Internet Labor

What's so Radical About Free Software?

Jonah BossewitchLeft Forum 2009 April 19, 2009

Personal Transformations

Commons-Based Peer Production

Throwaways ➔ CrafstmanshipExploitation ➔ CommunityMercenary ➔ Freedom Fighter

Structure, Processes, and GovernanceConsensus, Conflict ResolutionReflective and self-conscious (and -organized, -determined, and -satisfying)

Ecology of a Software Project:Software—Community—Processes

Breeding Ground for Experimentation

Percolating Values

Transparency, Accountability and SustainabilityAgile, responsive, and self-determined growthTools embodying and reflecting these priorities

Software as artifact of communityStructures and processes to accommodate changeOrganized for community and access to knowledge

Constructivist LearningLearning by making and doingLearning through the conscious construction of public entities actualized in particular contexts

Individuals are encouraged to construct meaning for themselves

Progressive internalization of action

Gateway to Political Action

–Practically engage directly in politics–Personally taste the fruit of political action.–Awakening to civic activation, engagement, and maintenance

Free EnergyWhat lessons can activists learn from the free software/free culture movements?

Tactically - distributing knowledgecommunity building communitiesincreased efficiency

Strategically - Present choices to individualsAction catalyzes engagement

Direct participation → Raises awareness and understanding

→ Catalyst for idealogical transformationCultivating the will necessary to sustain the pressure required for true reform

Economic (R)evolutionsAssumption: Communism failed, capitalism triumphant, economic systems have ceased to evolve.

Human sharing can support self-interests and result in greater value and wealth.

Smaller pieces of larger pies

A Time for Celebration

"Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for." — Hopi elders

Questions