<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2180" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Dear
Trebor and List. Thanks again for inviting me to share an enriching<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>experience of peer to/ with<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>peer practise of knowledge construction
on a variety of subjects linked to a common endeavour: the creation of a better,
non-alienating world society. Also my thanks to the participants for suggesting
reading material pertinent to different topics. The Conference is about to start
and much has been said already since I started reading the contributions to the
List in mid September However, as I am not going to be present in the
event, <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I would like to point out a
few themes and ask some questions related to my past and present research
experience and interests that I would have liked to raise if I had had a direct
participation in the forthcoming discussion. I believe these questions address
different threads of Trebor’s thought- provoking Introduction and subsequent
mail debate. </FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Let me start with reference to the themes of capitalism,
labour theory of value and related sub-topics. This has been a very stimulating
discussion, but in <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">some</I> cases it
shows lack of awareness of __or perhaps of information on__ the <B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">economic</I></B><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> and political </I>history of the
relationship among “developed” regions __ North America, Europe, and Asia,
nowadays comprising not only <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Japan</st1:country-region>, but <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> and
India__ as well as between centre-periphery countries themselves. Both are
reflected, in my view, in conceptions related to technology, socioeconomic
growth, the romantic and dangerous idea that colonized oral people of the world
have a crucial role to play in first world struggles against literate
capitalism’s ecocide, (as first victims?, please be careful you have a
Conference involving education in two years time!); the possibility of
constructing a global revolutionary<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
</B>labour force made up of digital workers or referring<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>to a global labour’s revolutionary
social agency /potentiality, among others. I find this state of affairs very
difficult to understand indeed. “Only virtual” revolutions are not enough. To be
effective they require that people, who have bodies as well as minds, act
together, i.e. that they mobilize and (physically) occupy public spaces in
support of their ideals. This, alas, does not often happen.
</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">I believe the above themes are related to the
periodization of capitalism each one of us adheres to. It is not the same to go
back to Marx’s <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Capital </I>only__and to
specific volumes in collections that perhaps do not include the <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Resultate</I>__ or to explore, in addition,
some parts of the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Grundrisse </I>with the
help of<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> </I>Rosdolsky’s<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> opus, </I>if possible; <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>or to study Kondratieff’s waves in
isolation from the former literature (I find non-orthodox economists Freeman and
Louça’s work very useful in this regard); or to quote Harvey, Moulier-Boutang,
Rullani etc. without clarifying their affinities /disagreements with specific
works of Marx and other classical writers. I mention the above authors because
their work may be related to different conceptualizations of value, surplus
value, value vs. rent appropriation, and so forth. What are we selling to
capitalists, our labour power, or an already- made informational artefact, the
product of our creative labour display and the subject of current patent, and
copyrights wars? By the way, thank you Prof. Zittrain for making your recent
book available via Creative Commons. </SPAN><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">In connection to themes such as
networked publics, Web 2.0, and Internet<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>in general I agree with<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Trebor’s contention that “Networked publics, drawn in by the promise of
free services, benefit, congregate on a few centralized social platforms, and
produce large monetary value for their owners”… . However, does anybody have an
idea of how to fight this trend (successfully) without a simultaneous
interpellation of decisions<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>relevant to the subject and approved at supra national levels be they the
WTO, the IMF, the G-20, or the World Bank to name a few, and including the
ICANN, the </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN">? The latter, a non- profit corporation created in
1998 to oversee Internet -related tasks previously performed directly on behalf
of the US government by other organizations, includes managing the assignment of
domain names and IP addresses. One seldom finds any literature on the possible
profitable derivations of such chains</SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">, connections to telephone trans-national
companies operating world wide, etc. so I will be grateful for the suggestion of
material concerning this topic, if
available.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">That international level of analysis I argue, is, in
turn, articulated in real life situations to different conceptualizations of
“creative” <U>content</U> <U>production</U> organization (“<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">mezzo”</I> level) of Cultural /Entertainment
industries /Digital media, but not restricted to them; and, at the micro<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>level,. to work organization, its
divisions, and<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>time economies (that
I call the Work Code) as well as to workers’ subjectivity and its dimensions
(that I call<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>the Labour Code). This
exercise requires concepts and indicators of what we mean when carrying out
fieldwork research, be it on information, communication, communities, codes,
“digital sociality”.... Remember Patricia Claugh’s insistence on counting with
statistical information to approach certain topics.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Last but not least, it seems to me that although gender
is mentioned in many discourses in this List it is seldom addressed in actual
research articulated to class, ethnicity, and other structural asymmetries found
in real societies, be they located in the North or in the South. Laura Liu’s
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sweatshop</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> book (which I intend
to order) seems to be an exception.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>The same applies to reproductive labour. Thank you Rozalinda for this
reminder. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">I wish you all a very successful Conference and hope to
remain in touch after the event<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">. Saludos
cordiales</I>. Martha <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Roldán<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Martha
Roldán Ph.D<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Senior
Researcher of CONICET, the National Council <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">of
Scientific and Technical Research of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place> and <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">FLACSO
(the Latin American Faculty of<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Social Sciences) <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
lang=PT-BR
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: PT-BR">Buenos
Aires. E-mail </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><A
href="mailto:imartharoldan@arnet.com.ar"><SPAN lang=PT-BR
style="mso-ansi-language: PT-BR">imartharoldan@arnet.com.ar</SPAN></A></SPAN><SPAN
lang=PT-BR
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: PT-BR">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV><BR>
<BR>
__________ Información de ESET NOD32 Antivirus, versión de la base de firmas de virus 4574 (20091104) __________<BR>
<BR>
ESET NOD32 Antivirus ha comprobado este mensaje.<BR>
<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.eset.com">http://www.eset.com</A><BR>
</BODY></HTML>