January 2016 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Fwd: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: [foodsovUK discussion list] Update - Polish Food and Farmers
by Michel Bauwens 23 Jan '16

23 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Anna Harris <anna(a)shsh.co.uk> Date: Sat, Jan 23, 2016 at 10:47 PM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: [foodsovUK discussion list] Update - Polish Food and Farmers To: "networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org" <networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org > Begin forwarded message: *From:* "Fundacja ICPPC" <biuro(a)icppc.pl> *Date:* 22 January 2016 at 12:43:14 GMT *To:* <foodsov.uk.coordination(a)lists.riseup.net> *Subject:* *[foodsovUK discussion list] Update - Polish Food and Farmers* *Reply-To:* "Fundacja ICPPC" <biuro(a)icppc.pl> "Direct From the Farmer" Gains Ground! The new government in Poland is responding to our campaign to free-up the drastically repressive food and hygiene regulations that have dogged the Country’s small and medium sized farmers for decades. Up until now, governments have outlawed the sale of on-farm processed foods unless farmers establish their operations as a separate business and in a separate hygienically sanitised building; something that is unaffordable to the great majority of small farmers whose holdings typically range from between 3 and 10 hectares. However, an International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside campaign to change this position and to free-up Poland’s 1.3 million small family farms to operate autonomously - and to direct-sell their produce locally - is gaining momentum and is not, thus far, seen as being at odds with the agenda of the new government. ICPPC has now produced a Charter for Real Food (see below) which outlines the key factors essential to maintaining both food security and food sovereignty in Poland. The Charter has already been signed by a significant number of farmers, organizations and individuals and has been sent to parliamentarians and to the Minister of Agriculture and The Environment. At the same time we are writing a new Act ourselves, in close consultation with other farmers. The Act will spell-out conditions for a farmer-friendly supply and demand market, critical to the survival of family farming traditions in Poland. In this, we have been fortunate to have the support of the new chairman of the Agricultural Committee (Jaroslaw Sachajko) in the Sejme (Polish parliament) who is a prominent member of the Kukis'15 movement which attracted 12% of the vote in the recent (October 2015) elections. Working closely with Sachajko has enabled us to form the wording of the new Act into the necessary legal terminology to be presented to parliament. It is noteworthy that the government is open for such a ‘citizen led’ initiative. However, hammering out the exact wording among a group farmers and supportive consumers is a tough undertaking; but one which Jadwiga has taken-on with determination. For those who have followed the story: The European Commission stated outright, back in 2001, that it is the EU’s intention to eradicate the peasant farming tradition in Poland - and no doubt anywhere else where it survives - and to restructure its agriculture by merging small farms into large scale enterprises able to ‘be competitive in the world market’. We all know what that means: large scale agrochemical monoculture exporting commodities onto the highly volatile global market place. Whatever emerges in 2016, we remain committed to helping ‘hold the Polish line’ made up as it is of small and medium sized independent family farms forming both the bedrock and backbone of the nation’s essential food security and sovereignty. Let’s hope that the fruits of this ongoing struggle ultimately be felt far beyond Poland’s borders. You can donate to ICPPC's activities here http://icppc.pl/index.php/en/support-us.html Many thanks! Jadwiga Lopata and Julian Rose ========================== ICPPC - International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside, 34-146 Stryszow 156, Poland tel./fax +48 33 8797114 biuro(a)icppc.pl www.icppc.pl www.gmo.icppc.pl www.eko-cel.pl Julian's website ABOUT BOOK: www.julianrose.info Charter for Real Food In respect for the fine tradition of peasant and family farming that uniquely maintains the rich and productive biodiversity of the Polish Countryside and some of the finest farm foods available in Europe, we (the below) call upon the government to put into immediate affect the points stated in this 'Charter for Real Food' * That special dispensation is given to small and medium sized independent family farms to process and sell their home raised and home processed farmhouse foods without being required to comply with inappropriate and unnecessary hygiene and sanitary conditions designed for large commercial businesses. * That recognition and support is given to the vital role that small and medium sized independent family farms play in protecting and maintaining the vital food sovereignty and food security of the nation's primary food supply. * That equally, recognition and support is given to the key role that small and medium-sized family farms play in protecting the essential biodiversity of nature that characterises the special quality of the Polish Countryside. * That consumers, requiring good quality natural foods in order to maintain a robust and long lasting natural health, are given ample opportunity to choose to buy such foods from within their local communities. * That, following on from this, small shops, schools, local restaurants and markets are not restricted or prohibited from purchasing a fully diverse range of local foods from (good) local farmers. * That further to this, consumers are encouraged to understand the superior health value of local fresh and flavourful foods that maintain their full complement of natural vitamins and nutrients. * That a sincere effort is made to catalyse a renaissance of 'real food from real farmers', the benefits of which will extend to a rejuvenation of local rural economies and a flowering of the arts and culture of the Polish Countryside. * That the government, gives ample opportunity to young and aspiring farmers, to rent productive land currently held by government agencies, for the purpose of maintaining a career in farming both now and in perpetuity for their children. ========== You received this message because you are subscribed to the UK food sovereignty coordination list, foodsov.uk.coordination(a)lists.riseup.net If you don't want to be on this list, send an email to: foodsov.uk.coordination-unsubscribe(a)lists.riseup.net _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Call for book proposals: Critical Digital & Social Media Studies OA book series
by Christian Fuchs 22 Jan '16

