Self-organisation/Counter-economic strategies is about the many approaches to the creation, dissemination and maintenance of alternative models for social and economic organisation, and the practical and theoretical implications, consequences and possibilities of these self-organised struc- tures. The counter-economic strategies presented here are radical alternatives to classical capitalist economic organisa- tion that exploit, or have been produced by, the existing global economic system. Essays by ten writers cover a wide cross-section of activity, from new approaches to intellectual property and the impli- cations of the free/open source software movement to politi- cal activism and the de facto self-organisation embodied in informal architecture and the so-called black economy. Self-organisation/Counter-economic strategies is not a comprehensive overview or an attempt to unify these diverse interpretations. It is intended as a toolbox of ideas, situations and approaches, and includes many practical examples. 0240_057_self_o_cover.indd 1 10/09/06 16:53:31 Self-organisation/ counter-economic strategies Self-Organisation/ Counter-Economic Strategies This book is published by: Sternberg Press (2006) Produced by: NIFCA, Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art In collaboration with: The Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki The Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven Montana, Denmark Editors: Will Bradley, Mika Hannula, Cristina Ricupero, Superflex Editorial Co-ordinator: Sylvester Roepstorff Copy Editing: Christy Lange Design: Rasmus Koch Assistants: Thomas Frederiksen, Alexander Häggström Typeface: Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ Printing and binding: Centertryk A/S, Denmark ISBN 1-933128-13-5 Sternberg Press Caroline Schneider 1182 Broadway #1602, New York NY 10001 Linienstraße 159, D-10115 Berlin www.sternberg-press.com NIFCA publication # 28 Unless otherwise stated, the essays in this book are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution ˜Non-Commercial˜ ShareAlike Licence 2.5 Rights information for the examples can be found online at the URLs provided (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/) 6 Self-organisation/ counter economic strategies Introduction This book is about the many approaches to the creation, dis- semination and maintenance of alternative, ‘bottom-up’ models for social or economic organisation, and the practical and theo- retical implications, consequences and possibilities of these self-organised structures. The term self-organisation is borrowed from systems theory and the natural sciences, where it describes systems whose internal organisation tends to increase in complexity without being guided by an outside source. In recent years it has been used in relation to certain kinds of social groups or networks; in this context, the term does not have a strict definition, but broadly speaking it refers to groups that are independent of institutional or corporate structures, are non-hierarchical, open and operate participatory decision-making processes. The counter-economic strategies discussed here are radical alternatives to classical capitalist economic organisation that exploit, or have been produced by, the existing global eco- nomic system. Writers from different fields have been invited to investigate these themes with reference to particular situations. The essays they have contributed discuss a wide cross-section of activity, from new approaches to intellectual property and impact of the free/open source software movement to political activism and the de facto self-organisation embodied in informal architecture and the so-called black economy. They represent diverse, and sometimes conflicting, viewpoints and interpretations. Self-organisation/ counter economic strategies 7 Self-organisation/Counter-economic strategies is not a com- prehensive overview or an attempt to unify these diverse in- terpretations. It is intended as a toolbox of ideas, situations and approaches, including both theoretical reflections and case-studies. In this spirit, we have also collected many short, practical examples of self-organised groups or strategies; the thematic index is intended to enable you to navigate the book from the point of view of your own areas of interest. This book has been produced as a result of Superflex’s resi- dency in the Amazon region of Brazil, organised by Cristina Ricupero for NIFCA. We would like to thank Søren Friis Møller and Maaretta Jaukkuri for their support during the initial stages of this project. We would also like to thank all of the writers and contributors, to express our gratitude to Rasmus Koch, Sylvester Roepstorff, Christy Lange and Caroline Schneider for helping to turn the concept of this book into physical reality, and like to acknowledge the support of