Miguel Afonso Caetano on Wed, 31 May 2006 08:04:09 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> Technologies of Resistance: Transgression and Solidarity in Tactical Media |
Dear Nettimers: I have recently finished a M.A. dissertation about Tactical Media that I've talked about here a few years ago (www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0311/msg00063.html). I'm sending you here the English version of the abstract and the table of contents. In the thesis, I make some criticisms of the concept of tactical media in terms of its current validity. Also, in the second part I cover in detail some projects of the vibrant brazilian tactical media scene: Metareciclagem (www.metareciclagem.org) - who has received an honorary mention in this year's Ars Electronica (www.aec.at/en/prix/honorary2006.asp) and the now deceased Projeto Metáfora (http://ogum.metareciclagem.org/metafora). Since Nettime's 10th aniversary meeting is happening right now in Montreal, I think it would be good to start a debate here in the list about the actual relevance of tactical media in the age of Web 2.0, which has embraced (co-opted?) much of the same DIY ethos in places like Flickr and MySpace. On the other side, we're also living in the midst of the "state of exception"/War against terrorism where every subversive activity is considered suspicious - the bioterrorism paranoia case against CAE. Judging from the brazilian example, I think that it is becoming more adequate to think about tactical media in peripheral countries like Brazil and India where there's a sense of more severe urgency in social transformation, of reappropriation of technology by the people. Best regards from Portugal, Miguel Caetano Technologies of Resistance: Transgression and Solidarity in Tactical Media Miguel Afonso Caetano Resulting from the convergence between media, technology, art and politics, tactical media are a set of cultural practices and a theoretical movement which started in Europe during the first half of the 90s, having spread to North America until the end of the millenium and, afterwards, to the rest of the world. Initially taking advantage of video camcorders but also, later, of digital technologies such as CD-ROMs and the Internet, the producer of this kind of media acknowledges himself as as a hybrid, performing simultaneously the role of an artist, activist, theorist and technician. These subversive and/or creative uses of information and communication technologies by individuals who normally don't have access to them are characterized by experimentalism, ephemerality, flexibility, irony and amateurship. Based on the distinction between tactics and strategies developed by Michel de Certeau and continued by David Garcia and Geert Lovink, this dissertation examines the way tactical media present themselves as "media of crisis, critique and opposition". By applying a theoretical analysis of some collectives, we intend to demonstrate that the protest tactics of these media production forms represent a position of permanent struggle against a concrete and explicit opponent (nation-state, supranational institution or transnational corporation). After addressing the dangers that this antagonist model of media as a weapon of resistance can lead to, we propose an alternative perspective of tactical media built on an empirical analysis of two brazilian projects, Metáfora and MetaReciclagem. Finally, we argue that these and other grassroots initiatives adapt the practices of subversion and resistance visible in the activist collectives of developed countries to the local settings of a peripheral country like Brazil. By fostering technological reappropriation for social transformation, these groups unleash the creative and communication capacities of these communities, towards their self-sustainability and autonomy. Keywords: tactical media, strategies, media activism, alternative media, hacker, free software, technological reappropriation, recycling, Brazil. Table of Contents Introduction 9 Methodological and Epistemological Notes 12 Dissertation Plan 17 1 - Elements for The History and Characterization of Tactical Media 21 1.1 - Genesis of The Movement 21 1.2 - Main Definitions 25 1.3 - Theoretical Approaches 27 1.4 - Distinction Between Alternative Media and Tactical Media 35 2 - Genealogy of Informational Mobilizations 42 2.1 - 70s and 80s 45 2.2 - 90s 51 2.3 - Mediactivism: From The Right to Information to The Right to The Self-Management of Communication 54 3 - The Influence of The Free Software Movement and of The Hacker Ethic 60 3.1 - The Free Software Development Process 69 3.2 - The Hacker Ethic 72 4 - Tactics and its Theorerical Metaphors 75 4.1 - Tactics and Strategies in Michel de Certeau 76 4.2 - Tactics as Détournement 79 4.3 - Tactics as Rhizome 83 4.4 - Tactics as Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) 87 4.5 - Tactics as Swarming 92 4.6 - Tactics as Multitude 98 4.7 - Tactics as Smart Mob 103 5 - Tactical Media Practices 110 5.1 - Culture Jamming: Semiological Guerrilla 110 5.2 - Hacktivism: Cyberspace's Counter-power 117 5.3 - Artivism: Crítique and Subversion in net.art 129 5.4 - The Indymedia Information Network: Open-Source Journalism 144 5.4.1 - IMC-Portugal: A Small Case Study 152 6 ? Contributions For a Critique of The Concept 168 6.1 - "The Alt.Everything of Culture and Politics" 168 6.2 - The Specter of Cooptation by Capital 170 6.3 - The Eternal Return of The Technological Sublime 172 6.4 - The Impossible Subversion of Media 175 6.5 - The Rhetorics of The Enemy and The Terrorist Metaphor 178 SECOND PART 1 - The Brasilian Digital "Jeitinho": "Gambiarras", "Mutirões" and "Puxadinhos" 188 1.1 - Mídia Tática 189 1.2 ? Contratv 195 1.3 ? Re:combo 195 1.4 - Free Radios: Rádio Muda 196 1.5 ? CMI-Brasil 198 1.6 - Brazil, A Hacker Nation 201 2 - Metáfora Project: Chaos and Order in a Collective Intelligence 205 2.1 ? Events and Projects 210 2.2 - The Participation in Midia Tática Brasil 216 2.3 ?The Attempt to Create a NGO and The End 217 2.4 - Leadership and Motivation in a "Chaorder" 222 3 - MetaReciclagem: Reappropriation of Technology for Social Transformation 226 3.1 - The Replication of MetaReciclagem's Methology 233 4 - Analysis of Survey Data 239 4.1 - Profile of Metáfora's and MetaReciclagem's Collaborators 239 4.2 - Opinions Towards Metáfora and MetaReciclagem 243 4.2.1 - Political Motivations of The Projects 243 4.2.2 - Distinction Between Digital Inclusion and Social Reappropriation of Technology 244 4.2.3 - Evaluation of Strenghts and Weaknesses 247 4.2.4 - Personal Visions About Metáfora and MetaReciclagem 249 Final Conclusion 251 Bibliography 258 # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net