22 Jan '16

"Critical Digital & Social Media Studies" is a book seried edited by Christian Fuchs on behalf of the Westminster Insitute for Advanced Studies and published by the University of Westminster Press. It publishes books that critically study the role of the Internet, digital and social media in society and make critical interventions. We invite submissions of book proposals that fall into the scope of the series. Deadline: March 1, 2016 The books in the series are published in an open access format available online without payment using a Creative Commons licence (CC-BY-NC-ND) and simultaneously as affordable paperbacks. We are able to publish a number of books in the call without any book processing charges thanks to support by the University of Westminster Library. Details: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news/2016/critical-digital-and-social-media-s… http://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/news/ The Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies http://www.westminster.ac.uk/wias is a new interdisciplinary institute at the University of Westminster. Its inaugural research theme is critical digital & social media research. Subscription to its newsletter is possible here: http://www.westminster.ac.uk/newsletter The University of Westminster Press is an open access publishing house. Media, communication & culturalstudies is one of the academic publishing fields it specialises in: http://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/

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Fwd: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: State of Power 2016: essays on democracy by Varoufakis, Bello and others
by Michel Bauwens 22 Jan '16

22 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nick Buxton <nicholasbuxton(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 12:28 AM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: State of Power 2016: essays on democracy by Varoufakis, Bello and others To: networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org Hi folks, There are some good essays in here that I am sure will be of interest to folk in this list. Best wishes, Nick -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: State of Power 2016: essays on democracy by Varoufakis, Bello and others Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2016 09:33:32 +0100 From: Transnational Institute <news(a)tni.org> <news(a)tni.org> Reply-To: Transnational Institute <news(a)tni.org> <news(a)tni.org> To: nick(a)nickbuxton.info If you are having problems viewing this message, please click here <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/state-of-power-2016> to view online January, 2015 State of Power 2016 report [image: Transnational Institute] <http://tni.org> [image: Facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/TransnationalInstitute> [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/tninstitute> [image: En espanol] <#-1120282087_es1> [image: Image of cover of State of Power - links to full report] <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/state-of-power-2016> TNI is proud to present its fifth annual State of Power 2016 report. This year we explore the intersect of power and democracy, with essays by prominent and new activists and academics - including an exclusive interview with former Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis. See a summary of all the essays below or download the full report here » <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/state-of-power-2016> <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/democracy-power-and-sovereignty-in-today…> Democracy, power and sovereignty in today’s Europe Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis argues that the nation-state is dead and democracy in the EU has been replaced by a toxic algorithmic depoliticisation that, if it is not confronted, will lead to depression, disintegration and possibly war. He calls for a launch of a pan-European movement to democratise Europe, to save it before it is too late. Read the interview » <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/democracy-power-and-sovereignty-in-today…> <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/democracy-power-and-sovereignty-in-today…> Democracy is dead: Long live democracies! *An introduction to State of Power 2016 by Hilary Wainright.* Building a real democracy in the face of corporate and financial power will require a rethinking of power and agency, unleashing the creative, experimental, knowledge-sharing and emancipatory approaches of social movements. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/democracy-is-dead-long-live-democracies> <https://www.tni.org/en/article/davos-and-its-danger-to-democracy> Davos and its danger to Democracy We are increasingly entering a world where gatherings such as Davos are not laughable billionaire playgrounds, but rather the future of global governance. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/en/article/davos-and-its-danger-to-democracy> <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/who-does-the-world-economic-forum-really…> Who does the World Economic Forum really represent? TNI takes a close look at the World Economic Forum’s Board to see who they represent, their economic interests and political beliefs. Might this be the future of global governance? Read briefing » <https://www.tni.org/en/publication/who-does-the-world-economic-forum-really…> | View Infographic » <http://davosclass.tni.org/> A global post-democratic order <https://www.tni.org/node/22744> Leigh Phillips In the era of globalisation, the steady removal of decision-making from democratic chambers by EU elites is serving as a blueprint for post-democratic governance around the world. Progressives must be ambitious and start putting forward ideas for a democratic world government as a viable alternative. