Critical Writing on FOSS and Wikipedia
Dear Fellow Aoiristas! I have a master student who is contemplating doing an MA Thesis on the comparative political economy of FOSS and Wikipedia. She definitely wants to approach the topic through a Marxist lens so I underscore the salience of "political economy" here. My first take on her proposal is that she is awfully naive about the incipient "info communism" of Wiikipedia but really needs some good critical empirical work to lift the histomat scales from her eyes. Any suggestions you might have our comrade, however deviant or deviationist, would be most appreciated. IR 12 is coming! AH Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor and Chairperson Department of Communication Studies Graduate Program in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693
Hey, I've just finished my thesis on the ideology of FOSS and its various uses. Unfortunately, it's not in English. However I would recommend as a good way to lose one's illusions Matteo Pasquinelli's book "Animal Spirits": http://matteopasquinelli.com/animal-spirits. Also a bit radical but very interesting is "The Telekommunist Manifesto" by Dmytri Kleiner: http://www.networkcultures.org/_uploads/%233notebook_telekommunist.pdf I found both authors very provocative as they are making critique from within the left. Good luck to your student :)) Julia ________________________________ From: Andrew Herman <aherman@wlu.ca> To: air-l@aoir.org Sent: Monday, October 3, 2011 1:17 PM Subject: [Air-L] Critical Writing on FOSS and Wikipedia Dear Fellow Aoiristas! I have a master student who is contemplating doing an MA Thesis on the comparative political economy of FOSS and Wikipedia. She definitely wants to approach the topic through a Marxist lens so I underscore the salience of "political economy" here. My first take on her proposal is that she is awfully naive about the incipient "info communism" of Wiikipedia but really needs some good critical empirical work to lift the histomat scales from her eyes. Any suggestions you might have our comrade, however deviant or deviationist, would be most appreciated. IR 12 is coming! AH Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor and Chairperson Department of Communication Studies Graduate Program in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693 _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Hello, Andrew, Besides the already mentioned "The Telekommunist Manifesto" by Dmytri Kleiner, I would also recommend to her Johan Söderberg's "Hacking Capitalism" (http://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Capitalism-Routledge-Information-Technology/dp... & http://p2pfoundation.net/Hacking_Capitalism) and The dotCommunist Manifesto by Eben Moglen (http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/my_pubs/dcm.html). Nick Dyer-Whiteford "Cyber-Marx" (http://www.fims.uwo.ca/people/faculty/dyerwitheford/) may also be useful for historical background. Best regards, 2011/10/3 Andrew Herman <aherman@wlu.ca>:
Dear Fellow Aoiristas!
I have a master student who is contemplating doing an MA Thesis on the comparative political economy of FOSS and Wikipedia. She definitely wants to approach the topic through a Marxist lens so I underscore the salience of "political economy" here. My first take on her proposal is that she is awfully naive about the incipient "info communism" of Wiikipedia but really needs some good critical empirical work to lift the histomat scales from her eyes.
Any suggestions you might have our comrade, however deviant or deviationist, would be most appreciated.
IR 12 is coming!
AH
Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor and Chairperson Department of Communication Studies Graduate Program in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693
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Hi Andrew- For the FOSS side of things, I suggest one of two books of interviews-narratives-case studies: The first is "Open Sources" from O'Reilly. It's from 1999. http://www.amazon.com/Open-Sources-Voices-Revolution-OReilly/dp/1565925823/ There's a more recent follow-up which I haven't read from 2005, "Open Sources 2.0". http://www.amazon.com/Open-Sources-2-0-Continuing-Evolution/dp/0596008023/ I could go on a long time about the importance of fun, play, and making things, but few people tend to respect these answers -- I suspect because people find them too simple. However I would point you towards Linus Torvald's "Just for Fun" ( http://www.amazon.com/Just-Fun-Story-Accidental-Revolutionary/dp/0066620724 ) and Stuart Brown's "Play" ( http://www.stuartbrownmd.com/ ). Homo sapiens is geared towards play and making things, and we find them fundamentally rewarding. I'll toss in this mention of prehistoric bone flutes from thousands of years ago, which we made so we could make/play music, because it's all the same thing. -Nat. On Oct 3, 2011, at 6:17 AM, Andrew Herman wrote:
Dear Fellow Aoiristas!
I have a master student who is contemplating doing an MA Thesis on the comparative political economy of FOSS and Wikipedia. She definitely wants to approach the topic through a Marxist lens so I underscore the salience of "political economy" here. My first take on her proposal is that she is awfully naive about the incipient "info communism" of Wiikipedia but really needs some good critical empirical work to lift the histomat scales from her eyes.
Any suggestions you might have our comrade, however deviant or deviationist, would be most appreciated.
IR 12 is coming!
AH
Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor and Chairperson Department of Communication Studies Graduate Program in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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------------------------------- Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D. http://natpoor.blogspot.com/ https://sites.google.com/site/natpoor/
Let me add to the list "The Hacker Ethic", by Peka Himanen http://www.amazon.com/Pekka-Himanen/e/B000APTXEE Best, Alejandro Tortolini Science&Tech journalist - Teacher Buenos Aires - Argentina
My forthcoming book, Configuring the Networked Self: Law, Code, and the Play of Everyday Practice, develops a theoretical perspective on the construction and political economy of the networked information society that places play at the center. However the conception of play it articulates moves beyond deliberate, creative play to include tactical play, serendipity, and the like. Publication date is Jan. 2012; chapter 1 is available here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1916233 - Julie -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Nathaniel Poor Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 11:56 AM To: Andrew Herman Cc: air-l@aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Critical Writing on FOSS and Wikipedia Hi Andrew- For the FOSS side of things, I suggest one of two books of interviews-narratives-case studies: The first is "Open Sources" from O'Reilly. It's from 1999. http://www.amazon.com/Open-Sources-Voices-Revolution-OReilly/dp/15659258 23/ There's a more recent follow-up which I haven't read from 2005, "Open Sources 2.0". http://www.amazon.com/Open-Sources-2-0-Continuing-Evolution/dp/059600802 3/ I could go on a long time about the importance of fun, play, and making things, but few people tend to respect these answers -- I suspect because people find them too simple. However I would point you towards Linus Torvald's "Just for Fun" ( http://www.amazon.com/Just-Fun-Story-Accidental-Revolutionary/dp/0066620 724 ) and Stuart Brown's "Play" ( http://www.stuartbrownmd.com/ ). Homo sapiens is geared towards play and making things, and we find them fundamentally rewarding. I'll toss in this mention of prehistoric bone flutes from thousands of years ago, which we made so we could make/play music, because it's all the same thing. -Nat. On Oct 3, 2011, at 6:17 AM, Andrew Herman wrote:
Dear Fellow Aoiristas!
I have a master student who is contemplating doing an MA Thesis on the comparative political economy of FOSS and Wikipedia. She definitely wants to approach the topic through a Marxist lens so I underscore the salience of "political economy" here. My first take on her proposal is that she is awfully naive about the incipient "info communism" of Wiikipedia but really needs some good critical empirical work to lift the histomat scales from her eyes.
Any suggestions you might have our comrade, however deviant or deviationist, would be most appreciated.
IR 12 is coming!
AH
Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor and Chairperson Department of Communication Studies Graduate Program in Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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------------------------------- Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D. http://natpoor.blogspot.com/ https://sites.google.com/site/natpoor/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
participants (6)
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Alejandro Tortolini -
Andrew Herman -
Juli Rone -
Julie Cohen -
Miguel Afonso Caetano -
Nathaniel Poor