Sep
15
Announcing “Blog Network” and new posse formation
September 15, 2003 |
Tonight we are having a meeting at Berkman to discuss student involvment in a variety of initiatives that the Center sponsors. I’m going to discuss something called “Blog Network” in order to try an experiment in distributed work and self-organization using blogs. Basically, I will sponsor about five new blogs, to deal with topics that I think need to be highlighted, debated, defragmented, surveyed, explored.
For each topic, at least three Harvard Law students will create a “posse” that will make the blog bloom over the next twelve weeks.
The goal of each posse is to get into the conversation in the blogosphere, to bring others into the blogosphere as well to as the particular conversation, and to reach out to new voices and new ideas, and to be thought leaders and provoceurs.
The students will decide whether to use their own bylines or create one synthetic identify (like the Federalist papers), and how to open their site to other contributors who will show up. They will experiment with telepresence and various forms of emerging blog-related communication.
By the way, anyone reading this, I’d love have your thoughts–and when we get the blogs up, your involvement in whatever way makes sense.
The overall topics will be loosely defined by me up front, are expected to evolve over time, and include but are not limited to:
1. The relationship of grassroots, free thinking “second superpower” individuals and organizations to “first superpower” institutions and people, especially in the realm of international law and institutions, but also including the governance of the US and other major nations. Examples range from the grassroots swarms that have been super powering the Dean campaign, to activists working to influence the IMF and World Bank, to anti-landmine campaigners, to the folks who swarmed around the recently collapsed WTO talks in Cancun. By the way, many (most?) of us are both “second” and “first” superpower in our own consciousness. How do we make sense of that?
2. Consciousness and technology on the web. Especially political consciousness, “semantic democracy” (Charlie Nesson’s passion), and “emergent democracy” (Joi Ito’s passion). Blogs, smart mobs, telepresence and meta-conscousness in the blogosphere, etc. What are the interesting new technologies–and how are they providing platforms for the development of new forms of individual and collective intelligence, wisdom, play, love, hate, etc.
3. Polling data, democraphics, values and consciousness. How many progressive souls are there out there? Are there really 30 million hard core global consciousness people in the US? Are there 100 million or more in the industrial world? And by the way, how many hard core conservatives are there?
More important, perhaps people have “multiple selves” and can sometimes respond from higher places in themselves than others? How does this affect how we think about who is “out there?”
4. The role of entrepreneurship in sustainable development and open economies around the world. “Business to the four billion” who live below a dollar or so per day. Involvement of all 6.3 billion people. A changing world economy that needs to become sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally. The value of law and legal ethos in supporting entrepreneurs who are change agents in their societies. Grameen Bank and Grameen phone as obvious examples with non-obvious lessons. E.g. the biggest barrier to Grameen phone was not serving poor people, but dealing with opposition from the established state and state-owned telco.
5. Big ideas that animate social movements. How do memes spread? What sort of collective self-consciousness helps movements to expand and sustain themselves and thrive? What sort of consciousness diminishes them?
Tune in for more! These are just starting point ideas. Your contributions, by email, are welcome!
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