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22744> Economics as ideology: challenging expert political power <https://www.tni.org/node/22746> Elaine Coburn Economics often appears boring, but this narrow, mostly male dominated profession decides on matters intimately bound up with questions of power, democracy and vital matters of health, education, social welfare and the environment. Meaningful democracy requires the participation of ordinary people in economic debates, so that they can shape their own lives in solidarity with others. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22746> The tyranny of global finance <https://www.tni.org/node/22747/> Walden Bello Against all expectations, financial capital has emerged even stronger after the financial crisis having staved off regulation and putting the blame on public spending. But its victory is likely a pyrrhic one as a new crisis looms, one in which the global public could learn from victories such as reforms in Iceland and finally reassert its control over money. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22747/> Multi-stakeholderism: a corporate push for a new form of global governance <https://www.tni.org/node/22749/> Harris Gleckman The World Economic Forum’s Global Redesign Initiative is perhaps the best reflection of how corporations and other elites envision the future of governance. It calls for marginalising intergovernmental decision-making with a system of multi-stakeholder governance, but what does this mean for democracy, accountability and the rule of law? Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22749/> Case study: nutrition and food – how government for and of the people became government for and by the TNCs <https://www.tni.org/node/22750> Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente Advocating multistakeholderism in the area of food and nutrition has been one of the main strategies for advancing a pro-corporate agricultural agenda that results in dispossession of small-scale farmers. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22750> “To change the heart and soul”: How elites contained the global climate justice movement <https://www.tni.org/node/22751> Herbert Docena Corporate executives and climate skeptics that mobilise against strong international climate change agreements have rightly been the focus of attention of many people concerned about the climate crisis. But another group of elites—those who actually believe in climate change —may paradoxically have done more to block effective solutions to the crisis. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22751> Precarity, power and democracy <https://www.tni.org/node/22734> Tom George The increasingly precarious nature of work and life poses a serious threat to democracy as it undermines our social fabric, atomizes individuals and seeks to personalize blame for economic insecurity. What potential is there for ‘the precariat’ to become a new kind of social movement with a collective vision to reimagine contemporary life? Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22734> Freedom technologists and the future of global justice <https://www.tni.org/node/22730> John Postill In the wake of early 2010s upheavals such as the Arab Spring, Spain’s indignados, or the global Occupy movement, many commentators were quick to either invoke the presumed tech-savvy of ‘digital natives’ or the purported ‘cyber-utopianism’ of net freedom advocates who supported the protests. But what role have internet freedom activists – or ‘freedom technologists’ – played in ongoing struggles for progressive political change around the world and how can the pursuit of liberty be combined with the struggle for social justice? Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22730> The open source city as the transnational democratic future <https://www.tni.org/node/22732> Bernardo Gutierrez Experiences and experiments in Spain, Brazil, Istanbul and other cities suggest that a transnational municipalism, based on concepts of an open source city (free online tools and active citizen participation), has the potential to regenerate democracy and build a geopolitics of the commons against neoliberalism. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22732> Power in India: radical pathways <https://www.tni.org/node/22728> Ashish Kothari & Pallav Das India has strongly entrenched power hierarchies that have historical roots but have also been exacerbated by inequalities and injustices that have deepened with economic globalisation. However grassroots political movements are emerging in India that could signal a gradual shift to direct or radical democracy, coupled with making representative democracy more accountable and ecologically sustainable. Read more » <https://www.tni.org/node/22728> En español <https://www.tni.org/en/node/22738> Democracia, poder y soberanía en la Europa de hoy En 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, exministro griego de Finanzas, se enfrentó a las poderosas instituciones europeas. En esta entrevista comparte sus experiencias y habla sobre las amenazas que se ciernen sobre Europa hoy en día, así como posibles formas para democratizarla.Leer más » <https://www.tni.org/es/publicacion/democracia-poder-y-soberania-en-la-europ…> <https://www.tni.org/en/node/22736> ¿A quién representa realmente el Foro Económico Mundial? El TNI analiza de cerca la junta directiva del Foro Económico Mundial para intentar entender a quién representan sus integrantes y cuáles son sus intereses económicos y convicciones políticas. ¿Será este el futuro de la gobernanza global? Leer más » <https://www.tni.org/en/node/22736> <http://davosclass.tni.org/es/> ¿Quiénes son la clase de Davos? Leer más » <http://davosclass.tni.org/es/> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Transnational Institute — putting ideas into movement since 1974 <http://www.tni.org>http://www.tni.org Subscribe to TNI Newsletters <https://www.tni.org/en/civicrm/mailing/subscribe> | Unsubscribe <https://www.tni.org/en/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1&jid=549&qid=1678…> | Opt Out <https://www.tni.org/en/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=549&qid=167896&h=…> _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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WEBCAST TODAY: Ours To Govern And To Own @PlatformCoop @GI_NewYork
by Joly MacFie 21 Jan '16

