<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Neal Gorenflo</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:neal@shareable.net">neal@shareable.net</a>></span><br>Date: Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 12:33 PM<br>
Subject: [Commoning] Shareable's call for submissions<br>To: p2p-foundation <<a href="mailto:p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org">p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org</a>>, commoning <<a href="mailto:commoning@lists.wissensallmende.de">commoning@lists.wissensallmende.de</a>><br>
<br><br>Dear Commoners & P2P community,<br>
<br>
Below my signature is Shareable's call for pitches and submissions<br>
to an anthology we're putting together that's a how-to survive by sharing<br>
and making handbook for Gen-Y.<br>
<br>
We imagine an anthology written by Gen-Y for Gen-Y. �Much has been<br>
written about this generation, but we want to give them a chance to tell their<br>
story, and to help their peers re-imagine the present and future as an<br>
opportunity for vastly more meaningful and constructive lives and world<br>
that what they may think lies before them. �It will be a combination of<br>
analysis and how-to.<br>
<br>
Please forward this call to other individuals and forums. �And we welcome<br>
your feedback and suggestions about our call.<br>
<br>
Thank you,<br>
<br>
Neal Gorenflo<br>
Publisher, Shareable.net<br>
<br>
--<br>
<br>
Share or Die, Youth in Recession Call for Submissions:<br>
<a href="http://www.shareable.net/blog/share-or-die-youth-in-recession-call-for-submissions" target="_blank">http://www.shareable.net/blog/share-or-die-youth-in-recession-call-for-submissions</a><br>
<br>
Contemporary American 20-somethings face a disorienting set of<br>
conditions. While only a few years ago pundits worried about the �me�<br>
generation, children raised in material abundance and cultural<br>
vacuity, even college-educated young people have come to face to face<br>
with hardship:<br>
<br>
- 85 percent of graduates move home with their parents (Twentysomething Inc.)<br>
- Official unemployment - a notoriously underestimating measure of a<br>
population�s immiseration hovers around 15 percent for young<br>
Americans, one-third higher than the overall population�s rate.<br>
(Bureau of Labor Statistics)<br>
- Self-employment, which is almost always precarious, shot up 27<br>
percent between 1995 and 2005. With employers hiring fewer and fewer<br>
new employees, long-term secure employment is unrealistic for many<br>
young people. (BLS)<br>
- Youth has become such a material hardships that, for the first time<br>
ever, today�s college graduates face the same level of unemployment as<br>
the general population. (BLS)<br>
<br>
Just when young Americans seem to need advice the most, the older<br>
generation is least able to provide it. Having lived through<br>
post-World War II prosperity, most middle-aged parents have never<br>
experienced a job market this bad. For this generation of young adults<br>
- �Y� or �millennial� or what have you - the future is hazy and the<br>
present isn�t much clearer.<br>
<br>
At the same time, America�s young adults are well-educated and<br>
resourceful. They have spear-headed the rise of online communications<br>
technology, and lines of commonality that seemed impossible to draw a<br>
generation ago are only a click away. For all the drawbacks of social<br>
media (and it certainly has its share), it is a powerful force and a<br>
resource an otherwise poor generation can largely call its own. The<br>
current crisis presents a series of opportunities to break with what�s<br>
broken and build communities that are more self-reliant, sustainable,<br>
and democratic. We�re in the midst of a forced redefinition of our<br>
values, where �the good life� will be more about relationships and<br>
experiences than possessions and titles.<br>
<br>
A confluence of economic and social factors have composed a generation<br>
we do not understand - thus the now-iconic NY Times Magazine headline<br>
�What Is It About 20-Somethings?� Traditional forms of social<br>
organization (at the workplace, young nuclear families) are on the<br>
decline, while new forms develop in their wake. This shift presents a<br>
host of hardships, but an equal number of possibilities for young<br>
people to change the world we have been given.<br>
<br>
Its with all this in mind that we begin the Share Or Die project. Over<br>
the next few months, I will be collecting and editing an eBook about<br>
youth in recession for Shareable, and I need your help. Just as no one<br>
person experiences as a generation, no one person could write this<br>
collection. Rather than keep to the circle of established professional<br>
writers (a category that includes few young people), we decided to<br>
present an open call to our readers and their wider communities.<br>
<br>
Here�s what we�re looking for:<br>
<br>
Stories from the front lines: What is it like to try and get by in<br>
America as a young person these days? What is it like to try and do<br>
more? We�re not looking for simple stories of triumph or catastrophe,<br>
but productive struggle. There may not be easy solutions, but there<br>
are tactics and strategies, and we want to hear yours. These can be<br>
advice from experience (e.g. �What not to do as a freelancer�) or<br>
stories without an easy lesson.<br>
<br>
DIY How-to�s: If we can�t afford to buy stuff, we�re going to have to<br>
do a lot more making, repairing, and sharing. Share Or Die is supposed<br>
to be a useful guide for young people, so this section is going to be<br>
the core of the collection. These are practical tutorials, but they<br>
can be as material as building a backyard herb garden or as immaterial<br>
as starting a band. We�re concerned with the big stuff here: housing,<br>
transportation, food, relationships, non-traditional forms of work,<br>
travel, that kind of thing.<br>
<br>
Analysis: Young people get our lives explained to us by a lot of<br>
publications, now it�s our turn. How are we to understand our<br>
generational situation, and how can we use our common resources to<br>
improve it? We�re looking for ideas outside the traditional<br>
government-non-profit axis and beyond any partisan program. Possible<br>
topics include: youth and technology, common space, sharing and<br>
property, the contemporary workplace.<br>
<br>
Art: Although it�s a prose-centric project, Share Or Die would be<br>
incomplete without art. We�re hoping to include some cartoons, graphic<br>
art, and illustrations that address the above themes. We�ll look at<br>
graphics with or without pieces of writing, but combined is probably<br>
best. If you�re an artist or graphic designer interested in working on<br>
the project but without any particular idea, send some samples of your<br>
work anyway and we�ll see what we can think up. Cool (and relevant)<br>
data visualizations are especially welcome.<br>
<br>
We�ll be accepting pitches and completed pieces (1,000-3,000 words)<br>
during the month of January. Writers and artists from traditionally<br>
underrepresented communities are particularly encouraged to submit.<br>
Although youth is a perspective rather than a number, we�re<br>
predominantly trying to showcase writers in their twenties; old people<br>
with lots of great ideas about how young people should live are<br>
discouraged from submitting. We�ll be paying for selected pieces at<br>
average non-profit publication rates - not mind-blowing, but we know<br>
even writers and designers need to eat every once in a while. For<br>
legal reasons, we can�t accept already published material unless it<br>
was published under an open license (e.g. Creative Commons). Send<br>
questions as well as submissions and pitches, along with links to a<br>
sample or two and your online presence in any and all public forms you<br>
choose (Twitter, blog, tumblr, etc.) to <a href="mailto:malcolm@shareable.net">malcolm@shareable.net</a>.<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net">http://p2pfoundation.net</a>� - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br>Connect: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.ning.com">http://p2pfoundation.ning.com</a>; Discuss: <a href="http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org">http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org</a><br>
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