[sudoroom] separation of politics and hackerspace?

Thu May 10 19:49:40 CEST 2012

As an addendum, I did not mean to imply that coworking spaces or
coffeeshops are not relevant to community-oriented projects & activism -
clearly there are exceptions (such as Tech Liminal!) - merely that I'm
dedicated to creating a space where such work is a core principle from the
start (rather than profit, which is necessarily a core component of
traditional businesses).

Jenny
http://jennyryan.net
http://thepyre.org
http://thevirtualcampfire.org
http://technomadic.tumblr.com

`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
 "Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
-Laurie Anderson

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."
 -Hannah Arendt

"To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
-Stéphane Mallarmé
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Jenny Ryan <jenny at thepyre.org> wrote:

> This is a vital conversation to be having.
>
> Mark makes an important point, and I think its essential that we
> collectively explore the history of hackerspaces and their role in
> communities of practice - their 'political function' in society. As I
> stated during our meeting yesterday, the very act of creating a space such
> as this is a political act (though perhaps another word is needed, as this
> one tends to trigger unpredictable and often unreasonable reactions in
> people [1]). What is 'social justice' if not access to resources and
> education, non-hierarchical decision-making, transparency and, Eddan's
> keyword from yesterday, fairness?
>
> Another key component of hackerspaces is the 'hacker ethic', which I'm
> sure Mark or Marc could speak to better than I. An article posted by Mitch
> yesterday on the growth of hackerspaces in China [2] asks the critical
> question in the byline: "but can the hacker ethic flourish in a country
> with a poor record of protecting freedoms?" In a country where public space
> and freedom of speech are being increasingly policed and 1984'd, we would
> do well to look to other examples of the role hackerspaces have played in
> defending such freedoms.
>
> I for one have no interest in co-creating in a space that is essentially a
> coworking space or coffeeshop (there are plenty of those already), where
> people come to take up space in isolation, working on things that are not
> relevant to the community in which they are ensconced. I want people to
> come to Sudo Room to hack on innovative and educational projects, the very
> nature of which are at once collaborative and empowering - in an open
> environment where everyone is both teacher and learner.
>
> Given the foci of folks who show up to meetings, many of those projects
> will be geared around citizen science and local activism - though by no
> means restricted to those areas!  We came a long way at the meeting last
> evening in articulating our shared vision of what Sudo Room is and could
> be. Rather quickly, we came to an agreement that 1) access, 2)
> transparency, and 3) equity are among the process-based (rather than
> label-based) - or perhaps 'operational'? - values that define Sudo Room.
>
> *References*:
> [1]    "When *I* use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful
> tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
>    "The question is, " said Alice, "whether you *can* make words mean so
> many different things."
>    "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty. "which is to be master—that's
> all."
> [2]  http://owni.eu/2012/05/03/china-hackerspaces-hacking-diy-shenzhen/
>
>
> -------------------------------
>
> Jenny
> http://jennyryan.net
> http://thepyre.org
> http://thevirtualcampfire.org
> http://technomadic.tumblr.com
>
> `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
>  "Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
> -Laurie Anderson
>
> "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it"
>  -Hannah Arendt
>
> "To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
> -Stéphane Mallarmé
> ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 9, 2012 at 11:03 PM, Philip W <dude8604 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think that part of this discussion is what constitutes "limiting"
>> ourselves.  By having a more defined social message we're being open to
>> that
>> but limiting others who may not share those beliefs, or who don't want to
>> participate in them.  My point in starting this discussion was in the
>> sense
>> of truly not limiting things, letting broader things happen but giving
>> people who don't want to be a part of that aspect a place to 'hack."  I'm
>> not suggesting we abandon these other goals, but to me one of the
>> important
>> things is being truly open to everyone, both physically and ideologically.
>> So there's definitely room in a space like this for both people who just
>> want to work on cool things and for those who want their work to
>> contribute
>> to a cause.  I think this way Sudo Room would be most welcoming to all
>> members of the community.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jacob Shiach [mailto:kingjacob at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 9:42 PM
>> To: Patrik D'haeseleer
>> Cc: Phil; sudoroom at lists.hackerspaces.org
>> Subject: Re: [sudoroom] separation of politics and hackerspace?
>>
>> I just want to say that SudoRoom was started specifically to be more than
>> just a space. If a space and equipment is all that someone wants, there's
>> Techshop. Tinkering is fun and a good way to learn, but for me at least
>> that's not enough. Why should we limit ourselves to making blinky things
>> when the world is full of challenging problems? Seems a lot more
>> interesting
>> to me. Plus the small side effect of making people's lives better.
>>
>> Ps social justice, digital citizenship and citizen science aren't
>> political,
>> they're just good ideas.
>>
>> -
>> Jacob Shiach
>>
>>
>> On May 9, 2012, at 10:58 PM, "Patrik D'haeseleer" <patrikd at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > I think the impression that SudoRoom is more about social justice than
>> > about "hacking" is simply due to the fact that we don't have a
>> > permanent space yet, and that we've been doing a lot of planning
>> > instead of working on projects. I'm sure we'll start seeing less talk
>> > and more hacking as soon as we actually get some space to spread out
>> > and tools to work with.
>> >
>> > Personally, I do not think that hackerspaces necessarily need to have
>> > a social mission. Sometimes it's fun just to get together with friends
>> > to tinker with stuff, or hold a LAN party. Some hackerspaces focus
>> > more on social justice and alternative communities. Some focus more on
>> > incubating ideas to commercialize them. Some focus on art and
>> > technology. And some just want to play with Legos. It's all good!
>> >
>> > That said - yes, some of the people involved in SudoRoom are very
>> > passionate about social justice issues, and I would expect we'll see
>> > some projects along those lines - whether it's designing web spaces
>> > for Occupy, or hacking cell phones for the homeless. But I wouldn't
>> > necessarily want that to *define* the space. If someone wants to work
>> > on some hacks for a better world - great! If someone wants to do some
>> > synthetic biology and create an E. coli that blinks, I think that
>> > should be OK too.
>> >
>> > Patrik
>> >
>> > On Wed, May 9, 2012 at 6:21 PM, Phil <dude8604 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> I decided last week to advertise the fundraiser on Reddit, in some of
>> the
>> >> local subreddits.  There was one response I got that I think is
>> something
>> we
>> >> should discuss.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ----------------------
>> >>
>> >> Also, when I think Hacker Space, I think of a big (or small) space
>> where
>> >> people can come and work on projects, either by themselves but in the
>> >> presence of others, or with a group. There may be some tools and stuff.
>> You
>> >> pay money per month for use of the space.
>> >>
>> >> But on Sudo Room, there is a lot about social justice and etc etc etc.
>> This
>> >> is great! But not what I guess I think about when I think about "hacker
>> >> space", and if I were to be honest not really what I'd be interested in
>> >> going to a "hacker space" for.
>> >>
>> >> So... what is Sudo Room really?
>> >>
>> >> --------------------
>> >>
>> >> The rest of the thread is
>> >> here:
>>
>> http://www.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/t4lex/sudo_room_a_newlyforming_east
>> _bay_hackerspace/<http://www.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/t4lex/sudo_room_a_newlyforming_east%0A_bay_hackerspace/>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> So it seems like most of us have political interests, which I think
>> Sudo
>> >> Room should definitely have room for, however I think to be inclusive
>> >> of everyone it should be separate from the hackerspace as an
>> organization.
>> >> Or somehow balance the two so that people like this are interested in
>> >> joining us.  What do you all think?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> - Phil
>> >>
>> >>
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