Grazing the digital commons : artist-made softwares, politicised technologies and the creation of new generative realms

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.The growth of the free software movement from the mid-1980s to the present day has contributed vast amounts of creative labour and technical innovation to what has become known as the digital commons. In many instances it has been 'the greater good' rather than commercial gain which has driven this research and production. Artists have played a significant role in the research, development, creative application and socialisation of various technologies, yet their recent contributions to cultural software have not been widely documented and critically examined outside of the media arts field. This thesis focuses on the recent work of the leading art group Mongrel, and their development of a powerful software platform called Netmonster. By drawing on current theoretical ideas from sociology including the qualities of immaterial labour in advanced capitalism, and the social and power dynamics of network society, I have built a framework to consider the social role and potential of cultural software. My research begins by outlining early developments in the history of computing, emphasising social and political factors shaping the technologies, and the ideas and goals of their inventors. This is followed by a discussion of the creative power of the digital commons, the collaborative labour processes involved in the free software movement, examples of innovative social technologies which are being produced, and the kinds of opportunities which can be opened up through the adoption of these tools and processes. The research concludes with an in-depth study of the Netmonster software. Netmonster is a ’poetic structure for producing network visualisations'. I draw upon my own participant-observer experiences of using Netmonster as a research and art-making tool in 2005 to explain and illustrate its features. According to Mongrel, Netmonster was created for 'the online resourcing and collaborative construction of the networked image’. A responsive, immediate and sensuous space for projects based on networked collaboration — the future of generative social software'. My research concludes that the digital commons is a thriving site of creative and affective production which flows through and animates the networks of 'informational capitalism'. Although the digital commons is increasingly a site of contestation as attempts are made by various forces to restrict, commodify or enclose it, it continues to grow and diversify, adding new nodes of generative activity to itself, and in the process transforming the nature of network society itself

Paradoxes of Property: Piracy and Sharing in Information Capitalism

All societies both suffer and benefit from levels of what is perceived as disorder, and the guiding principles of the society may be contradictory, or paradoxical, in that their ordering systems create disorder. Our aim in this text is explore the disorders and vagaries of property that seem essential to its continuance, construction and destruction, and then demonstrate how these paradoxes play out in the information economy in particular within the domain of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing. We do not wish to reduce these paradoxes and contradictions to a temporary error or to a future ordered synthesis, but to take them as they are in all their splintered fury. Much contemporary social action stems from these incoherencies, and the disputes, displays of power, and innovations which circle around them. In the P2P field the disorder generated by the order of property provides opportunities for new productive and adaptive social and technical forms of life to emerge. By contrasting order and disorder we are not implying the necessary existence of a binary distinction between the two, or that those definitions of order and disorder will not change depending on the social position of the definers. Disorder is not always and everywhere the same. It resists definition, which adds to its effect

Unreal property: Anarchism, anthropology and alchemy

© 2018 selection and editorial matter, James Arvanitakis and Martin Fredriksson; individual chapters, the contributors. ‘Property’ is complicated. We shall argue that property is constituted within a paradoxical field of vague boundaries, personal relations, poetry and violence. It is not constituted by a set of universal rules (although rules may grow around it), but by ongoing culturally negotiated, psychologically based and enforced categorisations, disorders and persuasions. Consequently, there are many different types of ‘property’ and relations we can define as ‘ownership’ across different cultures. We use anarchism because it notices the violence of property, anthropology because it notices the strangeness and variety of property, and alchemy as a way of thinking about transformations, that make or undermine property

Socialised technologies, cultural activism, and the production of agency

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.We are living in an era of unprecedented technological development, a postindustrial revolution with no end point in ssight. Information communication technologies (ICTs) in particular have changed the' nature of production dramatically, and the human mind, with its innate capacity fcor imagination, language, symbolic thought, and abstract reasoning, has become a crucial productive force. Postautonomist theory contends that such “biopolitical”’ production could radically reorder social relations, as it both enables the formation of plural subjects desiring macro-level transformation and also offers this “multitude” the; technological means for mobilising action. However, the theory has not accumulated! many empirical studies of locally embedded, globally attuned projects of counter-fpower within “network society” to support its claims. This study enters the field of culttural production to gather data from key actors within three contrasting cultural activisrm projects to determine the extent to which information technology can operate as a productive force creating new social imaginaries and forms of political agency. The autonomously-organised projects are differentiated along geo-spatial and informational lines: citizen journalism in the newly-industrialising Periphery (Hong Kong), digiital creativity in the global South (Jamaica), and network art in the global North (Eingland). The research analyses how each project has adapted a diverse range of ICTs to; create embodied cultural projects, contexts, and networks which then cross-pollinate and inspire other projects locally, translocally, and transglobally. The study found thatt first and foremost bare technology needed to be socialised by its constituent groups in order for it to be relevant and attractive to them. Socialised technology incorporates affective and experiential dimensions within technical and material structures. The methods of this socialisation differed dramatically amongst the groups, being influenced by a constellation of historical, social, cultural, and economic factorrs. Contextualised around specific projects, these technologies supported socially-eengaged creative experimentation, open-ended play, cooperative labour, peer learning}, and political action. Such technosocial processes frequently produced what I te;rm “temporary affective spaces.” Continually evolving iterations of core and satellite projects generated not only material and electronic artefacts subsequently returned to the realm of the common, but also coalesced networked communities of pracctice. The research findings suggest that technology must be actively adapted by its users via community-specific iterations, and that such innovations must remain open to be freely shared and built upon by others, for technology to realise its potential to facilitate local, translocal, and macro level social transformation

Power and politics of user involvement in software development

© 2018 Association for Computing Machinery. [CONTEXT] Involving users in software development is a complex and multi-faceted concept. Empirical research that studies power and politics of user involvement in software development is scarce. [OBJECTIVE] In this paper, we present the results from a case study of a software development project, where organizational politics was explored in context of user involvement in software development. [METHOD] We collected data through 30 interviews with 20 participants, attending workshops, observing project meetings, and analysing projects documents. The qualitative data was rigorously and iteratively analyzed. [RESULTS] The results indicate that the politics was a significant factor used to exert power and influence in decision-making processes. Communication channels were exploited for political purposes. These contributed to the users' dissatisfaction with their involvement thus impacting on the project outcome. [CONCLUSION] Having multiple teams of stakeholders with different levels of power in decision-making, the politics is inevitable and inescapable. Without careful attention, the political aspect of user involvement in software development can contribute to unsuccessful project

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research