[iDC] Some notes on value...

Sun Feb 24 21:02:51 UTC 2008

Hi,

> Can we not distinguish between commercial brands, and other  
> reputational brands, say like iDC or the P2P Foundation, and if so,  
> what could be a mechanism to carry out that distinction.

of course we can

> I think there must be a clear difference between manipulative  
> commercial brands, say Nike, and civil society efforts which can  
> obtain a reputation without such means,
>
well that's one mechanism, personal opinion. Nike and the P2P  
foundation are similar in that both rely on ethical capital. They're  
different in that Nike is primarily interested in strategically  
cultivating ethical capital in order to make money, while the P2P  
foundation might be interested in strategically cultivating its  
ethical capital but probably in order to have an impact and increase  
its ethical capital. I.e. they work with the same (ethical) value  
logic, but they are dominated by different value logics ethical vs.  
capitalist.

I agree about the point about 'freedom'. I'd liek to use the term  
free not in an absolute sense but as in, not 'entirely possible to  
command'- of course one of the most important things going on right  
now is capital inventing ever mroe advanced ways to try to command  
that 'freedom'

best
adam

> Michel
>
> The P2P Foundation researches, documents and promotes peer to peer  
> alternatives.
>
>
>
> Wiki and Encyclopedia, at http://p2pfoundation.net; Blog, at http:// 
> blog.p2pfoundation.net; Newsletter, at http://integralvisioning.org/ 
> index.php?topic=p2p
>
>
>
> Basic essay at http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499;  
> interview at http://poynder.blogspot.com/2006/09/p2p-very-core-of- 
> world-to-come.html; video interview, at http:// 
> www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/09/29/ 
> network_collaboration_peer_to_peer.htm
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Brian Holmes <brian.holmes at wanadoo.fr>
>> To: idc at mailman.thing.net
>> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 2:14:47 AM
>> Subject: Re: [iDC] Some notes on value...
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I'm quite sympathetic to the line of thought pursued here. The  
>> idea of
>> the esteem economy is worth developing! But I'd like to ask a  
>> question
>> about brands and freedom:
>>
>>> in the self-understanding of
>>> contemporary capitalism, the monetary value of brands are based on
>>> their ethical values, their ability to accumulate mass affect.
>>>
>>> What creates these ethical values? [...] people pay to use brands in
>>> their everyday life and thus freely co-produce their ethical value
>>> through their constructive consumer practices. On financial markets,
>>> capital flows to the most attractive brands. More means more in this
>>> case, if you have accumulated a significant stock of ethical  
>>> capital,
>>> people will freely give you their time and further attention, or, on
>>> financial markets, their capital.
>>
>> But how free is this when millions of dollars are pumped into
>> advertising a brand, analyzing the consumers' use of a product and
>> reaction to its advertising, then readjusting both brand image and
>> product (not to mention product placement, store architecture etc) to
>> fit closer to the model developed by the analysis? Hasn't the
>> accumulation of mass affect been calculated and engineered?
>>
>> I ask the question because there is a big emphasis right now on the
>> freedom of people to do this or that with the net, at the same  
>> time as
>> it is more and more flooded with ads and surveillance. And though I
>> appreciate all freedoms, I am not sure they expand when you just  
>> ignore
>> real constraints. Still, great post, great thread, this is just a
>> question of detail.
>>
>> best, Brian
>>
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>
>        
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Yours Sincerely,
Adam Arvidsson

Actics Profile:
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Associate Professor, Media Studies
Department of Media, Cognition and Communication
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