Appendix to Part II

Transnational Networks of Radical Labour Research

rsan enalp and Mehmet Grsan enalp
During the last three or four decades labour, union, research and advocac networks have
interacted with networks of anti!capitalist or alter!globalist social "ustice activists
#Do$ingue% &''() *ond &''() +ater$an &',' and &',,-.
,
These interactions have enabled
the #self!-organisation of working people across production networks linking the /lobal
North and 0outh #1erk &''2) 1unck &''() *ieler and Lindge$ar &',,) +allerstein &',3-.
4speciall after the crisis erupted in &''(!5, the process has expanded to include networks of
self!e$ploed, une$ploed, $arginali%ed and increasingl radicalised knowledge and
service workers #1osco and 1c6ercher &''5-. 7nline social networks such as 8acebook,
Twitter, and /oogle Plus, but also free, liberated and open source software #8L700-, offer
new experiences co$ple$entar to traditional for$s of organi%ation. 9nprecedented
opportunities for exchange, co$$unication, and collaboration have arisen, with $ore and
$ore people politicised and organised in the process #1orel &',&) /erbaudo &',&) :enalp
&',&-. The result has been a re$arkable convergence a$ong radical social $ove$ents,
enabled and aggregated b new!generation online tools and applications #*erlinguer &',')
*auwens &',,-. Public spaces have been opened up and ;occupied< in a series of popular and
grassroots uprisings.
This Appendix presents a concise overview of networks constituted around the =uest for
;associated social relations of production<, or ;peer production co$$unities< #*auwens
&''>) Rigi &',3-. +hether labelled hackers, makers, diggers, guerrilla translators and so
forth, and involving 8L700 and hardware production, collaborative digital, creative, artistic,
$edia, graphic, and architecture pro"ects, or Do!it!?ourself #DI?- or Do!it!with!7thers
#DI+7- practices #@arlsson &''5) *erlinguer &','-, these networks connect highl educated
individual knowledge, infor$ation, education and service workers. 7ften left with nothing
but their own $ental and $anual labour to survive, the new ;dispossessed< no longer can be
divided into ;doers< and ;thinkers< but are being transfor$ed into a single, conscious social
,
+e are thankful to Peter +ater$an and /eorge PAr for co$$ents on an earlier version.
,
force #+ater$an &',,, &',&-. The overview we present is inevitabl li$ited, but si$ilar
initiatives and networks operating in other language spheres besides 4nglish, Turkish, and
Dutch can easil be traced #/uiterre% &',B-.
A New Urban Knowledge Proletariat
Neoliberal deregulation and privatisation in the /lobal North have created increasingl
pro"ect!based, co$petitive, flexible and insecure working conditions a$ong highl educated
workers #Cessop &''5-. @onse=uentl, a stead process of politicisation has linked radicalised
acade$ic workers and students to existing labour research and advocac networks. This is
producing a si%eable bod of innovative and e$ancipator knowledge that will help to
understand the co$plexities of globali%ing capitalis$. The internet allows $uch easier access
to e$ancipator knowledge, $aking it available for ;transfor$ative< political practices
#+ainwright &',3-. Resurgent resistance in and around universit depart$ents, especiall in
the social and hu$an sciences, art, architecture, political econo$, $edia, co$$unication,
infor$atics, cbernetics etc. has turned the ca$pus once again into a dna$ic space of
convergence between labour activis$, research and art #Ross et al. &''() *ifo &','-.
Radical knowledge and political practice radiate fro$ universit ca$puses into the
surrounding urban spaces) recent debates such as those on ;4$pire< and the new i$perialis$,
international historical sociolog, global political econo$, cultural political econo$ and
govern$entalit, profit fro$ the persistence of class analsis in acade$ia and a lowering of
sectarian barriers. Digital or online pro"ects and "ournals like Processed World, Multitudes,
Mute, Meta-Mute, Ephemera, Incognito, Fibre-culture, E-flu, !d-busters, !lter-"et, "e#
Internationalism, as well as cultural events organised bDaround these "ournals facilitates the
spread of such knowledge. In addition, integral theorists, cber punk techno!utopians, as well
as independent theorists with practitioner, hacker, activist or artistic backgrounds have also
been contributing to the innovative analses of the conte$porar contradictions of capitalist
$ode of production.
