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MISTICA: New list on IT and "Development"

From: Daniel Pimienta ([email protected])
Date: Sun Feb 17 2002 - 14:23:18 AST

>From: geert lovink <[email protected]>
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Invitation to join the solaris mailinglist
>Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 12:14:06 +1100
>
>Invitation to join the Solaris Electronic Mailinglist
>An Initiative for Critical Issues of Internet and Development
>
>Dear All,
>
>We would like to invite you to join Solaris, a new electronic mailinglist on
>IT and "Development" related issues in the once and future/post "non-Western
>world".
>
>The discontent amongst many of us with the conventional discourse around "IT
>& Development" has gradually grown over the last few years. So far there has
>not been an on-line institutionally independent forum to discuss critical
>topics concerning the full range and use of new media and their
>cultural/creative, political, social and economic contexts in the (for lack
>of a better term) "Developing (aka Third, Less Developed, Underdeveloped)
>World" and in lagging regions and among digitally excluded populations in
>"Developed" Countries.
>
>The existing lists in the "IT & Development" or "Digital Divide" fields are
>too closely tied to funding bodies, Not for Profits, international
>institutions or governmental agencies with their own world encompassing
>assumptions to promote. Despite their efficiency they seem to have too
>narrow a policy and theoretical focus. We would like to see more
>independence, a neutral forum where critical and lively multi-disciplinary
>and intercultural exchanges can take place.
>
>Current mailing list culture seems to have little interest in debating more
>fundamental issues of exclusion in a digital context, the new power
>relations of digitally enabled economies, digitally enabled security from
>below rather than above, community e-commerce development, Napsterism and
>other post "E" development strategies, the new terms of trade and
>sophisticated accumulation in the Real World of IP, OS (Operating System)
>wars and regional insurgencies, and determining if WTO director Mike Powell
>was right and the Digital Divide really is about fancy German cars in low
>income neighborhoods.
>
>This call for a critical discourse comes from 'within' and is not meant to
>spread a new form of techno-cultural pessimism. The last thing we need is a
>moralistic analysis of the Internet as a 'US-American imperialist tool'. An
>engaged form of research is necessary which overcomes dry economism and its
>spiritual counterpart, techno-determinism (the all too often heard notion
>that technology will automatically bring salvation and result in prosperity
>for all, worldwide).
>
>"Solaris" is born out of a felt need for a lively and diverse independent
>ICT and development discourse and particularly one which recognizes and
>reinforces the perspectives of those who see ICT as a base for liberation
>and creativity--with eyes wide open for the chilly reality. There is a need
>to analyze the agendas of all the agents, from globe spanning UN or G8
>Task/Dot Forces, US-American foundations (Markle, Soros, Rockefeller, Ford,
>etc.), charity/marketing input from IT companies, government ICT/DD
>development programs, NGOs and media activists.
>
>nformation technology hasn't solved world poverty. It arguably has
>contributed even further to the growing income inequality on both a global
>and national scale while the all too easy rhetoric of UN initiatives, and
>DotForce and other Digital Divide programs appear to be recycling outdated
>neo-liberal dotcom models. The 'organized positivism' around successful
>projects is often used against those who rightly ask questions while
>mysteriously never seeming to manage the morphing into on-going
> "sustainable" programs. There is an "end of history" culture in the making
>driven by the almost religious belief that technology plus business results
>in democracy and prosperity.
>
>The bandwidth gap is widening on any level at an accelerating pace. With
>Linux stagnating as an alternative to Microsoft, limiting its role as an
>operating system and server software, Solaris would like to raise the
>question in which areas strategic software could be developed. Information
>technology does not come with 'out of the box' solutions. At the time there
>is an amazing amount of talent around to prevent and reverse the expensive
>import of hardware and software. The overall picture is a complex, often
>paradoxical one.
>
>There is no longer a need for 'technology transfer' from North to South.
>"Everyone is an expert." IT-specialists are everywhere. However, there are
>numerous economic blockages explaining why software production from below
>hasn't taken off. It is now time to stress the structural obstacles-and
>NGOism could be one of them (not just the more obvious WTO).
>
>The use of information technology worldwide is causing paradoxical,
>sometimes contradictory and confusing effects, with occasional miracles and
>widely spread new forms of exclusion. Still, the overall sense is one of
>empowerment - and surprise. The primal drive to discover, adapt, mutate and
>further develop technologies is a truly global phenomenon, one that cannot
>be overrun by a culture of complaint or the desire of corporate interests to
>create and capture markets.
>
>These are just some of many topics which could be discussed.
>
>The Solaris initiators would like to emphasize the complexity of the picture
>and involve all those who feel attracted to a rich multidisciplinary form of
>digital story telling beyond dull politics, sterile academicism, paper tiger
>task forces and self-reflexive policy conglomerates. It is time to get rid
>of the almost dead phrase "IT is about people, stupid" and move it beyond
>the massing ranks of the Digital Divide industry.
>
>Solaris is co-founded by Michael Gurstein ([email protected]), community
>Internet maven based in New York and Geert Lovink ([email protected]), media
>theorist and Internet critic, based in Sydney. The list is hosted by Sarai,
>the New Media Initiative in Delhi, India which has been a source of
>inspiration while starting up Solaris.
>
>Please forward this invitation to your friends-and enemies-who you think
>would/should be interested in joining Solaris.
>
>To start, the Solaris mailinglist will be open and unmoderated. There will
>be a (growing and rotating) team of facilitators from different continents
>and backgrounds who will initiate debate and bring in material. In order to
>prevent spam only members will be able to post and from the e-mail address
>where they receive the list. When there are around 50 subscribers the list
>will go live. Please be careful not to publicly circulate this announcement,
>especially in the beginning.
>
>To (un)subscribe write to [email protected] with 'help' in the
>subjectline for further instructions or go directly to:
>http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/solaris
>
>Post to: [email protected] (list members only)
>
>List archive: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/solaris/

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