According to Fritjof Capra, in an open letter to President Obama, Brazil shows the way forward in institutionalizing channels of dialogue and cooperation with civil society. We would only make one amendment. Civil society is not just an “international coalition of NGOs” and think thanks anymore (as implied in a paragraph by Capra in this… Continue reading
The tragedy of the distorted commons
I call commons that are tied to capitalist growth distorted commons, where capital has successfully subordinated non-monetary values to its primary goal of accumulation. In the excellent issue 5 of Turbulence: “Massimo De Angelis explains why capital’s commons will always be distorted – because they are based upon social injustice – and why we can… Continue reading
Remarkable essay on the role of labor in a coming age of resource scarcity
This is very readable, stimulating essay on how the preference for mental over manual labour will influence coming social choices when fossil energy depletion becomes a problem. While I of course broadly agree with this preference, I do have a fear that the author absolutizes this preference, for example when he states that 100% of… Continue reading
Strategies for social movements after the meltdown
The fifth issue of Turbulence asks what political strategy is appropriate, when the common enemy, a successfull neoliberalism, has disappeared? The editorial asks: For many years, social movements could meet and recognise one another on the common ground of rejecting neoliberalism, society’s old middle ground – those discources and practices that defined the centre of… Continue reading
Volunteers Needed To Help Map the Distributed Manufacturing Ecosystem
An appeal by Suresh Fernando. Please respond via [email protected]: Text of the appeal: “In case you are not aware, OpenKollab, the Forward Foundation and the P2P Foundation are collaborating on mapping out the Distributed Manufacturing space in some detail. The benefit to you is that you will: * Learn about the Distributed Manufacturing space *… Continue reading
Relational technologies vs. inner technologies
Richard Carlson is starting an interesting series of inquiries, with great promise in terms of understanding peer to peer subjectivities. (as explained yesterday, the SCIY site is where original thought is really happening!) Here’s how it starts: “Bernard Stiegler whose works are also explored on this blogzine, who develops his concepts of relational technologies (R… Continue reading
The Incremental Housing Strat project and the and the Adaptive Architecture of the Slums
Another interesting commentary by Eric Hunting, originally written as a draft post for the Urban Nouveau site: “In recent years a new realization about the nature of the slum community has emerged among the rare conscientious architects who have taken a truly serious look at the contemporary slum and its social and economic dynamics. In… Continue reading
New environmental coalitions for distributed energy infrastructures
The need to transform electric generation from high carbon fossil fuels to non-carbon sources presents the opportunity to reorient electric generation from centralized to distributed systems. Such a transformation would also preserve western landscapes. But, as noted above, the Environmental Establishment is too close to the Obama Administration and too enamored of large-scale energy solutions… Continue reading
On Avatar: plants do really talk to each other
Also don’t miss the brilliant techno-political analysis by Pat Kane at the Play Ethic. But here is a more ecological approach which can be found in this excerpt from a review in Mother Nature (Saturday, December 26, 2009) by Mike Adams: “One of the more interesting elements in Avatar is the neural connection fibers that… Continue reading
A kickstarter appeal by James Jones for the Cubespawn project
We support this important initiative on open manufacturing, please do as well by pledging a small amount of money. James Jones: “my Kickstarter project funding seems to be stalled. If I am to make further progress this year, I need to make this work. So, I am requesting that you consider 5 or 10 dollars… Continue reading
Towards an integral, p2p approach to posthuman destinies
we focus on inner technologies of self knowledge and self-governance and their co-evolution with ethical stances appropriate to the ubiquitous technological environments we increasingly populate. For me an integral approach is an approach that refuses reductionism in any form and that combines an understanding of both (inter)subjective and (inter)objective aspects of any reality (always combining… Continue reading
On the global scaling of small group dynamics in the Diagonal Economy
Simpler alternatives fail precisely because they cannot compete with the economic power of hierarchal structures—even accounting for energy descent and other factors that undercut hierarchies. From food production to manufacturing and knowledge industries, even oppressive and poorly-functioning hierarchies will out-perform isolated self-sufficiency. Jeff Vail insists, this is a crucially important point which he promises to… Continue reading
A speed presentation on government-supported digital culture ‘commons’ initiatives in Brazil
By Jose Murillo, of the MInistry of Culture:
The Emergence of an Equally Shared Parenting Movement
Another Top 10 Sharing Trend for 2009, chosen by Shareable magazine: (go to the original article for the links below) “Father’s Day 2009 saw the emergence of a new generation of fathers promoting the shared parenting ideal along with women. Through a blizzard of media coverage in outlets that ranged from USA Today to NBC… Continue reading
Crisis, personal transformation, social engagement
RE:Invention is a movie about how people have responded to the economic downturn and how it has affected them. Rather than allowing these troubling times to create bitterness and anger, these people have taken their financially challenged situations and made positive changes to their lives.
Animals as Peers
Ryan Lanham pointed us out to an interesting article in Science, arguing for recognizing dolphins as persons. See: – Dolphins should be treated as “non-human persons” and merit special rights above other animals because they are so bright, scientists claim. This prompted the following interesting commentary by Andy Robinson, providing interesting context for the debate:… Continue reading