[ICTs-and-Society] Sustainable Internet Communities as alternative to the capitalist Internet and capitalist ICTs?

[Christian Fuchs]

Dear Louis and Gilson
Dear all,

Thank you for the contributions. This list indeed welcomes discussions, 
especially as preparation for the Uppsala conference in May. I am one of 
the conference organisers and administrator of this list.

I think the question Louis brought up and upon which Gilson has followed 
up is a very profound one: How can one establish sustainable Internet 
communities and sustainable ICT? How can one establish alternatives to 
the corporate control of the Internet? What is the way forward and which 
actions should best be taken and supported? How does the crisis of 
contemporary capitalism bring about (or does not bring about) a 
legitimacy crisis of capitalism in general and therefore also a 
legitimacy crisis of the capitalist Internet and capitalist ICTs? Or 
formulated in other terms: How can struggles create such a legitimacy 
crisis?

I think one can envision alternatives as the struggle for autonomous 
spaces, spaces that are autonomous from the colonization of digital 
media from capital and power. The question is then how it is possible to 
fight the powers that exist without having the same access to the 
resources (money, power, visibility, reputation, personnel, labour, etc) 
they control? What are experiences with working in alternative digital 
media projects that aim to have a non-capitalist character? As long as 
we live in capitalism, we have to get hold of money in order to survive. 
So how to commit a lot of time for alternative projects if these 
projects are non-profit and do not finance a living?

Are alternative media and alternative projects that struggle for 
autonomy from capitalism trapped in an antagonism, in which they either 
create and reproduce precarious voluntary labour (if they lack 
resources, but maintain an autonomous character) or loose their autonomy 
(if they get commodified in order to increase their resource base)? How 
can alternative digital media project best be organized? How can 
economic, political and ideological autonomy from existing powers be 
established? And how do these powers constrain struggles for alternatives?

ICTs and society in times of capitalism and capitalist crisis pose a lot 
of interest questions.

Best, Christian

-- 
- - -
Christian Fuchs
Unified Theory of Information Research Group
christian.fuchs at uti.at
http://www.uti.at
Personal: http://fuchs.uti.at
NetPolitics Blog: http://fuchs.uti.at/blog
Editor of tripleC: http://www.triple-c.se
Chair of ESA RN18-Sociology of Communications and Media Research
ICTs and Society Network: http://www.icts-and-society.net

Chair in Media and Communication Studies
Department of Informatics and Media
Uppsala University
Kyrkogårdsgatan 10
Box 513
751 20 Uppsala
Sweden
christian.fuchs at im.uu.se
Tel +46 (0) 18 471 1019
http://fuchs.uti.at
http://www.im.uu.se