21 Jan '16

just starting. Please use hashtag #kswe16 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/KSWE16> when tweeting. joly posted: "Today, Thursday 21 January 2016 at 6pm EST the Goethe-Institut New York will host a follow up panel to the recent Platform Coop Conference Ours To Govern And To Own. Trebor Scholz, Associate Professor at The New School, has penned the concept of “platform" [image: livestream] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/platformcoop2>Today, *Thursday 21 January 2016* at* 6pm EST* the *Goethe-Institut New York <https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/sta/ney.html>* will host a follow up panel to the recent *Platform Coop Conference <http://platformcoop.net/> Ours To Govern And To Own <https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/sta/ney/ver.cfm?fuseaction=events.detail&ev…>*. *Trebor Scholz*, Associate Professor at The New School, has penned the concept of “platform cooperativism” to describe this movement in the making. He will be in conversation with four pioneers in this area to explore the prospects for structures of collective ownership, finance, data transparency, and democratic governance online. *Emma Yorra* of the Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, will introduce Coopify, a platform for women-led immigrant cooperatives in Brooklyn. *Brendan Martin*, founder and director of The Working World, will speak about cooperative finance. San Francisco-based author and entrepreneur *Chelsea Rustrum* will talk about her experiences with sharing communities. *Felix Weth* will introduce Fairmondo, a cooperatively-owned online-marketplace, founded in Berlin. The event will be webcast live via the *Internet Society Livestream Channel <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/platformcoop2>*. *View on Livestream: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/platformcoop2 <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/platformcoop2>* <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/platformcoop2> Comment <http://isoc-ny.org/p2/8279#respond> See all comments <http://isoc-ny.org/p2/8279#comments> *Permalink* http://isoc-ny.org/p2/8279 -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast -------------------------------------------------------------- -

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Fwd: Encyclopedia of Evil ?
by Michel Bauwens 20 Jan '16

20 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Anthony Judge <anthony.judge(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 5:47 PM Subject: Encyclopedia of Evil ? To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> Hi Michel You or may not be interested/amused by the following, my latest: Encyclopedia of Evil Claims, Claimants, Counter-claims, and Sigils Proposed facility in support of current global strategic priorities https://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs10s/evilency.php Executive summary Annex 1: Search interface adaptation to profiling evil Annex 2: Funding possibilities for insight into evil Annex 3: Existence of evil as authoritatively claimed to be an overriding strategic concern Annex 4: Framing by others of claimants of evil as evil Annex 5: Epistemological and definitional challenges to profiling evil Annex 6: Adapting a proven problem profiling methodology to profiling of evil Annex 7: Employing a problem profile as a template for an evil profile Annex 8: Evil loops and sigils as a pattern language Annex 9: Engaging fruitfully with deadly opposition and fear of transformation Best Tony -- Anthony Judge <anthony.judge(a)gmail.com> www.laetusinpraesens.org -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [commoning] TACIT FUTURES: commons + mass migration
by Michel Bauwens 20 Jan '16

