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
Movement of the Day: ScholRev
ScholRev is a community in favor of the Open Scholarly Revolution This is from the mission statement draft, crafted by Eugenio Battaglia et al.: “#ScholRev is a decentralized union of scientists, educators, programmers and digital enthusiasts which share the vision to deliver a series of open tools in order to create, disseminate and evaluate scholarship… Continue reading