Innovative conceptual tools and notions like general intellect, collective intelligence,
i$$aterial labour, affective labour, free labour, ;plabour<, co$$ons and co$$oning, peer
production, p&p #peer!to!peer-, distributed networks, network cultures, and techno!politics
&
have drawn in new generations of activists) international $obilisations like the ;*attle in
0eattle< in ,EEE, the /lobal 0olidarit and Custice $ove$ents in its wake, the +orld 0ocial
8oru$, and ;anti!su$$it< and anti!war $ove$ents have created further spaces for rethinking
production, labour and value creation practices #de 0ousa 0antos &''2) *ond &''(-. 0uch
perspectives as ;cognitive capitalis$<, ;co$$unis$ of capital< and ;techno!politics< have
been developed on account of new capitalistic for$s in #post!-industrial sites like 0ilicon
Falle or North Ital #Pas=uinelli &',B-. Inspired b art, design and digital practices, post!
autono$ist and post!workerist research infor$ed radical political pro"ects such as 9ni!
No$ad, 4du!8actor, and @lass +ar 9niversit which clai$s Gdisasse$bling the neoliberal
universitH are articulated. 7ther spaces like the +inter @a$ps organised b the A$sterda$!
based Institute of Network @ulture #IN@- are exa$ples of innovative pro"ects that have been
;networked<.
7ther pro"ects like @bersaloon, @lass +ar /a$es, Iper$edia, and spaces like the
$istorical Materialism conferences and Left 8oru$s a$ong $an others have been
providing i$portant spaces for exchange and interaction to researchers, practitioners and
activists, as have research networks like Transit Labour, 7rgNet, Institute of Distributed
@reativit, Dna$ics of Firtual +ork, the IP4/ working group in the *ritish International
0tudies Association, and @ritical Labour 0tudies. Networked Politics and Networked Labour
se$inars have allowed those outside acade$ia to link up with these networks. New counter!
culture philosophies such as cberpunk, cbernetics and so on, have contributed to the
analsis of ;digital labour< and cognitive or infor$ational capitalis$. The $assive a$ount of
critical and radical knowledge has been $apped, catalogued, and $ade e!accessible a$ong
others b 1ichel *auwens and his P&P 8oundation.
The new wave of ;/lobal 9prisings<, starting in late &',' and earl &',,, have seen a new
$ass ar$ of $arginali%ed and radicalised workers, with high co$puter literac and free
ti$e #1orel &',&-. Relativel s$all and isolated, but increasingl spreading and connected
networks have been result of intensifing online co$$unication and connectivit #:enalp
&',&) /erbaudo &',B-. 0elf!learning and exchange within these co$$unities have been
intertwined with various for$s of ;co!produced<, collaborative, or participative politics.
4xchanges on discussion #e$ail- lists such as Net!ti$e, 6ein.org, 7ekonux, +08!
Discussion, and Labour and /lobalisation have plaed ke roles here #Rie$ens interview b
3
@asalegno on Net!ti$e e!list ,EEE-, also in sti$ulating collaborative pro"ects and processes
#1orel &''E and &',') Fastokis, &',B) *auwens &',,-.
+hile the participants of peer production co$$unities have been trapped in the ;capitalist
$ode<, the expansion of transnational social spaces of exchange and sharing allowed the$ to
produce and share use!value in radicall different was than prescribed b capitalis$
#6leiner &',') Rigi &',3-. During the 5's and E's earl generations of such co$$unities
were $ade up of self!e$ploed hippies and ;kitsch< entrepreneurs, often well!paid waged
artists, "ournalists, architects, coders, sste$!ad$inistrators. Together with a$ateur hackers,
$ost of the ti$e of +estern $iddle class origin, the for$ed the basis of the cberpunk sub!
culture #*arbrook ,EE2) /erbaudo &',B-. Iowever, the collapse of the dot.co$ bubble in the
late E's brought about the radicalisation of these co$$unities, paving the wa to the
e$ergence of politicised p&p $ove$ents. Pro"ects like /N9, @optleft, 8ree 0oftware
8oundation, Linux, +ikiPedia, Pirate *a, +ikiLeaks, and T7R are exa$ples. 8urther
radicalisation of p&p co$$unities ca$e about in the $id &'''s, with the deepening global
recession and revival of authoritarian capitalis$. The arrival of digital activis$ or hackti%ism
#think of Anon$ous, Lul%0ec, and Pirate Parties- attracted worldwide public attention.
Increasingl hacktivis$ and p&p $ove$ents are seen as an inseparable co$ponent of the
labour and social "ustice $ove$ents of the previous decades #Ii$anen &''B) Dafer$os and
0oderberg &''5) interview with 6leiner &',B-.
8ollowing the global crisis of &''(!5, well!paid knowledge workers were either losing their
"obs or beco$ing low!waged workers with insecure contracts in creative sectors. Defined
alternativel as kno#ledge proletariat, cognitariat, or c&bertariat as a result are beginning to
see the$selves as part of an e$erging new and broader class, the precariat #*arbrook &''()
*ifo &',') Iuws &',3) 0tanding &','-. In addition, develop$ents in the co$puter #software
and hardware- technologies brought about what Pas=uinelli calls ;the division of $ental
labour< through the increasing si$plification of tasks in the production process due to a
higher level of co$puterisation. This develop$ent has deskilled and alienated larger
seg$ents of knowledge workers, whose "high expectations evaporated with the pro$ises of
the ;knowledge econo$< $th) while e$powering those e$ploed for designing
$anagerial operations #cf. Trebor &',& and Iuws &',3-. @ontrol and socialisation
$echanis$s $ade possible b software develop$ent of course go beond the creative
B
industries, affecting all workers, but the changes were $ost dra$atic for the knowledge
workers.
As a result, in the after$ath of recent uprisings in 0pain, the 90 and 96, /reece, 1exico,
North Africa, Turke, *ra%il and a nu$ber of other countries, the separate universes of
radicalised worker!researchers and radical p&p $ove$ents have started to converge
#/uiterre% &',3 and &',B-. Previousl self!enclosed hacker groups like hackatons, sprints,
data!"a$s, un!conferences, hacker ca$ps, and so on, now interlocked with social "ustice or
labour activists through pro"ects like /lobal Revolution, 7cccupThe@o$$, R7AR,
/uerilla Translation, /lobal 9prisings, and $an others co!created b hackers, artists, digital
$edia and video activists. This has opened broad channels for large scale interlocking a$ong
the activist networks, a$ong others b "oining hacker groups, 8L700 pro"ects or less radical
for$s of digital activis$ like clickti%ism or slackti%ism #+hite &',,) @ole$an &','-. During
the uprisings, activists built online spaces and tools for others< use, in order to link
occupations and ca$ps fro$ different localities. Pro"ects like DR?!International, /lobal
0=uare, Peoples< Asse$blies Network, Take The 0=uare, have been functional in
har$onising the infor$ation flow that allowed various networks to link up with each other
and expand #*ennett et al. &',B) @astells &',3) Por &''5-. This raises the =uestion to what
extent the new for$s of collective action have reached traditional working class
constituencies.
Networking Across the Great Divide?
+orkers "oining the occupation of Tahrir 0=uare and si$ilar events during the uprising in
+isconsin in the 90 have signalled the incipient involve$ent of trade unions in these
$ove$ents. Through the international 14NA 0olidarit Network, which connects
independent union centres active in 4gpt, Tunis, the 96 and the 90, and elsewhere,
Internet networks like /lobalRevolution, and alternative $edia pro"ects such as
7ccupthe@o$$, I!+ithness, /lobal 7ccup News, Rabel1ouse, and R7AR, infor$ation
and s$bols expressing the renewal of labour class struggle have spread far and wide. 7ther
online co$$unication tools, like IR@ channels #Instant Rela @hat-, social network sites
#like N!,, 7ccupii, @rab/rass, Inter7ccup- have been utilised to for$ asse$blies and
>
workgroups. These plaed ke a role, for instance in organising the 7akland, @alifornia
/eneral 0trike, the +est @oast 0hut Down, the 1a 8irst #7ccup- /eneral 0trike in the 90,
as well as @ritical *locs, @iti%en Ties in 0pain and first ever 4urope!wide general strike on
,B Nove$ber &',&. Debates and workshops took place in Iub 1eetings held in *arcelona,
1ilan, and Lubl"ana) ;AgoraEE< in 1adrid and Ro$e) ;8iren%e ,'J,'< in 8lorence, and the
+orld 0ocial 8oru$ in Tunis. These events featured exchanges on ;creative was of labour
organising< and on was to link labour unions, N/7s, social "ustice activists, workplaces and
asse$blies and develop new $ethods of action.
7ther concrete for$s e$erging out of the uprisings included labour solidarit groups in
0pain, the 96 and the 90. @ollaborating with I++ and other independent unions, the EE
Picket Lines "oined the organisation of 90!wide +al!1art walkouts in &',& and the 1aking
@hange at +al!1art @a$paign. Iackers linked to 7ccup +all 0treet successfull leaked
the official +al!1art guide on how to silence workers #+al!1art +atch and *aines, this
volu$e-. An international protest against TN@s responsible for the death of $ore than a
thousand textile workers e$ploed in the Rana Pla%a in *angladesh, support for $ini$u$
wage struggles and a teachers< strike, are evidence of the role of the new networks, which
also have connected factories, hospitals, libraries, theatres and other public spaces occupied
and run b workers on the basis of a ;+orkers< 4cono$< #6arotis &',B-.
0ince &',,, collaborative action!research networks like 7ccup!Iackaton or /lobal
Revolution have been collecting and analsing the large a$ount of data which ca$e about as
the result of the explosion of online interactions and co$$unications. 0cholar!activists,
independent and radical $edia, free culture, and art pro"ects such as Interface, Learning
fro$ 4ach 7thers< 0truggles, 0TIR, R7AR, and /lobal 9prisings, entered into direct
collaboration with si$ilar pro"ects focusing specificall on working class for$ation. Pro"ects
like @berunions and 0ocial Network 9nionis$, developed in the rising wave of grassroots
uprisings, led to a $uch higher level of interaction than the LabourNets in the late E's
#+ater$an &',&-. Al$ost in ever countr one can find union!related work groups that bring
thousands of unionists and labour activists together on 8acebook pages, allowing people to
get and sta in touch and exchange on a dail base #Iall!Cones &',&-.
There is also a growing nu$ber of ;secure and alternative< social networking tools built b
free infor$ation activists and hackers, in order to serve those who need securit when
2
organi%ing under repressive conditions, or for those who are critical about using capitalistic
products. Riseup and N!,, are onl two exa$ples, serving $ore than ,>'.''' activists and
collectives working on various issues b providing e!$ail lists and social networking
platfor$s. 8or exa$ple, Riseup e$ail servers host around >'' e!$ail lists created and used
b labour and union activists, free of charge. The New 9nionis$ Network #N9N- was built
in &''( and has about ('' $e$bers fro$ B( countries and ,5'' subscribers to its ;+ork in!
Progress< online newsletter. The 9nionbook pro"ect, created b 4ric Lee of Labour 0tart in
&''5, is another exa$ple. It has brought $ore than six thousands international unionists
together and enabled the$ to exchange and interact online. Although it is i$possibl to
gauge all such networks currentl in existence, it is obvious that powerful steps towards
bridging the historical gap between workers and knowledge is being bridged.