20 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Krystian Woznicki <kw(a)berlinergazette.de> Date: Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 4:49 PM Subject: [commoning] TACIT FUTURES: commons + mass migration To: commoning(a)lists.commons-institut.org Hi, the follow-up to UN|COMMONS (berlinergazette.de/uncommons) is TACIT FUTURES. In this annual project the Berliner Gazette continues its work on the commons vis á vis the pressing challenges posed by the ongoing mass migration to Europe. The continent as well as each individual nation state seem incapable of upholding human rights, social justice and equality. Here, not only the deteriorating state of our democracies becomes ever more visible. Moreover, the question of the appropriate democracy model arises anew – whether democracy can really be confined to national borders or whether it should be dedicated to global citizen rights. Yet, post-Paris and post-Cologne hysteria in politics, media and civil society suggests something else. The majority seems to agree, that what's spreading in Europe today is not a humanitarian crisis but actually a security crisis. And that we should not cry for humanity and democracy, but instead for a stronger police and more authoritarian control. In fact, that we should continue buying into the new form of power, which has been unleashed in the course of the War on Terror. A power, that confronts potential as well as projected threats, while subjecting us to a culture of fear. A power, that operationalises what is "yet to happen". Ultimately a power, that renders democracy as well as future in general into the big-data driven child of algorithmic logistics. However, rather than buying into this new form of power, it's high time to question and challenge it. Despite or rather because of the current pogrom atmosphere. To begin with, are we ready to expand our notion of surveillance and understand it as the vehicle of this new form of power? And are we willing to acknowledge, that today's post-digital surveillance is reformating not only privacy and citizenship, not only economics and epidemiology, culture and climate policy, (geo-)politics and advertising, but all of this at once? Do we need long theoretical debates or is it enough to sense, that the recognition of refugees and migrants disrupts the expansion of this new form of power and paves ways for alternatives? Can we use Edward Snowden's disclosures about the surveillance-industry-state-complex to unlock the collective unconscious and to nurture counter powers? What does it take for us to imagine and build a democracy that our global, mobile and post-colonial times deserve – a "democracy without borders" or a "democracy in movement"? What is holding us back to renegotiate the very basics of social justice and sociality in general, when facing the growing number of refugees in Europe? And when do we eventually begin to work on a common future? In 2016 the Berliner Gazette will explore this terrain in practical and theoretical ways. We launch TACT FUTURES in the context of the transmediale with a program entitled "Diving into the Snowden Archives". It is a series of dialogues curated by Berliner Gazette for the transmediale 2016. Here comes the intro, followed by the links to the program module: The Snowden archives encompass documents leaked by former NSA subcontractor Edward Snowden and then published in part by major newspapers including the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Der Spiegel. These revelations initiated a global debate about the role of secret services in democracies, citizen rights in the age of digital networks, and big data and the industries of prediction. By disclosing the inner workings of a clandestine government-industry-nexus, the Snowden archives represent a kind of collective subconscious: something that society was never meant to learn about itself, its past, present, and future. In that sense the Snowden files can be seen as a message from "children from an era that is yet to be received," as Kim Ki-Duk has said. Yet the interpretations of even the published documents remain unfinished, due to their cryptic language and specialized information. And only a small percentage have been published. We can expect more revelations to emerge in the near future, though it may take decades before they all enter the public domain. In this sense, the Snowden archives not only represent a repressed awareness of the design of our social and political present, they also represent an awareness yet to come, provided we can develop the tools and capacities to decode and share them. How can we render this awareness and knowledge common and incorporate it as a vital part of our common history and common future? "Tacit Futures: Diving Into Snowden Archives" is the follow-up