call for Action
Arcadia has submitted a paper to the Hargreaves review on IP that presents an evidence-based case for Open Access. They believe that publicly-funded research should be available online and free for scholars and the public alike, and the paper recommends the steps needed to be taken by government for a fairer and more democratic access… Continue reading
The Solar Commons in Phoenix: where the sun shines for everybody
Reproduced from David Bollier‘s excellent Commons-dedicated blog: “A small group of innovative commoners in Phoenix is closing in on an innovative breakthrough: a commons-based revenue model for photovoltaic solar energy development in cities. It’s called the Solar Commons, which sports the tagline, “The sun shines for everyone.” The idea is to use the public rights… Continue reading
The tipping point in Madison, Wisconsin
The sleeping giant, American workers, have awakened, an emotional Michael Moore on the Rachel Maddel show:
Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010 now available under CC license
Digital Scholarship has released the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography 2010. This 466-page book presents over 3,800 selected English-language articles, books, and other textual sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. It covers digital copyright, digital libraries, digital preservation, digital rights management, digital repositories, economic issues, electronic books and texts,… Continue reading
Rebuilding Egyptian Media for a Democratic Future
Reforming the media is an urgent part of the democratisation called for by Egypt’s 25 January revolution. Cairo University’s Faculty of Mass Communication has therefore made it a priority to assess different options for a democratic system of media and communication in Egypt. In order to develop a model that enables a free flow of… Continue reading
Journal of Community Informatics: Call for Papers for Special issue on Open Data
Call for Proposals The Journal of Community Informatics (http://ci-journal.net) is a focal point for the communication of research that is of interest to a global network of academics, Community Informatics practitioners and national and multi-lateral policy makers. We invite submission of original, unpublished articles for a forthcoming special edition of the Journal that will focus… Continue reading
The play struggle of the hackers, and capitalism
These are excerpts from the draft version of Johan Soderbergh’s book, Hacking Capitalism. Johan Soderbergh: “The skirmishes between the hacker movement and corporations and governments have deeper roots than is shown by the confrontations over treacherous code, hostile legislations, and public smear campaigns. More fundamental is that the norms and aspirations motivating people to be… Continue reading
Activism before and after social media: the case of Jordan
From Sohail Dahdal, Jordanian activist, based on his own experiences: “Two decades ago, 23 years to be precise, there was an increase in the price of bread and oil in Jordan. I was then living in a poor neighbourhood in Amman and I remember waking up to spontaneous demonstrations in the streets outside my house…. Continue reading
Book of the Week (2): Jay Walljasper on how commonism is replacing neoliberalism
This book crystallized for me the understanding that a healthy economy, like a healthy ecoystem, is based upon rich diversity. The economics chapter of All That We Share enthusiastically points to worker cooperatives, state-owned businesses, capitalism 3.0, privately-run trusts, government-run trusts, regulation in the public interest, and entrepreneurship in the public interest as models of… Continue reading