[P2P-F] an evaluation of the flok as colonialist

Mon Jul 7 23:16:58 CEST 2014

Michel, although I´m not involved in this endeavor, I feel so much empathy
towards your commitment and generosity that I feel the duty of saying some
words for the sake of recognition and encouragement.

I´ve been through analogous situations so many times in life when beautiful
ideas coupled with generous hearts and minds stumbled on the logic of
bureaucracies and paranoia on the part of people who see threats and
conspiracies around every corner that I feel so much as mine your
frustration and feeling of lack of gratitude.

It happens all the time with people driven by care for the wellbeing of
others. You are not the first nor the last one to experience it.

So I hope you are comforted by the solidarity of all the people who´ve been
following your courageous steps , and go ahead. Get as a gift this
Brazilian song that says, in my poor translation of the lyrics "Stand up,
shake away the the dust, and turn around..."  -
http://www.cifraclub.com.br/paulo-vanzolini/volta-por-cima/

Best regards
Sergio

Sérgio Storch
11-3666.9005 - 11-99753.9701
sergiostorch at gmail.com
Facebook Sergio Storch <https://www.facebook.com/sergio.storch>
Blog: www.sergiostorch.com

<http://www.contentdigital.com.br>

2014-07-07 17:49 GMT-03:00 Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>:

> dear Andreas,
>
> nobody has made that critique, on the contrary, about every postmodern
> scholar has made it ..
>
> it is in my opinion a quite superficial critique ..
>
> the flok was not about a bunch of foreign experts advising people what to
> do at all
>
> it was a process that combined input from local civic groups (70 at least,
> 24 seminars ect ..) and global commoners
>
> at the invitation of the local government, which sees itself as
> anti-colonialist
>
> originally the project was meant to combine 7 foreigners and 7 local
> researchers ..
>
> the foreigners in case were not experts dispatched by MNO's  but activists
>
> if calling a coworking between local and global commoners as 'colonialist'
> then the only other solution is pure  localism
>
> there was no research from outsiders of indigenous society ... the
> indigenous scholars wrote their own paper
>
> that is not to say the flok can not be critiqued for colonialist or
> post-colonial elements, but this requires a bit more than just blanket
> condemnation because foreigners are involved,
>
> it's a kind of atavistic reaction, not a critique I would say, based on a
> very superficial understanding of the project
>
> Michel
>
>
> << Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 19:15:21 +0100
> From: Andreas Wittel <andreas.wittel at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [P2P-F] an evaluation of the flok
> To: P2P Foundation mailing list <p2p-foundation at lists.ourproject.org>
> Message-ID:
>         <CAOAyO5Trem8P7nVoXYQCCz=
> wzFpdYPwxXSVcR3s1La2vSq-ACg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I hesitate to comment on this project, as I have only followed this from a
> distance. However a good number of comments in this threat make me really
> nervous. I am reading that 'seeds have been planted', that the FLOK
> research papers can become part of the commons movement in Equador, that
> lessons have been learnt and that it is all about doing it better next
> time.
>
> I'd rather see this as a one-off project and hope sincerely there is no
> next time where a bunch of experts are aiming to create profound changes in
> a society they are not really familiar with. This is a post-colonial
> approach and should be rejected. It is as easy as that.
>
> Every undergraduate anthropology student knows that it is highly
> problematic to conduct western research in non-western spaces. This is
> about otherness and authority, about who speaks and who is being
> researched. All this is common knowledge since the 'writing culture' debate
> in the mid 1980s.
>
> How much more dubious and arrogant is the FLOK approach, which was not just
> about researching another (indigenous) society, but about so called experts
> giving advice for a better living in a country they don't know well. This
> is so na?ve, it is actually embarrassing. It is us who should learn from
> them.
>
> Sorry for these harsh words addressed to researchers that I respect a great
> deal. But nobody has made this critique so far. I cringe at the idea that
> lessons are being learnt so we can do it better next time. For me this
> project was politically and ethically wrong. Digital technologies don't
> make localities disappear. Let's please support p2p structures and the
> commons movements where we live and where we struggle.
>
>  All best,
>
> andreas
>
> --
> *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no
> record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..*
>
> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>
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>
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