[P2P-F] exceptionally well documented article on cybernetic governance

[Michel Bauwens]

** Article: Res Publica ex Machina: On Neocybernetic Governance and the End
of Politics.* by FELIX MASCHEWSKI & ANNA-VERENA NOSTHOFF. Institute of
Network Cultures, October, 2018

URL =
http://networkcultures.org/longform/2018/10/18/res-publica-ex-machina-on-neocybernetic-governance-and-the-end-of-politics/
Contents [hide
<https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics#>
]

   - 1 Context
   <https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics#Context>
   - 2 Description
   <https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics#Description>
   - 3 Examples
   <https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics#Examples>
   - 4 More information
   <https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics#More_information>

Context[edit
<https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/index.php?title=Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics&action=edit&section=1>
]

by FELIX MASCHEWSKI & ANNA-VERENA NOSTHOFF:

"In 2017, Denmark sent the first digital ambassador, Casper Klynge, to
Silicon Valley. The aim of this move of ‘techplomacy’ was, as Klynge
explained, not simply to distribute greetings notes by the Danish queen.
Rather, the intention was to ‘update diplomacy’ based on the recognition
that a few tech companies have obviously become much ‘more influential than
some nation states’. Klynge framed the new political course in the manner
of a well-known old but still utterly contemporary mantra: ‘There is no
alternative’. In a similar vein, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Anders
Samuelson highlighted the importance of the step as follows: ‘Just as we
engage in a diplomatic dialogue with countries, we also need to establish
and prioritize comprehensive relations with tech actors, such as Google,
Facebook, Apple, and so on. (…) The idea is, we see a lot of companies and
new technologies that will in many ways involve and be part of everyday
life of citizens in Denmark.' (
http://networkcultures.org/longform/2018/10/18/res-publica-ex-machina-on-neocybernetic-governance-and-the-end-of-politics/
)
Description[edit
<https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/index.php?title=Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics&action=edit&section=2>
]

"The idea to implement tech on new political test grounds is ... mirrored
by recent digital initiatives which focus more explicitly on the
nation-state. The most poignant concepts in this realm include ideas such
as ‘algorithmic regulation’, ‘government as a platform’ (Tim O’Reilly),
‘direct technocracy’ viz. ‘info-states’ (Parag Khanna), ‘smart states’
(Beth Noveck), or ‘social physics’ (Alex Pentland), to name a few. It is
vital to explore some of these concepts in greater detail and on a more
theoretical and philosophical level. What form of politics is implicitly
being promoted in this context? As we argue, this question is best examined
against the background of an understanding of these concepts as very
idiosyncratic reformulations of cybernetic approaches to the political,
which date back to the 1960s. We explore how the implicit visions and
concepts rearticulate early concepts of cybernetic politics in their
insistence on the vitality of feedback structures, in allegedly blending
hierarchy with tenets of decentralization, in shifting the focus from the
individual to the interrelations between humans, including the social
fabric encompassing them and, most importantly, in how far this might raise
problems. Subsequently, this rather theoretical perspective will allow us
to examine the extent to which such neo-cybernetic concepts promote a
rather reduced vision of the political, or politics as such. As we argue,
current approaches to ‘smart’ states or cities and their corresponding
models of governance mark no entire automation of politics but at least in
certain respects, a pragmatic actualization of cybernetic visions of the
state against the background of surveillance capitalism. As such,
theoretical dispositifs that have emerged from early ideas of cybernetic
politics are still marking certain effects." (
http://networkcultures.org/longform/2018/10/18/res-publica-ex-machina-on-neocybernetic-governance-and-the-end-of-politics/
)


Examples[edit
<https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/index.php?title=Neocybernetic_Governance_and_the_End_of_Politics&action=edit&section=3>
]

   - ‘algorithmic regulation’,
   - ‘government as a platform’ (Tim O’Reilly),
   - ‘direct technocracy’ viz. ‘info-states’ (Parag Khanna),
   - ‘smart states’ (Beth Noveck), or
   - ‘social physics’ (Alex Pentland)


-- 
P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation

Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ourproject.org/pipermail/p2p-foundation/attachments/20181025/74e9567d/attachment.html>