[P2P-F] Article on p2p and deliberative democracy

Mon Mar 21 11:57:26 CET 2011

On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 6:40 AM, Michael Brooks <mjamal10 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Michel,
>
> The article is up. Enjoy
>
> http://www.beyondone.org/index.php?pagetitle=article&aid=83
>
> Michael
>

Thanks Michael, I will excerpt in about 10 days!

P2P and Deliberative Democracy approaches compared

Michael Brooks:

"Michel Bauwens, an independent writer and researcher based in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, articulates an open peer-to-peer (P2P) politics that extends the
practices of open information cultures to a broader political project. P2P
politics builds on a model of deliberative democracy, and a culture where
there is a dynamic interplay of all three sectors: private, commons, and
government. Could this approach transcend an ossified debate on progress by
shifting the debate into new terrain?

P2P culture has generated tremendous value in the development of the
Internet. Projects such as Linux, open source codes and the open
architecture of the net have been built on a communal openness that supports
the market transactions found online. Bauwens argues that P2P carries with
it an implicit political agenda; a political agenda that protects and
expands on the open space created in the P2P economy and a new model of
social infrastructures that sustain independent P2P workers.

Bauwens articulates an integrative and transcending progress narrative. He
embraces the critiques of Illich and Schumacher and follows many of their
political leads, however his P2P theory is grounded in the global
information economy; the most current trend in the consumer dream. Bauwens
supports many activists, and social and financial innovation movements
recognizing that they are in sync with his P2P mission. P2P theory is both a
process of re-localization, as advocated by the counter-progress theorists,
and deep global integration, as articulated by the most optimistic visions
of social and informational technologies.

“Deliberative democracy theorists are fascinated by ways of deepening
democracy and turning it into a practice beyond simply voting. They advocate
for creating a community context and practice for solving collective
problems and addressing policy challenges.”

Deliberative democracy theorists are fascinated by ways of deepening
democracy and turning it into a practice beyond simply voting. They advocate
for creating a community context and practice for solving collective
problems and addressing policy challenges. The deliberative democrats mirror
a P2P ethic in the civic sphere. Archon Fung, a deliberative democracy
theorist based at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, argues that
deliberative democracy is about how communities can best position themselves
to sustainably solve problems. Fung contrasts two primary conceptions of
democracy with the goal of the deliberative process:

The first is majority rule. On this conception, a society is democratic when
collective decisions reflect the views of the most numerous. The second is
accomplishment. On this less common view, a democratic society is one that
has the power to achieve the common aims of its citizens

Part of this process, according to Fung, is how we establish and agree on
what those goals are. Deliberative theorists focus in practice on creating
forums where community members can come together in a spirit of mutual
respect and engage in substantive policy discussions. For example, some
Scandinavian countries have experimented with citizen input on budget and
other key priorities. Even China has developed certain receptivity to
deliberative decision-making, according to Mark Leonard’s reporting in What
Does China Think.

Both P2P and deliberative theorists ask a lot of us. Both approaches want us
to play a substantive role in shaping our economic, cultural and political
lives. Illich and Schumacher wanted the same. They opposed “outsourcing”
value creation and social bonds to large bureaucracies outside of grounded
communities. Integrating modes of progress will access a broader range of
human capacity and inclination than those proposed by the consumer dream.
However, the counter-progress critique is being validated in some of the
most globally integrated, complex and abstract aspects of the world economic
system. Integrated progress asks us to open our perception of who we are in
community, markets, relationships, decision-making and politics."

-- 
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