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Page last modified 21:50, 12 Apr 2009 by Jonah

Left Forum 09

  1. 1. Internet Labor Brainstorming Workspace (panel)
  2. 2. Blurbs
    1. 2.1. Trebor
    2. 2.2. Cara
    3. 2.3. Jonah
      1. 2.3.1. Personal Transformations
      2. 2.3.2. Petri Dishes
      3. 2.3.3. Percolating Values
      4. 2.3.4. Constructionist Learning
      5. 2.3.5. Gateway to Political Action
      6. 2.3.6. Free Energy
      7. 2.3.7. Economic (R)evolutions
  3. 3. Brainstorming
    1. 3.1. Links and Resources
 

Internet Labor Brainstorming Workspace (panel)

Panelists:Trebor Scholz, Cara O'Connor, Jonah Bossewitch

Respondant: Ken Wark

I suggest that we start by writing an introductory paragraph.

Blurbs

As our lives become more and more enmeshed in the Internet we find that the meaning of our "labor" as internet-users--whose "free" labor is an engine for profit--becomes increasingly ambiguous--and potentially opaque to ourselves. How can we protect our shared interests and simultaneously expand our horizons within the existing global-capitalist system? Can we collectively navigatate these complexities and adapt new forms of strategic agency?

We offer three different perspectives on the hazards and potential of our situation, particularly as it relates to economic crises. Trebor Scholz discusses micro-labor--how we are exploited in ways that are oddly painless (but significant in the long-term) and how at the same time we might be able to wrest some agency from platform-controlling corporations through demands for payments based on traffic to our sites, etc. What are the limits to such a strategy? Does it just reinforce a status-quo or does it take us beyond? Similarly, Cara O'Connor discusses the relationship between activism that is geared toward economic justice and the "space of appearance" and public happiness that may form the backdrop of activism, offered, so-to-speak, by Facebook. How far can young people go in relying on the Facebook platform (or similar social networking sites run by corporate interests) to provide a quasi-public space? What does the April 6 movement say about all this? Jonah Bossewitch shares his perspective on the self-actualizing and transformative potential of communal creative expression, and the liberating qualities intrinsic to architectures of freedom.  Why is free-software such a radical idea?  Based on his experiences as a free software developer, educator, and activist, he will discuss how this movement's strategies and tactics might inform issues such as micro-labor and student activism.

Trebor
Cara

As we discussed last night, I am thinking about how to discuss the April 6 movement in relation to some Arendtian concepts, particularly what she has to say about what counts as action and what counts as the "space of appearance" and how this relates to her discussions of "public happiness." Looking critically (but also hopefully) at the developments that happened with Egyptian students in their "spontaneous" efforts to address the food crisis and to join with textile workers, we might be able to think about how Facebook shaped and contributed to both the pros and cons of students' activities and how the "space of appearance" constituted by the "plurality" that is visible to one another on Facebook leads to and/or limits possibilities of a culture more interested in "public happiness" than just "private welfare."

Jonah
Personal Transformations

  • From mercenary to freedom fighter

  • throwaways, one-offs vs. sophisticated, long term crafstmanship

  • Commons-based peer production & Community as a means to mitigating oppression and exploitation

Petri Dishes

  • Ecology of a Free Software Project:

  • Artifacts (Software/Technology), Community, and the Processes that bind them

  • breeding ground for experimentation with models of structure and governance

  • Reflective and self/community-conscious (and -organized, -determined, and -satisfying)
Percolating Values
  • Organized for community and access to knowledge
  • Structures and processes evolved to accommodate change
  • Honesty, Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability
  • Agile, responsive, and self-determined growth
  • not soley market-driven
  • Tools embody and reflect these priorities ("Software as an artifact of community")
Constructionist Learning

  • Learning by making and doing

  • Learning through the conscious construction of public entities actualized in particular contexts

  • Individuals are encouraged to construct meaning for themselves

  • Progressive internalization of action

Gateway to Political Action

  • practically engage directly in politics

  • personally taste the fruit of political action.

  • ethics, governance, and social justice

  • awakening to civic activation, engagement, and maintenance

Free Energy
  • What if traditional forms of political process fail?
  • What lessons can activists learn from the free software/free culture movements, both tactically and strategically?
  • Tactically - advanced communication technologies can play a central role in distributing knowledge, building communities and operating more efficiently
  • Strategically - present choices to individuals, encouraging them to act politically, thereby engaging them in the political questions and discourse.
  • direct participation → raises awareness and understanding → catalyst for idealogical transformation
  • Cultivate the will necessary to sustain the pressure required for true reform.
Economic (R)evolutions

  • “There's been an assumption that since communism failed, capitalism is triumphant, therefore human sharing can support self-interests and result in greater value and wealth.

  • With cooperation and trust, everybody can gain a smaller piece of a much larger pie, netting an absolutely greater value than selfish competition.


Brainstorming

Links and Resources
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