Tiago Peixoto: Pessimism of the Intellect and Open Government
-
Upload
danube-university-krems-centre-for-e-governance -
Category
Technology
-
view
365 -
download
0
Transcript of Tiago Peixoto: Pessimism of the Intellect and Open Government
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
� Semantic Extravaganza � Where e-Participation Stands � Where to go to � The Napoleonic Semaphore
overview
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
(…) what primary movement or sector is mySociety part of? Or Avaaz? Or Kiva? Or Wikileaks? When I ask myself these questions, no obvious words or names race quickly or clearly to mind. There is a gap – or at best quite a bit of fuzziness – where the labels should go.
This lack of good labels should surprise us because these groups definitely have aims and goals, normally explicit. Also, it is unusual because social and political movements tend to be quite good at developing names and sticking to them.
Tom Steinberg, April 2013
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
And this worries me because consistent names help causes to persist over time. If the field of AIDS research had been renamed every 6 months, could it have lasted as it did? Flighty, narrowly used language confuses supporters, prevents focus and is generally the enemy of long term success.
Tom Steinberg, April 2013
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
techno-deterministic
fragmentedbiased
methodologically immature
under-theorized
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
Someone made a remark about the telegraph which seems to me infinitely correct, and which brings out its full importance, namely that, at bottom, this invention might suffice to make possible the establishment of democracy among a large population. Many respectable men, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, thought that the establishment of democracy was impossible among large populations. How could such a people deliberate? Among the Ancients, all the citizens were assembled in a single place; they communicated their will...
Alexander Vandermonde, 1795. In: Mattelart 2003: 22
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
The invention of the telegraph is a new factor that Rousseau did not include in his calculations. It can be used to speak at great distances as fluently and as distinctly as in a room. There is no reason why it would not be possible for all the citizens of France to communicate their will, within a rather short time, in such a way that this communication might be considered instantaneous.
Alexander Vandermonde, 1795. In: Mattelart 2003: 22
Tiago Peixoto
@participatory | democracyspot.net
CeDEM13
optimism of the willPessimism of the Intellect