Hi all Best wishes for 2013. Pretty swamped right now with different commitments so I'll keep this short. The registration for the journal URL had to be renewed. Franco fronted the money and Nate and Maurizio then donated some cash to the P2P Foundation. @Franco: does this cover your costs? @all: do we need to have a discussion about some kind of long-term solution so we don't need to do this every year? (if that is possible) Other news: -This month Johan published an article debating / criticising the background of hardware hacking / makers in Le monde diplomatique (in French); not sure if it will be translated? -It looks as if Christian Fuchs' (and others) work to bring Marx into the mainstream of Internet / communication studies is starting to pay off - I've never heard of the editors for the following CFP but they are all US-based and it is not that common (I think) for US researchers in this field to make these kinds of connections... cheers Mathieu ---------- Forwarded message ---------- THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (TIS) CFP: Monetization of User-Generated Content — Marx revisited Forum Editors: Jennifer Proffitt, School of Communication, Florida State University Hamid Ekbia, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington Stephen McDowell, School of Communication, Florida State University Two TIS articles, Fuchs (2010) and Arvidsson & Colleoni (2012), which develops a critique of the former, have generated considerable debate, including a response from Fuchs (2012), regarding fundamental questions about the core processes of value creation and social and economic organization in contemporary societies. To further this conversation, we invite 4000- 5000 word Perspective essays, which are published at the discretion of the guest editors / editor, and should address one or more of the following questions the Fuchs and Arvidsson & Colleoni debate problematizes: * Is the production of user-generated content a form of labor? Or, should it be re-thought as an affective investment? Or something else? * Do the theory and concepts that are part of a labor theory of value limit our understanding of user-generated content? Should we choose a different point of departure for our theoretical endeavors? * Is the Marxist notion of commodity an appropriate analytic for understanding appropriation of value in the case of user-generated content? Or, should it be de-centered from such an analysis? * Is the notion of “labor time” relevant to the production of user-generated content? * How can Marxist and historical-critical perspectives engage with the new organization of information economies and information societies? * Is it appropriate to extend Dallas Smythe’s notion of “audience work,” which he developed in 1970s when broadcasting was the dominant mode, to the Internet world? What are the problematics of extending “old” theories to “new” technologies? The Perspective essays should have layers of thought that take the thinking beyond Fuchs and Arvidsson & Colleoni. Approximately half of the essay should be devoted to a reflection on / critique of these writings and the ensuing debate, and the remaining half should extend / add to the theoretical foundations of the debate. Interested authors are invited to email an abstract (no longer than 500 words) to Jennifer Proffitt (email: [email protected]) by March 1, 2013. Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit their Perspective essays by July 1, 2013. For pdf copies of Fuchs (2010) and Arvidsson & Colleoni (2012), please send an email to [email protected] Sources Arvidsson, A., and E. Colleoni. 2012. Value in informational capitalism and on the Internet. The Information Society 28(3): 135-150. Fuchs, C. 2010. Labor in informational capitalism and on the Internet. The Information Society 26(3): 179 -196. Fuchs, C. 2012. With or without Marx? With or without capitalism? A rejoinder to Adam Arvidsson and Eleanor Colleoni. tripleC 10(2): 633-645. ****************************************************************