Published Date 1/19/17 11:53 AM can be hard to keep “bureaucratic” thinking out of activist organizing. We do have ongoing adhock strategys that work fine, but, these have issues with scaling. This is an unresolved and un-looked at. Open can help: We have a bit of friction going on, lets all try and reduce this…
Activism and flaring egos go hand in hand
Working on what became known as the “resistance exhibition” Activism and flaring egos go hand in hand Well, that almost went well with editing the headboards for the activist project. Shame on us all for it degenerated into shit behaver for the last 45 min. It’s understandable X wanting a say on the project –…
Outline of 20 years ups and downs of grassroots activism in the UK
Published Date 11/30/15 3:38 PM In my expirence the flowering of the #indymedia networks followed by the first years of #climatecamp were the high points of activist culture. The end of climate camp was the low point of activist culture, after this the drift to #NGO and #fashionista was wide and dissipating. #Occupy was a…
The problem of the chattering classes in activism
Published Date 7/21/15 9:35 PM DRAFT All the quotes are from Oscar Wild. “If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.” LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN The chattering classes are a problem, they are a clear and present…
WordPress friend or foe for activism
Published Date 2/5/14 12:18 PM In tech the successful part of the corporate internet is building peer-to-peer(ish) web projects. This is after the wholesale failure of the top-down hierarchical internet that went bankrupt in the dotcom boom. facebook and twitter, 4square and instagram, youtube etc are all built on horizontal(ish) peer production. Activism is still…
A brief history of activism
Published Date 3/28/13 1:18 PM This is a DRAFT #Occupy has become bureaucratised and continues as e-mail lists and side projects, not very active. #ukuncut has become institutionalised. Still active – presser protests in conjunction with NGO’s #climatecamp The anarcho’ s left and most of the rest got jobs in NGO’s a few continue in…
The memory hole in activism
Published Date 11/2/11 9:46 PM The is a churning of the wheel in activism, it is part of the explanation of why campaigns tend to tern in cercals, the social change we push is often bogged down by these muddy memory’s. The churning of the ground is mistaken for real movement, then activist get bored…
Corporate presence in the Fediverse?
The announcement from the #SocialWebFoundation is a corporate vision rather than something native, grassroots or revolutionary. Describing people as “users” who follow “influencers and brands” is a social mess, the commercialized, top-down paths that clash with the #4opens of collaboration, activism, and mutual aid path we build. On its current path this is a delusional…
The metaphors are change and challenge
Balancing the #mainstreaming mess by focusing on what’s “native” is a crucial step in rebooting the #openweb. Rather than outright rejecting things that don’t fit, the goal is to actively engage and mediate through pushback, ensuring that the core values are preserved while allowing space for broader participation. This approach helps prevent the dilution of…
Thoughts on the mess we made on #socialhub and the wider #openweb reboot
The frustration of navigating the mess of activism, tech, and grassroots movements, especially when they get co-opted and sidetracked by personal interests, #NGO agendas, or broader #mainstreaming mess. We need ways to process, compost, and turn this mess into a more productive path, one which balances burnout and disillusionment. A part of this is the…