From mathieu.oneil at anu.edu.au Tue Oct 1 08:03:17 2013 From: mathieu.oneil at anu.edu.au (Mathieu ONeil) Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 06:03:17 +0000 Subject: ::fibreculture:: Deadline extended - Shared Machine Shop Message-ID: <37EAFE25559D4643B43426CE35235DCE0191F657@SIXPRD0610MB383.apcprd06.prod.outlook.com> Apologies for multiple posts Call for Papers - Special issue of the Journal of Peer Production Shared Machine Shops: Beyond Local Prototyping and Manufacturing Deadline extended by two weeks - 15 October 2013 Editors: Maxigas (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya), Peter Troxler (International Fab Lab Association, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences) In the last years we have witnessed an incredible proliferation of shared machine shops in a confusing number of genres: hackerspaces, makerspaces, Fab Labs and their more commercial counterparts such as TechShops, co-working spaces, accelerators and incubators. These are currently "fringe phenomena" because they play a minor role in the production of wealth, knowledge, political consensus and the social organisation of life. Interestingly, however, they also experience the same core transformations as contemporary capitalism. That is, for the individual: the convergence of work, labour and other aspects of life. On a systemic level: the rapid development of algorithmically driven technical systems and their intensifying role in social organisation. Finally, as a corollary: the practical and legitimation crisis of modern institutions, echoed by renewed attempts at self-organisation. Arguably, hackers occupied such an ambiguous position since the beginning of hackerdom, but shared machine shops represent a new configuration. They appear as embodied communities organised in research and production units of physical and logical goods; they even appear to escape the subcultural ghetto as educational institutions, museums, and libraries start to integrate them into their ambit. They are eminent laboratories in both their practices and products: as experimental forms of social institutions, and as the developers of technological prototypes projecting new visions of the future. Industry actors, state authorities and policy makers have recognised such milieus as prolific grounds for recruitment and new organisational models, which in itself warrants critical attention. Inspired by all these developments, we dedicate the next special issue of the Journal of Peer Production to Fab Labs and similar places. Some of the questions we are interested in exploring: * What are the historical conditions and concrete genealogies which enabled the emergence of shared machine shops? (Can we talk about the renewed relevance of craftsmanship?) * Are rapid prototyping practices changing the relationships to technology, research and development, and innovation? (Are shared machine shops democratising knowledge and production or rather building a new maker elite?) * How do technologies cultivated in shared machine shops such as personal fabrication intervene in urban and rural geographies? (Is the time ripe for "global villages" or we have to adapt to "smart cities"?) * What new and old anthropologies and ethics are articulated in shared machine shops? (Who is the ?New Man? of Peer Production?) * Finally, how do shared machine shops interface with the political economy of contemporary capitalism and the military-industrial complex? (If the means of production are in the hands of the workers, is that free labour, a new form of outsourcing, or the germ for a next revolution?) Beyond local prototyping and manufacturing capability, what is the contribution of shared machine shops to critical practices of technology appropriation, to products, services and consumption patterns, to urban and rural geographies, and to practical political economy and ethics? Contributions are welcome from scholars and practitioners alike. Collaborative efforts are encouraged. We are mainly expecting academic papers on the one hand, and commented project documentations or narrative vignettes on the other hand, but anything that can be presented on a website could work. However, submitters are advised to keep in mind that the content should address questions of consequence to practitioners, based on realities on the ground, while at the same time they should be reflexive and consider their wider intellectual context. Submission proposals of up to 500 words due by October 15, 2013, and should be sent to fablabissue at peerproduction.net Submissions will be notified by October 30, 2013, and full papers and materials (research papers around 8,000 words, testimonies and documents around 3,000 words) are due by January 31st, 2014, for review. Final submission deadline is June 1st, 2014. The special issue is due to appear in early July 2014. Research papers are peer reviewed according to JoPP review policies. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ned at nedrossiter.org Thu Oct 10 03:30:57 2013 From: ned at nedrossiter.org (Ned Rossiter) Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:30:57 +1100 Subject: ::fibreculture:: Fwd: Three Research Fellow positions available at ICS In-Reply-To: <26CC807D9700784086924C77345908CC2A9B9306@HIRT.AD.UWS.EDU.AU> References: <26CC807D9700784086924C77345908CC2A9B9306@HIRT.AD.UWS.EDU.AU> Message-ID: <52560351.8000203@nedrossiter.org> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Three Research Fellow positions available at ICS Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2013 04:53:07 +0000 From: Helen Barcham To: ics-team at lists.uws.edu.au Dear colleagues, ICS is pleased to announce it is seeking to fill three Research Fellow positions (Level C or D) in Cultural and Social Research, focusing on areas of theICS research program . Of particular interest are candidates with expertise in the themes of digital life, cities and economies, and diversity and citizenship. For more information, refer to the job advertisement on the UWS website. Applications close November 4. Feel free to pass this message onto your networks. Kindly, Helen *Helen Barcham * Communications Officer | *Institute for Culture and Society** University of Western Sydney* Parramatta Campus | Building EM Locked Bag 1797 Penrith NSW 2751 P: +61 2 9685 9692 F: +61 2 9685 9610 W:__www.uws.edu.au/ics -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From difusion at medialab-prado.es Mon Oct 14 18:19:35 2013 From: difusion at medialab-prado.es (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Medialab-Prado_Comunicaci=F3n?=) Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 18:19:35 +0200 Subject: ::fibreculture:: Call for Proposals: Participatory City 2014 Message-ID: <525C1997.1090502@medialab-prado.es> *MEDIALAB-PRADO* *Plaza**de las Letras** **Calle Ala**meda, 15** **28014 Madrid** ****www.medialab-prado.es** * Call for Proposals: Participatory City 2014 AARHUS -- BERLIN -- BRUSSELS -- DESSAU -- HELSINKI -- ISTANBUL -- LINZ -- LIVERPOOL -- MADRID -- MARSEILLE -- MELBOURNE -- MONTREAL -- RIGA -- SAO PAULO -- VIENNA -- ZAGREB In 2014, with the topic of Participatory City, the Connecting Cities Network will in particular discuss the question of how urban media facades as a temporary field of interaction can become a catalyst for shared encounters and a platform for urban activism. We invite artists to submit projects that enable citizens to experience new ways of interaction with the urban environment and to understand, respond to, evaluate and question the transformations that the city is undergoing. Extended deadline: October, 20. 2013. More information: http://medialab-prado.es/article/callforproposalsparticipatorycity2014 and http://www.connectingcities.net/node/32 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: