Todd Mundt

John Palfrey, Executive Director of the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School

This lecture was 15 minutes is length - a lot of information crammed into a small space, vut an excellent overview of the station of academic research into participatory culture. My notes follow:

Two recommended books: “Convergence Culture” and “The Wealth of Networks”

Does participatory culture lead to participatory democracy? We don’t know yet, there are lots of examples that show it can work.

Participatory Democracy - Pros: an open information environment, so people can make new networks. There are tools for individual activists, they can become a productivity tool for campaigners, and this attracts new participants. Cons - too much information, that could to old intermediaries emerging, we might confine ourselves to information that supports our views. Who can or does participate? Some states are fighting back with censorship and surveillance. Perhaps we should be shooting ahead to a “post-democratic” “global” order where multi-stakeholderism is the norm (Lovink, Rossiter). Refinements - Context matters a lot - what point are you starting from? Advanced democracy? Emerging democracy? It might also depends on what baseline you choose. For instance, is a little improvement better? Or should there be a transformation?

Economic Democracy - Emergence of a stronger middle class, which allows for the development of services in technological space. Vendor Relationship Management (Searls, Weinberger).

Semiotic Democracy - Control of cultural goods, meaning by many, and its link to participatory culture and democracy. It’s a spin on the original meaning of semiotic democracy. It might mean more YouTube and less Disney. Cons - how many actually participate and if it’s a small number, does that advance democracy?

Takeaways

The web now is about creativity, innovation. Much of what’s interesting is happening outside the United States. Big media companies are struggling to figure out the culture, trying to catch up. The legal and political battle for the future of the internet will have substantial implications for the way in which democracy evolves. But the outcome is not assured.