to UN|COMMONS and a cooperation between Berliner Gazette and transmediale in the context of the "Tacit Futures" project by Berliner Gazette. Guests include Andrew Clement (The Snowden Digital Surveillance Archive), Sandro Gaycken (Digital Society Institute / dsi.esmt.org) Evan Light (Snowden Archive-in-a-Box), Geert Lovink (Institute for Network Cultures), M. C. McGrath (The Snowden Document Search / Transparency Toolkit), Deborah Natsios (Cryptome.org/The Tally Update), Pit Schultz (nettime.org) André Rebentisch (meshcon), Maria Xynou (Surveillance without Borders), John Young (Cryptome.org/The Tally Update). Panel "Tacit Futures #1: Building Snowden Archives". Info: http://2016.transmediale.de/content/tacit-futures-1-building-snowden-archiv… Workshops "Tacit Futures #2: Connecting Snowden Archives". Info: http://2016.transmediale.de/content/tacit-futures-2-connecting-snowden-arch… What we also plan to do: The Berliner Gazette is now working on a special section in its online newspaper. Around 40 reports, essays and interviews will be published throughout the year. Creative types of all sorts will get a chance to speak about the key questions relating to TACIT FUTURES. All texts will be contributed on a voluntary basis and published under a Creative Commons license. In parallel, the Berliner Gazette will organize more than 20 meet-ups, serving as the project’s cooperative platforms for dialogue about ideas and projects. Moreover, the Berliner Gazette plans to organize various partner-events. The TACIT FUTURES project will culminate in the international Berliner Gazette conference scheduled for October/November 2016 in Berlin. Please spread the word about! We truly hope, that there will be a way to wire our ambitions and to embark upon a fruitful exchange. Best wishes, Krystian -- ------------------------------------------------- UN|COMMONS - DOCUMENTATION - EN Projects, papers, recordings, photos and videos from the international conference on the fight for common wealth: http://berlinergazette.de/uncommons ------------------------------------------------- UN|COMMONS - DOKUMENTATION - DE Projekte, Positionspapiere und Videos von der internationalen Konferenz zum Kampf um Gemeineigentum: http://berlinergazette.de/deutsch/uncommons ------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Commoning mailing list Commons-Institut e.V. Germany Commoning(a)lists.commons-institut.org https://lists.schokokeks.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/commoning -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [fcforum] FCForum‬ Outcomes, Roadmap for next fights in 2016
by Michel Bauwens 20 Jan '16

20 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Conservas <info(a)conservas.tk> Date: Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 9:21 PM Subject: [fcforum] FCForum‬ Outcomes, Roadmap for next fights in 2016 To: fcforum_info(a)list.fcforum.net, fcforum_discussion(a)list.fcforum.net, fcforum(a)list.fcforum.net Good morning, We launch the Outcomes of the Free Culture Forum 2015, our roadmap for the next civil society fights in 2016: *Index* - *Net Neutrality* http://2015.fcforum.net/en/net-neutrality/ - *Freedom of Expression and Right to Information VS Trade Secrets* http://2015.fcforum.net/en/freedom-of-expression-and-right-to-information-v… - *Copyright Positive Agenda* http://2015.fcforum.net/en/copyright-positive-agenda/ - *Transparency & Privacy* https://xnet-x.net/en/transparency-vs-privacy/ - *Right to Privacy and Encryption VS Mass Surveillance* https://xnet-x.net/en/right-to-privacy-and-encryption/ Thanks for your help spreading them: TW: <https://twitter.com/X_net_/status/68901> https://twitter.com/X_net_/status/68901164287357337 <https://twitter.com/X_net_/status/689011642873573376>6 <https://twitter.com/X_net_/status/689011642873573376> FB: https://www.facebook.com/RedX.Net/posts/757961230970333 Developed in collaboration with: Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), European Digital Rights, La Quadrature du Net, Bits of Freedom, Access Now, Initiative für Netzfreiheit, Web We Want y Gaelle Krikorian --- Other recent actions we have supported: - *Open letter to the world’s governments: Encryption isn’t a security problem. It’s a security solution* https://xnet-x.net/en/securetheinternet/ - *Open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on Net Neutrality advocacy in India* https://xnet-x.net/en/letter-to-zuckerberg-net-neutrality-in-india --- *XNET* https://xnet-x.net/ https://twitter.com/X_net https://www.facebook.com/RedX.Net If you do not want to receive information about Xnet activities please let us know in an email with the word DELETE in the subject. Sorry for any inconvenience. -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: good reminder from Turchin
by Michel Bauwens 20 Jan '16

