[P2P-F] Fwd: [Networkedlabour] Capturing human labour in its entirety or modularly before embedding it into automated systems vs. real global emancipation

Wed Aug 27 21:54:58 CEST 2014

interesting from orsan senalp:

As it is clear from her bio, she turned the excluded workers'
precarity into a capital, by monetising the vulnerability, branding a
company as a union, and precarious people into 'independant workers'.
This represent a good example of how one can hack a 'union form' turn
it into a private insurance company. This is of course a reinvention
of the western business unionism form and adopting it to the
re-workerized middle classes.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Örsan Şenalp <orsan1234 at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 5:28 PM
Subject: [Networkedlabour] Capturing human labour in its entirety or
modularly before embedding it into automated systems vs. real global
emancipation
To: "networkedlabour at lists.contrast.org" <networkedlabour at lists.contrast.org
>

"Rapacious financialisation risks turning everything we are and have
into a productive asset. And the foremost asset is our personal data,
mined by digitalised technology." Says Evgeny Morozov in his recent
What you whistle in the shower - How much for your data? [From Le
Monde Diplomatique English Edition, August 2014]:
http://cryptome.org/2014/08/morosov-how-much-your-data.htm

...
Freelancers Union in the US has been a form of response, initiated by
a new generation unionist Horowitz, who describes herself on the
website of the 'union' (https://www.freelancersunion.org/):

"As the founder and Executive Director of Freelancers Union – and CEO
of the social-purpose Freelancers Insurance Company (FIC) – Sara has
been helping workers solve their problems for nearly two decades. A
MacArthur Foundation "Genius" fellow, Sara has long been a leading
voice for the emerging economy, early on recognising the vital role
independent workers would play in our networked, interconnected world.
Today, 42 million Americans are "independent workers" – about
one-third of the entire workforce. With a membership of more than 244k
nationwide, Freelancers Union is building a new form of unionism
through creative, cooperative, market-based solutions to pressing
social problems. Sara was named one of the Top 30 Social Entrepreneurs
by Forbes in 2011, a Top 25 Most Promising Social Entrepreneur by
Businessweek in 2011, one of Crain's New York's "25 People to Watch"
in 2010, and one of 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow at the 2002 World
Economic Forum."

As it is clear from her bio, she turned the excluded workers'
precarity into a capital, by monetising the vulnerability, branding a
company as a union, and precarious people into 'independant workers'.
This represent a good example of how one can hack a 'union form' turn
it into a private insurance company. This is of course a reinvention
of the western business unionism form and adopting it to the
re-workerized middle classes. This example says a lot in relation to
the counter argument posed against the aggressive total data capture
by monopolies like Google, and Facebook [and other NSA-PRISM
collaborators] -mentioned by Morozov in his article- where it is
proposed to 'monetization of the personal data' by giving the
copyrights of personal data to individuals themselves, of course
together with the 'right to sell it to the market'. What we see in
this picture is clashing core arguments of the future capitalism. On
the one side a 'perfect capitalism' propagated by NSA partners like
Google, Facebook, Californian Singularity ideology,... but on the
other hand we see emerging new constellations new start up aligning
around Industrial Internet and Smart Cities concepts, by corporations
like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and Apple, the first generation knowledge
capital fractions. I think Vasilis Kostakis' and Michel's co-authored
book Network Society and Future Scenarios for a Collaborative Economy
provides very insightful perspective to understand structural and
agency dynamics:
http://p2pfoundation.net/Network_Society_and_Future_Scenarios_for_a_Collaborative_Economy

On the other hand, in response to Horowitz's kind of business unionism
2.0, we see emerging European, or German model being developed by Joel
Dellroy here: http://freelancersmovement.org/  and here with a
European level crouwdfunded campaign: http://freelancers-europe.org/

Thinking in relation or comparing these two to the example in other
thread, opened up by Peter's posting of Gaza action in Oakland, where
we see new occupy type unionism which is about organising
unorganisable: those who are the 'labour's others' as Peter called
them, who can not afford to be 'independant worker' at all and going
through much deeper existential crisis while thinking this is their
individual inabilities. Forming horizontal self-organised communities
through self-expression and representation, exchange and articulation,
mobilisation and collective action is shared in the last and European
freelancers movement idea. Although the latter new unionism (gunion,
99picket lines, or occupy-15m related networked/direct unionism) are
radically different from both examples of freelancer unions mentioned
above in politics, my argument that they can and have to collaborate
in a modular way in order to harmonise or interconnect struggles at
various global-working-class-fractions (see Strauna:
http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/2/0/9/pages242093/p242093-1.php
).

This is again how I see this modular collective work can be delivered
in practise, overcoming cultural, political, ideological dividing
lines, by p2p collaborating based on mutual recognition and more
importantly based exchanges of concrete needs, configured according to
that specific collaboration:
http://www.slideshare.net/orsans/gnunion-version-beta-10

I think capital in all its forms are in favour of total socialisation
of labour, by capturing value in any possible way and accumulating.
There is of course inter-class fight about how and who to do that,
which seems like delaying our faith. What rises as the only option for
human kind to stop this maniacal going is 'to unite'. And we all know
this that it can only work if it is allows spontanity, simultanuity,
include egalitarian and respectful manners, and democratic and mature
processes. This is the ideal form in my mind, trying to grow into,
which can give a practical picture of what I am trying to say:

a map of relationships:
http://graphcommons.com/system/images/2106/original/graph.png?1406131146
actors and items for collaboration:

On platform building and networking for working people and tech-labour
unionists, labour organisers, and community projects with Says-us [as
an online plartform that put workless workers, activists, alternative
solidarity economy communities in touch.], with Freelancers Movement
in Europe - and may be US? to develope a platform for self-empowerment
of freelancers

On organising, with Organizing Campaigns and independant unions
[janitors, helath care, education, logistics...]>> to integrate
self-empowerment tools for safe self-organising alongside the global
production networks and value chains (via mapping by workers manuel or
online with software like Debate Gpraph, GraphCommons, Deepha Mehta,
open chain mapping) with NetzwerkIT, Sensorica, TIE network, IWW

On Tech developemnt with FSF (John Sullivan) + Cyberunions (Stephan,
Walton), Mayfirst/People Link

On research, analysis, knowledge commons, open strategy... support,
with P2P foundation, Transform, TNI, Waag Society, Institute of
Network Cultures, IIRE, Triple C...

On cooperatives with Catalan Integral Cooperative, Calafou,...

On naming and shaming: LabourLeaks, Associated WhistleBlowers Press,
Wikileaks

On mass labour campaigning and labour media network: USI, LabourTech,
LabourSTart, CapulTV, Global Revolution, I-Witness

Project / infrastructure development and concept hacking communities:
HackLabs, HackBases, HackSpaces, MakerSpaces, FabLabs, Ecowillages,
Squatters, Cyprto Parties, co-working spaces, co-housing spaces.

Political spaces for articulation: Interface, DeGrwoth, Chaos Computer
Congress / Camp, World Social Forum, AlterSummit, Joint Social
Conference, Co-Workers gathering,..

...work in progress..
Orsan
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