<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)">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. </div>
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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. </div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)">
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.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)">
<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)">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..." - <a href="http://www.cifraclub.com.br/paulo-vanzolini/volta-por-cima/">http://www.cifraclub.com.br/paulo-vanzolini/volta-por-cima/</a></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)">
Best regards</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,102)">Sergio</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr">Sérgio Storch<div>
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<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2014-07-07 17:49 GMT-03:00 Michel Bauwens <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">michel@p2pfoundation.net</a>></span>:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr"><div>dear Andreas,</div><div><br></div><div>nobody has made that critique, on the contrary, about every postmodern scholar has made it ..</div><div><br></div><div>it is in my opinion a quite superficial critique ..</div>
<div><br></div><div>the flok was not about a bunch of foreign experts advising people what to do at all</div><div><br></div><div>it was a process that combined input from local civic groups (70 at least, 24 seminars ect ..) and global commoners</div>
<div><br></div><div>at the invitation of the local government, which sees itself as anti-colonialist</div><div><br></div><div>originally the project was meant to combine 7 foreigners and 7 local researchers ..</div><div>
<br>
</div><div>the foreigners in case were not experts dispatched by MNO's but activists</div><div><br></div><div>if calling a coworking between local and global commoners as 'colonialist' then the only other solution is pure localism</div>
<div><br></div><div>there was no research from outsiders of indigenous society ... the indigenous scholars wrote their own paper</div><div><br></div><div>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,</div>
<div><br></div><div>it's a kind of atavistic reaction, not a critique I would say, based on a very superficial understanding of the project</div><div><br></div><div>Michel</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><< <span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Message: 1</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 19:15:21 +0100</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">From: Andreas Wittel <</span><a href="mailto:andreas.wittel@gmail.com" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px" target="_blank">andreas.wittel@gmail.com</a><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">></span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Subject: Re: [P2P-F] an evaluation of the flok</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">To: P2P Foundation mailing list <</span><a href="mailto:p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px" target="_blank">p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org</a><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">></span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Message-ID:</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"> <CAOAyO5Trem8P7nVoXYQCCz=</span><a href="mailto:wzFpdYPwxXSVcR3s1La2vSq-ACg@mail.gmail.com" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px" target="_blank">wzFpdYPwxXSVcR3s1La2vSq-ACg@mail.gmail.com</a><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">></span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">I hesitate to comment on this project, as I have only followed this from a</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">distance. However a good number of comments in this threat make me really</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">nervous. I am reading that 'seeds have been planted', that the FLOK</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">research papers can become part of the commons movement in Equador, that</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">lessons have been learnt and that it is all about doing it better next time.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">I'd rather see this as a one-off project and hope sincerely there is no</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">next time where a bunch of experts are aiming to create profound changes in</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">a society they are not really familiar with. This is a post-colonial</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">approach and should be rejected. It is as easy as that.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Every undergraduate anthropology student knows that it is highly</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">problematic to conduct western research in non-western spaces. This is</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">about otherness and authority, about who speaks and who is being</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">researched. All this is common knowledge since the 'writing culture' debate</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">in the mid 1980s.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">How much more dubious and arrogant is the FLOK approach, which was not just</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">about researching another (indigenous) society, but about so called experts</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">giving advice for a better living in a country they don't know well. This</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">is so na?ve, it is actually embarrassing. It is us who should learn from</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">them.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Sorry for these harsh words addressed to researchers that I respect a great</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">deal. But nobody has made this critique so far. I cringe at the idea that</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">lessons are being learnt so we can do it better next time. For me this</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">project was politically and ethically wrong. Digital technologies don't</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">make localities disappear. Let's please support p2p structures and the</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">commons movements where we live and where we struggle.</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"> All best,</span><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">andreas</span><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br clear="all">
<div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div><b>Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..</b></div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br>
<br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br>
<br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div>
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