20 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rasigan Maharajh <rasigan(a)ieri.org.za> Date: Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 1:22 PM Subject: good reminder from Turchin Naked Self-Interest is a Recipe for Social Dissolution (a response to Branko Milanovic) <http://peterturchin.com/blog/2016/01/19/naked-self-interest-is-a-recipe-for…> by Peter Turchin <http://peterturchin.com/blog/?author=3> Dear Branko, Thank you for your comment <http://peterturchin.com/blog/2016/01/14/branko-milanovic-the-iron-logic-of-…> stemming from reading *Ultrasociety <http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasociety-Years-Humans-Greatest-Cooperators-ebook/…>*. It’s a very clear and coherent statement of what many (if not most) mainstream economists believe, although they don’t usually care to formulate it as well as you did. Naturally, I disagree with it—my whole book is an extended argument for the opposite view of how societies really function, and what needs to be done to make them to function better. Let’s start by making crystal-clear what we are talking about. The main question is whether economic agents, most importantly businessmen (including both corporation officers and business owners), should be motivated solely by self-interest, or should they also be motivated by personal ethics. In your view, businessmen should act as purely selfish rational agents, whose utility functions are based solely on material benefits (to themselves). In other words, they should simply maximize how much money they get. You argue that if they act in this way, externally imposed laws and institutions that embody moral rules will ensure that their private interest will lead to greater social good. As you say, this idea goes back at least to Bernard Mandeville’s *The Fable of The Bees: or, Private Vices, Public Benefits*. [image: mandeville] <http://peterturchin.com/blog/2016/01/19/naked-self-interest-is-a-recipe-for…> Now, what do you mean social good? In economics and evolution we have a well-defined concept of public goods <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good>. Production of public goods is individually costly, while benefits are shared among all. I think you see where I am going. As we all know, selfish agents will never cooperate to produce costly public goods. I think this mathematical result should have the status of “the fundamental theorem of social sciences.” What’s very important, and something that many economists don’t appreciate, is that no amount of “good institutions” changes this fundamental result. No matter how well-designed rules are, and how good is the system of sanctions forcing people to follow the rules, if everybody is a rational agent (in the narrow sense of only maximizing their own material benefits) the system will not work. Crooks will pay the cops to look the other way, while judges would decide in favor of who pays them more. Good institutions will only work when they are buttressed by appropriate values and preferences. You will get a cooperative society that produces public goods only when enough agents, in addition to valuing material benefits, also have prosocial values. In other words, they value virtues such as honesty and fairness, and prefer socially-optimal outcomes, such as desire that collective goods end up being produced, even at a cost to themselves. This is actually how our large-scale societies function. A majority of people in them have prosocial values and preferences (in addition to self-interest, naturally enough), and that’s why we are capable of cooperating on very large scales. Purely self-interested people are there, but they are a minority. What good institutions do is decrease the costs for prosocial moralistic punishers, but they don’t eliminate the need for people holding prosocial values. How such a state of things—our capacity to cooperate in huge groups—came to be is a huge question for evolutionary social science, and my book provides an answer to it. You may say that you are not talking about cooperation, merely about how economic life should work. However, there are two reasons why cooperation is central to your question. First, economy is based in large degree on cooperation. Second, you cannot separate economy out from the society as a whole, thus leaving cooperation to the non-economic—political?—part. Economic activities involve both cooperation and competition, which are mixed in different proportions, depending on the level at which you look. Firms internally are largely cooperative—that’s why they are constituted in the first place (otherwise one could simply buy and sell individual services on free market). You seem to accept this fact, because in your footnote you agree with me that the system of cut-throat competition that Jeff Skilling instituted internally in Enron was deeply destructive. In national markets the primary mode of interaction between firms is competition, but it is tempered by a healthy dose of cooperation. First, not all kinds of competition are good. In particular, taking the expression “cutthroat competition” literally, CEOs are not really allowed to assassinate other CEOs, or burn warehouses of competition. This may sound silly, but that’s how market competition played out in Russia during the 1990s (I’ll get back to Russia in a minute). Good competition, which leads to socially optimal outcomes, is limited to such tactics as cutting production costs, increasing product quality, and advertising (the last one not particularly socially optimal in my view, but at least it’s legal). Also, firms cooperate with other firms—their suppliers, for example. In real life, businessmen work hard to create trust with their partners and maintain reputations. It’s a bad long-term business strategy to be, or at least appear as, completely self-interested. Finally, the least amount of cooperation we see in international markets, where such organizations as WTO are either fairly ineffective, or serve the interests of the powerful countries. The second reason why cooperation is key to our debate is that economy cannot be separated from the rest of society, and how businessmen behave in economic matters has a huge bearing on what happens outside the economy. One connection is a spillover effect. Businessmen who become accustomed to pursuing self-interest in the business sphere will become more selfish in other ways. There is now a well-established experimental result that teaching economics makes students less cooperative. Economics students are much more likely to free ride in public goods games than students from any other discipline. As a result, their inclusion in an experimental group impedes the production of public goods and increases the amount of resources used for punishing free riders—both not socially optimal results. I don’t see any reason why this effect, amply documented in experimental economics, should not operate in real life. I am sure it does. Furthermore, self-interested businessmen who acquire great wealth will also have an incentive and the means (since wealth is power) to change the laws in ways that will suit them. They can buy, and in some cases intimidate or simply murder (as in Russia during the 1990s) regulators, judges, and politicians. In other words, they, or a substantial proportion of them, will use their power to corrupt the moral foundations of the society as a whole. There is no impenetrable, unbreakable glass wall between economy and society. We use these concepts for analytical purposes, but we should not forget that it’s just a convenience, not reality. It is interesting that you are right now in Moscow, attending the Gaidar Forum. Yegor Gaidar, of course was one of the most important architects of the Russian economic collapse during the 1990s. Russia provides a good illustration of the general principles that we are discussing. Russian transition to market economy was managed by some of the best and brightest Western economists. Instead of an economic miracle that the Russians were promised, the result was the fall of GDP by more than a half, immiseration of the 99 percent of the population, and huge wealth windfall for 1 percent (as well as for the Western advisers, I might add). The reasons are undoubtedly complex, but the most important one was the introduction of the dominant economic ideology. Everybody in power—former party bosses, organized criminals, new entrepreneurs (little different from mafia thugs), and the Western economists pursued their private interests. Those few who retained morals were either killed, or made completely powerless. Of course, a lot of self-interested guys got killed, too. The result was economic collapse and social dissolution—Russia was a failed state by the mid-1990s. It was an example of failure of cooperation on a large scale, and massive production of public “ills.” Now this is just an illustration. My main argument is logical, not empirical. You cannot have a well-functioning society in which everybody, or even a majority, are pursuing solely self-interest. This applies to the whole society, and to its parts, including the economy. Good institutions are not going to work in the absence of internalized prosocial values held by a sufficient number of people. Telling anybody to pursue their naked self-interest is not a recipe for greater social good. It’s a recipe for social dissolution. -- *Rasigan Maharajh, PhD.* Chief Director: *Institute for Economic Research on Innovation*, Tshwane University of Technology, RSA. Nodal Head: Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation *Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy*, RSA. Professor Extraordinary: *Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology, *Stellenbosch University, RSA. Associate Research Fellow: *Tellus Institute*, Boston, USA. Chairperson: Southern Africa Node of the *Millennium Project*, RSA. Postal Address: 159 Nana Sita Street, Pretoria CBD, 0002, Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa Phone: +27 12 3823073 www.ieri.org.za www.tellus.org www.sampnode.org.za -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: RSA Fair Share - Final version
by Michel Bauwens 19 Jan '16

