Computer science and technology : historiography VI

Tandy corporation, "post-capitalism" so called, space philosophy..

Cosmolocalism: Understanding the Transitional Dynamics towards Post-Capitalism

Over the last decades, the proliferation of ICTs and capitalist markets has created a new social-historical reality for communication, production and societal organisation, while social inequality has deepened. In this context, alternative forms of organisation based on the commons have emerged, challenging the core values of capitalism. Within this new form of egalitarian and transnational collaborative networks, a new concept of social coexistence has been proposed: cosmolocalism. This article presents the genealogy of cosmolocalism and compares it to previous conceptual universalist reconfigurations, namely cosmopolitanism and internationalism. While the current discourse on cosmolocalism focuses on production and distribution, its political dynamics and limitations remain unexplored. Our ultimate goal is to open a path of inquiry for further reflection and deliberation

Critiquing a Utopian idea of Sustainable Consumption: A Post-Capitalism Perspective

This paper proposes and critiques the idea of a post-capitalism sustainable consumption utopia to improve the ecological and human wellbeing of the planet. Such a notion can stimulate new imaginative thinking on a future sustainable world not dominated by neoliberalism. It can also strengthen SDG-12: responsible consumption and production. To do so, it examines the influence of pro-environmental self-identity, market-based barriers, and knowledge barriers on sustainable consumption buying, product lifetime extension, and environmental activism. Survey data was collected via online panels in Sweden (n=504) and the USA (n=1,017). Richly varied and complex findings emerge supporting the merit of this utopian idea. In particular, the importance of pro-environmental self-identity. This study illustrates how post-capitalism radical incrementalism and people power can initiate change using the civic, political, and environmental activism in sustainable consumption behaviours. Emerging implications for the viability of SDG-12 are also considered. This work offers rich opportunities for further research

Post-capitalism, post-growth, post-consumerism? Eco-political hopes beyond sustainability

As a road map for a structural transformation of socially and ecologically self-destructive consumer societies, the paradigm of sustainability is increasingly regarded as a spent force. Yet, its exhaustion seems to coincide with the rebirth of several ideas reminiscent of earlier, more radical currents of eco-political thought: liberation from capitalism, consumerism and the logic of growth. May the exhaustion of the sustainability paradigm finally reopen the intellectual and political space for the big push beyond the established socio-economic order? Looking from the perspective of social and eco-political theory, this article argues that the new narratives (and social practices) of postcapitalism, degrowth and post-consumerism cannot plausibly be read as signalling a new eco-political departure. It suggests that beyond the exhaustion of the sustainability paradigm, we are witnessing, more than anything, the further advancement of the politics of unsustainability - and that in this politics the new narratives of hope may themselves be playing a crucial role

Educational Management Framework Development in East Asian Universities

This body of work attempts to explore ways where post capitalism can be applied to a capitalist world. A small scale survey was carried out in a university in East Asia in an attempt to analyse the management framework within a knowledge based business and the implications for the local area. Upon discussions of the results, a suggested model of an emerging blueprint is proposed as a cumulative goal in the maturing management framework. It is hoped that concepts addressed in this discussion will add to the body of knowledge of organisational leadership within educational institutions

Land of peace and agreement

Je zapotřebí transformace společnosti, aby se mohla plně rozvinout pravá lidská tvůrčí svoboda. Autor promýšlí, v čem by změny mohly spočívat, a jak zajistit udržitelnost života v tzv. postkapitalismu. Nový životní postoj, podložený filosoficky, je protikladem touhy po moci a bohatství.A transformation of society is needed for true human creative freedom to fully develop. The author reflects on what the changes might consist of and how to ensure the sustainability of life in so-called post-capitalism. A new attitude to life, underpinned philosophically, is the antithesis of the desire for power and wealth

Digital commoning and post-capitalist crypto-economies: The case of FairCoop

In the context of the current global recession, big tech and big data corporations have amassed a disturbing amount of power and influence in this new phase of platform and surveillance capitalism. Against this backdrop, and inspired by Gibson-Graham’s invitation to look for difference rather than dominance, this paper considers digital commons as a viable post-capitalist alternative. In particular, this research’s focus will be on the international activist collective, FairCoop. This group, inspired by ideas of degrowth, decentralization and post-capitalism, has developed its own crypto-currency, FairCoin, along with tools and infrastructures that seek to challenge the economic and digital status quo. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork, this investigation explores the practices and experiences of this alternative economic project. Drawing on commoning literature, the paper engages with the challenges that such initiatives face, such as the risky entanglements with crypto-markets, governance mechanisms, transparency and management issues, scalability and individual burnouts. By studying FairCoop and associated collectives such as Komun and Kaana, this paper demonstrates how alternative economies, blockchain initiatives and digital commoning can contribute to more progressive and transformative technological innovation. Yet, focusing on the practice and (re)production of the commons reveals a multifaceted picture. I argue that if we are to study the present and future of digital commoning, it is crucial to engage with difficult issues such as tensions, hierarchies and democratic deficits. These cases will be discussed to further the debate on the possibilities for post-capitalism in the digital era and bring alternative economies, technological innovation and commoning perspectives into a fruitful dialogue

Petty capitalism, perfecting capitalism or post-capitalism? : lessons from the Argentinian barter network

economic systems;Argentina;barter;currencies;monetary systems

Capital as Artificial Intelligence

This article examines science-fictional allegorizations of Soviet-style planned economies, financial markets, autonomous trading algorithms, and global capitalism writ large as nonhuman artificial intelligences, focussing primarily on American science fiction of the Cold War period. Key fictional texts discussed include Star Trek, Isaac Asimov\u27s Machine stories, Terminator, Kurt Vonnegut\u27s Player Piano (1952), Charles Stross\u27s Accelerando (2005), and the short stories of Philip K. Dick. The final section of the article discusses Kim Stanley Robinson\u27s novel 2312 (2012) within the contemporary political context of accelerationist anticapitalism, whose advocates propose working with “the machines” rather than against them