[Reader-list] invitation to join the solaris list

[geert lovink]

Invitation to join the Solaris Electronic Mailinglist
An Initiative for Critical Issues of Internet and Development

Dear All,

We would like to invite you to join Solaris, a new electronic
mailinglist on
IT and "Development" related issues in the once and future/post
"non-Western
world".

The discontent amongst many of us with the conventional discourse around
"IT
& Development" has gradually grown over the last few years. So far there
has
not been an on-line institutionally independent forum to discuss
critical
topics concerning the full range and use of new media and their
cultural/creative, political, social and economic contexts in the (for
lack
of a better term) "Developing (aka Third, Less Developed,
Underdeveloped)
World" and in lagging regions and among digitally excluded populations
in
"Developed" Countries.

The existing lists in the "IT & Development" or "Digital Divide" fields
are
too closely tied to funding bodies, Not for Profits, international
institutions or governmental agencies with their own world encompassing
assumptions to promote. Despite their efficiency they seem to have too
narrow a policy and theoretical focus. We would like to see more
independence, a neutral forum where critical and lively
multi-disciplinary
and intercultural exchanges can take place.

Current mailing list culture seems to have little interest in debating
more
fundamental issues of exclusion in a digital context, the new power
relations of digitally enabled economies, digitally enabled security
from
below rather than above, community e-commerce development, Napsterism
and
other post "E" development strategies, the new terms of trade and
sophisticated accumulation in the Real World of IP, OS (Operating
System)
wars and regional insurgencies, and determining if WTO director Mike
Powell
was right and the Digital Divide really is about fancy German cars in
low
income neighborhoods.

This call for a critical discourse comes from 'within' and is not meant
to
spread a new form of techno-cultural pessimism. The last thing we need
is a
moralistic analysis of the Internet as a 'US-American imperialist tool'.
An
engaged form of research is necessary which overcomes dry economism and
its
spiritual counterpart, techno-determinism (the all too often heard
notion
that technology will automatically bring salvation and result in
prosperity
for all, worldwide).

"Solaris" is born out of a felt need for a lively and diverse
independent
ICT and development discourse and particularly one which recognizes and
reinforces the perspectives of those who see ICT as a base for
liberation
and creativity--with eyes wide open for the chilly reality. There is a
need
to analyze the agendas of all the agents, from globe spanning UN or G8
Task/Dot Forces, US-American foundations (Markle, Soros, Rockefeller,
Ford,
etc.), charity/marketing input from IT companies, government ICT/DD
development programs, NGOs and media activists.

nformation technology hasn't solved world poverty. It arguably has
contributed even further to the growing income inequality on both a
global
and national scale while the all too easy rhetoric of UN initiatives,
and
DotForce and other Digital Divide programs appear to be recycling
outdated
neo-liberal dotcom models. The 'organized positivism' around successful
projects is often used against those who rightly ask questions while
mysteriously never seeming to manage the morphing into on-going
 "sustainable" programs. There is an "end of history" culture in the
making
driven by the almost religious belief that technology plus business
results
in democracy and prosperity.

The bandwidth gap is widening on any level at an accelerating pace. With
Linux stagnating as an alternative to Microsoft, limiting its role as an
operating system and server software, Solaris would like to raise the
question in which areas strategic software could be developed.
Information
technology does not come with 'out of the box' solutions. At the time
there
is an amazing amount of talent around to prevent and reverse the
expensive
import of hardware and software. The overall picture is a complex, often
paradoxical one.

There is no longer a need for 'technology transfer' from North to South.
"Everyone is an expert." IT-specialists are everywhere. However, there
are
numerous economic blockages explaining why software production from
below
hasn't taken off.  It is now time to stress the structural obstacles-and
NGOism could be one of them (not just the more obvious WTO).

The use of information technology worldwide is causing paradoxical,
sometimes contradictory and confusing effects, with occasional miracles
and
widely spread new forms of exclusion. Still, the overall sense is one of
empowerment - and surprise. The primal drive to discover, adapt, mutate
and
further develop technologies is a truly global phenomenon, one that
cannot
be overrun by a culture of complaint or the desire of corporate
interests to
create and capture markets.

These are just some of many topics which could be discussed.

The Solaris initiators would like to emphasize the complexity of the
picture
and involve all those who feel attracted to a rich multidisciplinary
form of
digital story telling beyond dull politics, sterile academicism, paper
tiger
task forces and self-reflexive policy conglomerates. It is time to get
rid
of the almost dead phrase "IT is about people, stupid" and move it
beyond
the massing ranks of the Digital Divide industry.

Solaris is co-founded by Michael Gurstein (  <mailto:mgurst at vcn.bc.ca>
mgurst at vcn.bc.ca), community
Internet maven based in New York and Geert Lovink (
<mailto:geert at xs4all.nl> geert at xs4all.nl), media
theorist and Internet critic, based in Sydney. The list is hosted by
Sarai,
the New Media Initiative in Delhi, India which has been a source of
inspiration while starting up Solaris.

Please forward this invitation to your friends-and enemies-who you think
would/should be interested in joining Solaris.

To start, the Solaris mailinglist will be open and unmoderated. There
will
be a (growing and rotating) team of facilitators from different
continents
and backgrounds who will initiate debate and bring in material. In order
to
prevent spam only members will be able to post and from the e-mail
address
where they receive the list. When there are around 50 subscribers the
list
will go live. Please be careful not to publicly circulate this
announcement,
especially in the beginning.

To (un)subscribe write to  <mailto:solaris-request at sarai.net>
solaris-request at sarai.net with 'help' in the
subjectline for further instructions or go directly to:
 <http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/solaris>
http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/solaris

Post to:  <mailto:solaris at mail.sarai.net> solaris at mail.sarai.net (list
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