A Btropolis Potpourri in The Semi-Compostable Urban Un-Futuring !
“ Today at the beginning of Trump’s second reign over the USA, the need for resilient socio-tech- nical systems for defending democratic rights and freedoms is more evident than ever. As a history of community infrastructure, The Rise of the Network Commons is therefore a highly topical narrative for strengthening the resilience of our last mile digital infrastructures and re-enforcing regional digital self-sovereignty through direct community participation and knowledge sharing.”
From the intro of a new published work by the Institute of Network Cultures, which looks like a beautiful tribute to the work of the late Armin Medosch, who was a pioneer of internet culture in Europe, alongside various arts+activism manifestations, like being the co-initator of the MS Stubnitz, which remains a fully active funky venue in the port of Hamburg.
We’ve just added to our latest XLt Summer Radar post, a book launch event in the Btropolis at C-base on May 31st, as part of the Freifunk Wireless Community Weekend. Other cities are also organizing events for the book ( ie. London and Vienna ), check em here, and perhaps you can self-organize one wherever you might be. Seems like a great topic for discussions, and to keep organizing + brainstorming community infrastructures in the ubiquitous crunchy authoritarian times.
Other related things going on in our Btropolis gardens, include 147. Netzpolitischer Abend - Digitalen Kolonialismus - on June 3rd, also at C-Base. Featuring…
Renata Ávila Pinto, Open Knowledge Foundation: How to build a future beyond big tech
Uma Rani, International Labour Organization: The outsourcing industry behind AI
Ingo Dachwitz, netzpolitik.org: Kritik des digitalen Kolonialismus
Francesca Schmidt, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: Digitale Souveränität als antikoloniales Projekt
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These are not great times for trying to imagine liberation through technology. As Paris Marx ( perhaps best-known for his Tech Won’t Save Us podcasts ) was in town to highlight some of the gruelling challenges ahead at a discussion hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute titled : Sustainable AI: Narratives and Impacts. Paris’ focus lately has been on the Tech-oligarchy and all their unhinged planet-trashing gameplans. In this talk, he gave a good overview of the instability of Big Tech data server farms and their rapidly escalating energy suck as AI become the next big screw loose in their dismal plunderfuck of industrial tech fantasies !
( The archive should be available at some point, if not up already ).
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We’re not going to dive deep into these topics here. These are just quick snapshots of the incredible things one can encounter these days in the Btropolis.
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Seen on the streets of Neukoelln, as we were coming out of a screening of Oasis ( 2024) - at Spore - the MAFI collective documentary about the political turmoil in Chile in 2019, and the ensuing struggle to create a new constitution to replace the one that still remains in place from Pinochet’s fascist regime. It’s an incredible view into how democracies are flailing in the midst of full-spektrum neoliberal constrictions.
The pic and the doc are also a good reminder that if you only download the Btropolis through DE and Eng channels, you’re only getting a very limited view.
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This is a quick entry. We’re gonna try and come back and add a few more inputs from the last couple weeks. Providing also a little rearview Btropolis potpourri mix of things we’ve been able to catch.
Would be nice if we had time to do more precision XLt analysis, but to do that we’re going to have to find more support mechanisms.
For now, have a great weekend… And if your getting lost in all the despairing situations, we recommend gathering tribes, and planting some radical seeds together, wherever you are !
Still from the Oasis doc.
Nothing to do of course with that embarrasing shite band from Manchester !