19 Jan '16

the *links to the report* are as follows: Read-only is on Medium: https://medium.com/@thersa/fair-share-reclaiming-power-in-the-sharing-econo… Download: https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/reports/fair-shar… *Links to graphics:* Business Landscape: Comparing existing and emergent business models: https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/images/blogs/rsa_blogs/business-landsca…

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Fwd: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: CfP: Polanyi-Konferenz in Linz (10.-13.1.2017)
by Michel Bauwens 19 Jan '16

19 Jan '16

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Orsan Senalp <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 7:11 PM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: CfP: Polanyi-Konferenz in Linz (10.-13.1.2017) To: "<networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>" < networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org> Begin forwarded message: *From:* Nikolaus Hammer <NHammer(a)GMX.AT> *Date:* 19 Jan 2016 11:36:51 GMT+1 *To:* CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK *Subject:* *Fwd: CfP: Polanyi-Konferenz in Linz (10.-13.1.2017)* *Reply-To:* Nikolaus Hammer <NHammer(a)GMX.AT> Call for Papers *A Great Transformation?* *Global Perspectives on Contemporary Capitalisms* International Conference Johannes Kepler University Linz/Austria 10-13 January 2017 *Concept, questions, speakers, and issues of the conference* Ever since the global economic area opened up in the 1990s – and most recently, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis – Karl Polanyi’s economic and cultural history of capitalism, published as The Great Transformation in 1944, has been attracting renewed attention. Given his deft analysis of the liberal creed or how he refers to labor, land, and money as fictitious commodities, Polanyi’s critique of capitalism has never disappeared from the discussion. However, the unleashing of the market – and more specifically, of financial markets – has resulted in his ideas being widely received among sociologists, political scientists, and economists from all over the world. Polanyi’s analyses of the relationship between economy and society, and between economy/market and politics/state – along with his perspectives on civil society movements – all seem to be custom-made for capturing the crises, changes, and transformations of contemporary capitalisms. Meanwhile, Polanyi’s ideas and models have been profusely revised, pursued, developed, and checked for appropriateness when analyzing developments in the Global North and South. Moreover, a wealth of answers has emerged to the question of how his particular analysis of society may have inspired sociology, political science, and economics. The conference A Great Transformation? Global Perspectives on Contemporary Capitalisms seeks to continue this discussion, identify new salient points and study the following questions: How do developments in contemporary capitalisms in the Global North and South constitute a great transformation, i.e. an epochal change in which the relationship between politics/state and economy/market undergoes fundamental changes at the global, international, transnational, and national levels? Have there been parallel, contradictory or interwoven developments and what form do these take? How are they shaped by social inequalities arising from gender, ethnicity and class, by power and dominance, and by conflict and resistance? How can all these developments be considered in light of Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation? How do other analyses of and theories on capitalism rooted in sociology, political science, and economics contribute to social analysis and criticism? Where do they interlink with Polanyi’s perspective and where do they take different paths? All these questions will be thoroughly discussed at this interdisciplinary international conference. The conference will start with an opening speech by *Michael Burawoy*, University of California, Berkeley/USA, and conclude with his on-stage conversation with *Kari Polanyi Levitt*, McGill University, Montreal/Canada. Keynote speakers will be *José Luis Coraggio*, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Buenos Aires/Argentina and *Beverly Silver*, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore/USA. With this call for papers, we are inviting potential participants to submit proposals related to Karl Polanyi’s work, under one of the following three headings: Beginning with Polanyi Under this heading, we will use Polanyi’s models and analyses as starting points for discussing the question of how to theoretically, epistemologically, and empirically utilize them when analyzing contemporary capitalisms. We welcome proposals that address one or more of the following issues:  (De-)commodification and fictitious commodities  Economy and society: the liberal creed  Movements and counter-movements  Marketization, exploitation and alienation  Exchange, markets and justice Meeting Polanyi Under this heading, we will discuss Polanyi’s theory in conjunction with other approaches. As all these concepts are embedded in specific scientific, historical and regional contexts, we will examine their validity as theoretical perspectives and tools for analyzing contemporary capitalisms. We welcome proposals that address one or more of the following issues:  Regulation theory meets Polanyi  Marxian theory meets Polanyi  Critical theory meets Polanyi  Critical development theory and world systems analysis meet Polanyi  Social movement theory meets Polanyi After Polanyi Under this heading, we will take a look at social problems that call for a contemporary analysis of capitalism. We will show how these challenges can be accepted and how Polanyi’s work contributes to meeting said challenges. We welcome proposals that address one or more of the following issues:  Commodification and de-commodification of ecological and social reproduction  Fictitious commodities: marketization of knowledge and science  Politics of crisis: the enduring strength of neoliberalism and the welfare debate  Conceptions of capitalist crises and pathways towards transformation  De-growth and democracy *Addressees and conference language* With this call for papers, we are inviting scholars from all parts of the world and all branches of sociology, political science, and economics – including those working in such transdisciplinary research areas as feminist or intersectionality studies – to submit proposals under the three headings outlined above. The conference will be held in English. Schedules for submitting abstracts and full papers We welcome abstracts limited to a maximum of 500 words (including the title, outline of the contents, at least three but no more than five keywords, author’s name, affiliation, and full address). We are endeavoring to provide financial support to applicants whose universities, research institutes, etc. are unable to fund travel costs and who have no opportunity to apply for funds elsewhere. Applicants who wish to make use of this offer are asked to state this in their abstract. *Deadline for submitting abstracts: 30 April 2016* Notification of acceptance: 30 June 2016 Deadline for submitting full papers: 30 November 2016 Please send your abstracts and full papers to *great.transformation(a)jku.at <https://email.le.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?SURL=sQZT95NmfaS2rnyCgWKr7kGbhnYtH4-P…>* *Organizers and hosts of the conference* DFG-Kollegforscher_innengruppe „Landnahme, Beschleunigung, Aktivierung. Dynamik und (De-)Stabilisierung moderner Wachstumsgesellschaften“, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena/Germany (Klaus Dörre) Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University, Linz/Austria (Jakob Kapeller) Institute of Political Science, University of Vienna/Austria (Ulrich Brand, Birgit Sauer, Dieter Segert) Institute of Sociology, Johannes Kepler University, Linz/Austria (Roland Atzmüller, Brigitte Aulenbacher, Fabienne Décieux, Karin Fischer; conference administration: Heidemarie Schütz) Conference homepage: http://www.jku.at/conferences/great-transformation <https://email.le.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?SURL=fYzTFPLAfpf9Kd5CPzVRSNVb9bUjiy0W…> <CfP International Polanyi Conference Austria January 2017.pdf> _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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