I have not yet read Sam's reply below,<br><br>democracy has ever been imperfect and the result of ongoing struggles and development,<br><br>nevertheless, there have been times when the nation-state was the locus of possible compromises and power-sharing, and social movements could hope to obtain concessions<br>
<br>I think the current crisis is that this configuration is no more, that the 'market states' are subjected to global diktats of financial markets and other global powers, and that no sufficiently strong global social movements have arisen ..<br>
<br>in my opinion, this is why we have a crisis of democracy, we still have rights and freedoms, but most of the democratic institutions have become quite hollow in terms of their capacity to respond to social demands<br>
<br>anything 'above' the nation-state level is out of the reach of strong social movements, I mean they can be influenced to a certain limited degree, but there is 'nobody there' to strike deals with,<br><br>
Michel<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 3:17 AM, Dennis E. Hamilton <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dennis.hamilton@acm.org">dennis.hamilton@acm.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
I am fascinated by the current explorations concerning social media and how community formation and spontaneity are enabled. �I find a great deal to digest, and much thoughtful analysis in the recent threads.<br>
<br>
Although it is not material to the clarification of weak and strong ties as a false dichotomy, this one passage brought me up short:<br>
<br>
" ...what is destroying our opportunities for individuality and creativity, subverting us from realizing our human potential is not that we are tweeting about trivialities, but that the governance of our planet has been taken away from us."<br>
<br>
The hyperbole is appealing, but I wonder if there is something more important here. �When, if ever, have "we" possessed the governance of our planet? �Indeed, what can it possibly mean to give ontological standing to the notion of planetary governance and suggest that it has ever existed?<br>
<br>
I ask this because is it perhaps more the case that we have before us the opportunity to gain something, not that we ever lost it.<br>
<br>
�- Dennis<br>
<div class="im"><br>
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Subject: [P2P-F] weak vs strong ties as wrong dilemma<br>
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