NIFCA; the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki; and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; and Montana, Denmark. Superflex Cristina Ricupero Mika Hannula Will Bradley 8 Self-organisation/ counter economic strategies Indexing Activism/ activist 5, 17, 175, 181, 182, 183, 198, 203, 218, 243, 246, 317, 324 Aesthetics 153, 158, 192, 219, 294, 322 Agriculture 66, 69, 94, 269 Albania 147 Argentina 25-7 Architecture 5, 103, 110, 121-3, 129, 131-2, 137, 139, 150, 153, 293, 296, 297 Art 6, 17-9, 33, 36, 81, 88-90, 100, 148-9, 168-9, 186-9, 261, 307-9, 76-7, 114, 115, 280-1 Arts/Arts funding 171, 176, 192, 199, 323, 324, 308 Autonomy/Autonomous 15, 79, 167, 170-2, 196, 203, 251 Balkans 145, 147, 150-3, 158-9, 162 Barrios 13, 21-3 Branding 21, 23, 86, 109, 121-2, 206, 312, 316-9, 327, 331 Brazil 65-75, 83-7, 91-3, 135, 200, 313, 316, 319, 324, 326, 332-3 Capitalism 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 107, 195, 240, 246-8, 274, 324-7, 329 Censorship 175 Cities 21-2, 84, 111, 113, 122, 67, 73, 79-80, 83, 147, 150-3, 158-9, 162, 192, 219, 233, 237, 244, 261, 270, 335 Civil Society 152, 162, 212-5, 219, 221-3, 226-8 Community 14-5, 21, 25, 41, 73, 79, 80, 113, 127, 128, 155, 157, 161, 176, 180, 182, 185, 187, 190, 199, 217, 234-5, 238, 241-2, 245, 248-53, 265, 269, 271, 277-81, 287, 297-9, 302, 304, 312, 316 Competition 123, 317 Conflict 5, 22, 27, 67, 77, 79, 87, 133, 157, 170, 181-5, 193, 207, 225-8, 305, 317, 325, 327, 332 Cooperative 17, 25-7, 68, 82, 135, 312, 316-9, 326, 333 Copying 60, 71, 130, 217, 292, 321 Copying 60, 71, 130, 217, 292, 321 Copyright 33, 36, 43-7, 50-2, 62, 71, 97, 99, 112, 125, 129, 131-3, 136, 141, Indexing 9 Copyright (... continued) 161, 180, 217-8, 225, 293, 295, 299, 332 Corporations 51, 135, 313, 316, 319, 326, 331-2 Counter-economic 135, 319 Commons 89, 109, 111-3, 117, 121-4, 131, 136-7, 141, 306, 329, 330, 335 Creative 44, 50, 106, 129-30, 243, 335 Crime 14-5, 20-2, 86, 240, 294, 329 Culture 21, 32, 42, 51, 54, 66-9, 71, 89, 94, 110, 117, 121, 130, 133, 136-9, 149, 165, 197, 199-200, 209, 215, 222, 306, 323-4, 329, 335 Democracy 91, 93, 150, 159, 226, 244, 246, 285, 306, 335 Demonstrations 83-4, 174, 184, 203, 315 Denmark 109, 308, 331 Dissemination (publicity, PR) 33, 75, 192, 262, 324, 331 Documentary 49, 167, 289, 315 Economy/Economics 5, 20, 25, 41, 71, 79, 119, 127, 135, 147, 157, 159-61, 199, 261, 285, 306, 308, 313, 325, 327 Education 35, 41, 68, 72-3, 157, 181, 190, 259, 308, 316 Empire 82, 279, 306 Empowerment 35, 41, 94, 135, 179, 215, 220, 312, 319 Environment 17, 43, 49, 79-81, 187, 92, 316 Ethics 230, 266, 277, 279, 306, 335 Experiment 79 (spontaneous ... in joy), 155, 187, 190, 197, 199-201, 257, 261, 308, 323, 335 Fair use 44-7, 52, 324, 332 Farmers 72, 79, 135, 187, 312-13, 316-19, 332 Finance 69, 91, 119, 170, 173-4 Free 20-1, 33, 44, 46, 52, 79-84, 89, 98, 104, 107, 109, 110-3, 115, 117, 121-4, 130-3, 136-9, 146, 155, 173, 198-200, 210, 212, 215, 217, 219, 246, 251, 284-5, 291, 297, 298-306, 320, 322, 326-7, 331, 335 Gated Communities 153 Globalization 71, 239, 251, 289, 335 Government/State 14-5, 20-2, 41, 73-5, 83-6, 91-2, 99, 106-7, 113, 136, 146-7, 150-2, 158-161, 171-2, 217, 244, 246, 289, 294-5, 306, 310, 315, 316, 322-4 Guaraná 135, 312-333 10 Indexing Ideology 22, 122, 152-3, 323 Independent 157, 165-201, 300, 304, 320 Informal 20, 22, 77, 147-162, 198, 303, 304 Internet 33, 89, 96, 112-3, 116, 121-142, 155, 179, 173, 182, 284-5, 302, 306 Labour/Labor 15, 86, 89, 175, 183, 212, 248, 289, 302, 324-6 Law 14, 33, 35, 36-8, 41, 44, 47, 51, 61-2, 71, 86, 91-3, 97, 107, 110, 121-2, 125, 129, 131-3, 138, 141, 150, 155, 160-1, 172, 183, 203, 212, 237, 240, 291, 293, 295, 320, 331-2 Liberal 79 (honky, bleeding-heart, guilt-ridden), 222, 324 Local 14-5, 22, 43, 54, 68, 72, 83, 119, 127, 146, 151, 155, 159, 161, 167, 170-1, 175, 179, 187, 190, 195, 196, 209, 217, 237, 253, 269, 297, 313, 316-8, 325-6 Mafia 14-5, 22 Marginalisation 36, 42, 45, 51, 60, 327 Market/Free Market 14, 16, 19, 20-23, 44, 52, 71, 106-7, 139, 146, 172, 191, 198-9, 214, 247, 258, 284, 292, 294, 312-3, 329, 316-8, 322, 324, 331-3 Marx 132 (Marx Brothers), 240, 246 Media 17, 22, 33, 38, 43, 51, 60-1, 73-4, 83, 94-5, 141, 165-201, 213-4, 242, 284, 293, 300, 308, 320, 324 Mexico 14-23, 19, 289 Migration 22, 35, 41, 67, 152, 159, 175, 203, 308 Models 35, 39, 89, 155, 166, 176, 196, 200, 247, 279, 285, 294, 323 Movements 25-7, 66-69, 72, 74, 84-87, 89, 175-6, 240, 242, 245-8, 251, 279, 299, 303, 315, 324-5 MST/Landless Workers Movement 65-95, 200 Nation(s) 20, 22, 66-7, 92, 125, 150-1, 161, 239, 252, 261, 325 Natural resources 35, 153 Neo-Liberal 323 Network 17, 25, 36, 49, 61, 91, 116-7, 122-3, 127, 141, 167, 170-3, 176, 179, 183, 203, 215, 221, 243, 245, 269, 306, 320 Ownership 66, 160, 180, 187, 214, 225, 251, 284, 286, 291, 293-305 Paradox 107, 131, 230, 326