[AktiviX-discuss] Fwd: Re: [AktiviX-request] Fwd: Re: introductions

[Alan Dawson]

as req

----- Forwarded message from moreanon at gmail.com -----
    Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 11:43:37 +0000
    From: moreanon at gmail.com
Reply-To: "requests for email accounts and lists from aktivix.org"
<aktivix-request at lists.aktivix.org>
 Subject: Re: [AktiviX-request] Fwd: Re: introductions
      To: mp <mp at aktivix.org>

On 14/12/05, mp <mp at aktivix.org> wrote:

hi all, thanks for this ..


> On Wed, 2005-12-14 at 00:27 +0000, Josh Robinson wrote:
> > This sounds good to me. In fact, I don't really see a reason why we
> > might consider not supporting it, but that might be just the part of me
> > that is trying to convince myself that doing a PhD is a form of
> > activism...


:-)

I can't help but asking about the "redistribution of resources": how
> much money?



Not that money is the deciding factor - but if it is flagged up like
> that, it may be good to know what eactly the situation is? <snip>


i imagine that we might need to go into a longer discussion re: what
the expectations of aktivix are in relation to requests for lists that can
be funded. as indicated in the proposal that i sent to alan for aktivix to
support a small list for our organising processes (copied below), we have
some research council funding and can cover costs, and we would greatly
prefer for this to go the way of activist tech initiatives using
non-proprietary software etc.

perhaps a starting point would be for aktivix to suggest a level of
donation, perhaps for both set-up and hosting costs? we could then indicate
whether or not we could meet this. we might even be able to be more
generous. our funding lasts for just under 18mths. it is only to cover the
costs of doing stuff, i.e. it is not in the form of direct income. we're
really trying to find ways of channeling some of the funding into activisty
organisational initiatives that might find this useful; as well as to do
stuff ourselves that is useful/helpful/interesting ... and we'd really like
a list to help with this process!
(nb. the 'we' who are currently involved with organising/facilitating this
'project' are not only located in academia .. 3 of us (of 6 at the moment)
are not formally employed etc. in the univ. and we all do stuff&things
outside the academy).

anyways, thanks for the queries ... do keep 'em coming and i'll do my best
to respond.

sian

ps. i'm assuming that the proposal that i sent via alan and after
conversations between ionnek and aktivix folk has been sent on to the
aktivix-request list. just in case people haven't seen it i'm copying it
here below ..

 On 11/12/05, Marion Hamm <marion.hamm at gmx.net > wrote:

> Hi,
> thanks, Sian, for starting this - one-pager would be very useful. I've
> mailed aktivix, and chatted to some of them. Questions came up: "why not
> a university server? why aktivix? is it just for street cred?"


in response to these ..

i'm sure that we could make a plan with a univ server to set up a list
altho' i'm not sure that it would be as easy as might appear obvious. e.g.
the lists i'm involved with that are hosted @ univ usually are internal to
the univ, while what we are looking for is something that in the first
instance connects folk located academically in 3 different univs, as well as
marion, zoe and pen who are not formally connected with an academic
institution (altho' i think marion is or soon will be with a german uni).

re: choosing aktivix .. well, since we have access to some funding, we were
hoping to be able to offer some support for folks who self-identify as
activists and who offer services to activists. this is partly because we
also identify ourselves as activists who are engaged with contemporary
resistance politics and practices; and partly because we are fortunate to
have access to some resources that we thought might be useful to activists
providing services to activists.

re: aktivix in particular .. as i understand it aktivix is a relatively new
list-serve which works in ways that we support politically, plus is located
in the uk, hence our desire to work with and support it. i already have a
list for something else with riseup and we could see if we can go with them
for this too i guess. but i was hoping to be able to work with something
closer to home ;-)

on the other hand, we could just set up a group with yahoo and be done with
it. in fact we could've done this yonks ago. but we were/are hoping that we
might be able to do things differently in terms of  organising our
communications, drawing on non-proprietary software, etc. in relation to the
latter it is hard to do this without support from the tech activist
community.

re: street cred. hmm, i'm not exactly sure how to respond to this! this list
would be a very small communications tool for members, i.e. for 6 people at
the outset. it is not our desire use an elist to somehow show off this
initiative. we are in a process of building other online tools (particularly
a wiki) as the 'public face' and common resource for 'the project', and we
are wanting to set up a list in part to facilitate the process by which we
do this. our intent re: approaching aktivix was not about somehow
advertising our 'activist credentials', but to help us with organising our
online communications in a way that is consistent with our politics.

re: description of 'the project' ... in the past when i've set up a list e.g.
with riseup, what has been required is a proposed title and a brief
paragraph or two setting out what the list is to be used for. so,
here's a first attempt at a brief description of our desires in relation to
setting up a list. any questions/comments/suggestions/general reality checks
are all welcome ;-)

List title: alt.media&research

Proposal:
This list is intended to serve as a means of sharing and archiving online
communication between people involved with organising and conducting a
research and documentation initiative regarding independent/alternative
media and the production of contemporary resistance politics. This
project involves people in a range of locations in relation to both formal
academia and activist politics. Indeed, we do not see these as mutually
exclusive terrains. The project has some funding from a UK research council
(ESRC) and seeks to explore ways of directing some of these resources
to research, documentation and organisational activities which contest a
current status quo of neoliberalism, corporatisation (of media, education
and research) and permanent war.

Since this project is in its infancy, we are currently in a phase of
formulating and discussing proposals for content and participation from a
range of people including media activists, students and researchers
(ourselves included). In part we are seeking to establish this list as a
means of assisting with the organising and archiving of this process. At the
outset, the list would be a members-only list used to facilitate
organisational communications amongst the six people currently involved with
building the project. This is likely to change as the project unfolds, but
at this stage we are unable to specify exactly how these changes might
manifest.

Some components of 'the project' which currently are under discussion and
being produced include, but are not limited to:
1. the construction of an online open and dynamic wiki resource of
documentations regarding alternative media as, and in relation
to, resistance politics (we hope/intend to use mediawiki for this and
currently are discussing set-up and hosting possibilities with
plentyfact.org);
2. some possible resourcing of alternative media gatherings/events;
3. the conducting of in-depth interviews with media activists as a means
of contributing to a contemporary oral history of internet-based media
activism;
4. the production of reflective/interpretative/theoretical material
regarding contemporary media activism, particularly in relation to
organisational issues and state censorship.

----- End forwarded message -----


-- 
"If you make decisions about software -- or anything -- based solely on
short-term cost and benefit, someone with a longer view can easily
manoeuver you into a trap from which it is hard to escape."  
  
 
 
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