Johan, Alessandro: OK, we'll aim for Monday then. I will remove the
contact ref from the CFP. Just to be clear, I will be posting the
CFP as well on the lists I mentioned, right?
All: Below is a draft announcement, let me know if you think it is
too detailed, or if anything does not sound right...?
cheers
Mathieu
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CSPP: LAUNCH OF CRITICAL STUDIES IN PEER PRODUCTION JOURNAL
[apologies for multiple posts]
CSPP
We are thrilled to announce the release of the first issue of
Critical Studies in Peer Production (CSPP) a new open access, online
journal that focuses on the implications of peer production for
social change. We understand peer production as a mode of
commons-based and oriented production in which participation is
voluntary and predicated on the self-selection of tasks. Notable
examples are the collaborative development of Free Software projects
and of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. For a general description
of our aims please refer to: http://cspp.oekonux.org/
Innovative mechanisms such as discussion of journal policy on
publicly archived lists, community vetting of proposals, signaling
of published articles by referees, and publication of referee
reports will enable Critical Studies in Peer Production to promote
reviewer activity and widen the scope of publishable material,
whilst also protecting the journal's reputational research capital.
To learn more about our peer review process see:
http://cspp.oekonux.org/journal/peer-review
RESEARCH
Peer activism
The inaugural issue of CSPP begins the exploration of whether peer
production constitutes an alternative to the social order. The
Research section considers peer projects as a form of infra-politics
or 'subactivism' which eschews traditional formats and
mobilisations, with papers tracking the actions, justifications and
legitimations of participants in two emblematic examples of
commons-based and oriented peer production, Swedish file-sharing and
Wikipedia.
The origins and impacts of the Swedish file-sharing movement
Jonas Andersson
The recent history of Swedish peer-to-peer-based file-sharing forms
part of a wider shift in politics towards a late-modern collective
ethic. Everyday file-sharers operate as ‘occasional activists’, as
pirate institutions not only speak for, but also run and build the
networks. Such institutions cannot be explained by invoking market
logics, online communitarianism, or political motivation alone. The
cyberliberties activism animating these hubs is connected to the
larger framework of balancing utilitarianism, nationalism,
individual autonomy and collectivism in Sweden.
http://cspp.oekonux.org/research/peer-activism/rs1.1-swedish-file-sharing
The sociology of critique in Wikipedia
Mathieu O'Neil
Legitimate domination in commons-based peer production projects such
as Wikipedia rests on two main principles: the extraordinary
qualities of charismatic individuals and collectively-formulated
norms and rules. Self-governed authority is in turn based on a
critique of separated power in the realms of expertise and justice.
It thereby constitutes a prefigurative response to widespread
democratic aspirations in technologically advanced societies. But
what are the questions and issues raised by this critique? And how
should we define "critique"?
http://cspp.oekonux.org/research/peer-activism/rs-1.2-sociology-of-critique
DEBATE
Our Debate section aims to foster robust discussions where both
parties fully recognise, understand and question each other's
position. Starting with an evaluation of Actor-Network Theory, we
examine the most productive means of mapping and contesting power,
particularly in anti-authoritarian projects.
ANT and power
Johan Söderberg, Nathaniel Tkacz, Mathieu O'Neil
Söderberg begins by elucidating the philosophical foundations on
which ANT was built, declaring that many of the attractive features
within ANT can be found elsewhere, in a more politically effective
tradition, that of Marxism. In response, Tkacz argues that the
political insights afforded by ANT are not reducible to the Marxist
tradition, and that ANT is especially well suited to describe how
force flows through peer-production projects - projects which
already perform their own critique of Capital. In reply, O'Neil
writes that ANT and Foucault's networked conceptions of power do not
account for how domination is reproduced over time or for people's
inner sense of justice, preventing ANT from constituting a credible
alternative.
http://cspp.oekonux.org/debate/ant-power
Conference reports: Critical Point of View, 3rd Free Culture
Research Conference
Johana Nyesito & Nathaniel Tkacz, Leonhard Dobusch & Michelle Thorne
Too often academic conferences end up only as another notch on a
publication list; not enough time is spent assessing, and
documenting, what has been learnt in theoretical and organisational
terms. Were goals met? What could have been done differently? In our
Report section Nyesito & Tkacz and Dobusch & Thorne, the organisers
of two conferences which took place in 2010 - Critical Point of
View and the 3rd Free Culture Research Conference – offer
self-reflective appraisals of the discursive and political impact
of conference organisation.
http://cspp.oekonux.org/reports
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http://www.oekonux.org/journal