@o$puter literac and the available e!infrastructure, then, have brought knowledge
workers into enduring interaction with workers< knowledge #0en and +ater$an &',3-. Peter
+ater$an in this respect has plaed a uni=ue role, as an observer and a reporter. Iis list of
pro"ects #+ater$an &',' and &',,- has recentl been updated with analses of labour and
trade union pro"ects such as Nowtopia, Labour Nets, LabourTech, Labour0tart, Net%werkIT,
Networked Politics, /lobal Labour Institute, 0I/T9R and others #+ater$an &',B-. Previous
labour!related and web!based networking pro"ects, such as the 1a 8irstDPeople Link, have
developed ties with N/7s and 0ocial 8oru$s as well as organisations like 8ree 0oftware
8oundation #808-. 808 was founded b Richard 0tall$an, the creator of the free operating
sste$ /N9 #/N9 is Not 9nix-. 1a 8irst DPeople Link provided online services, e.g.
website and e!$ail list hosting on the secure servers the owned collectivel, to its $e$bers
including unions, progressive N/7s, individual activists or hacktivis$ pro"ects like Riseup.
After kick!starting the politicisation of the p&p $ove$ent in the 5's, the 1a 8irst
experience beca$e $ore interesting over ti$e, since their collaboration and service provision
has spread out and involved $an 7ccup and ,>1 networks, hosting websites and secure e!
$ail lists of local 7ccup enca$p$ents and asse$blies. In this sense, 1a 8irst should be
seen as a snthetic pro"ect that fuses labour organising, social "ustice activis$ and ;free
infor$ation< or hacker $ove$ents.
Another creative labour pro"ect in this line has been @berunions blog, initiated b 0outh
African unionist +alton Pantland. In collaboration with free and open source software
(
pro$oting labour activist 0tephen 1ahood, @berunions blog initiated creative and
hu$orous pod!casts using sound recording and strea$ing software. The original $otto of the
blog was ;9sing Technolog to 7rganise<, si$ilar to those earlier pro"ects like LabourTech
or 7rgani%ing &.'. Throughout the grassroots uprisings around the world starting in North
Africa, the experience and initiatives of Pantland and 1ahood gave birth to the 9nion
0olidarit International #90I- pro"ect. 0trategicall adopting its social $edia and networking
experience to the alread existing union context, the s$all tea$ of 90I in a relativel short
ti$e $anaged to expand their outreach through online solidarit ca$paigns and
co$$unication channels. 90I has $eanwhile beco$e a 1a 8irst $e$ber organisation.
This has been followed up b an online social network entitled 'he (rgani)ing "et#ork,
built b using an alternative codification developed b 8L700 activists and hackers who
have taken part in 7ccup and ,>1 asse$blies and $edia tea$s. It wad then installed on
1a 8irst<s secure servers, with a 8L700 audio!video conferencing and distance education
tool *ig *lue *utton alread available for 90I and 7N $e$bers.
8ollowing the debate on /lobal 9nionis$ in the earl &'''s #Iarrod and 7<*rien &''&-,
the International Trade 9nion 8ederations #IT8s- were re!branded as /lobal 9nions #/9s-.
Through international $ergers larger structures like IT9@ and IndustriAll and +orkers<
9niting were created in turn. New 9nionis$ Networks< recent debate, /lobal Labour
Institute<s 0u$$er 0chools, /L9<s /lobal Labour @onferences, and Labour0tarts< /lobal
0olidarit @onferences have taken the discussion on /lobal 9nionis$ further into the world
of established unions. Pro"ects like Net%werkIT in /er$an, 0endika.org in Turke and
LabourTech in the 90 have all contributed to a $ore advanced understanding of the practical
$eaning of knowledge and co$$unication technolog for organi%ing. @o$pared to the
secure online organi%ing $ethods developed b Net%werkIT, or develop$ent of the
0afe0pace b N9N, and online infrastructures e$ploed b network unionists and labour
activists at local, national and regional levels, 90I<s 7rganising Network in our opinion has
the greatest potential to attract a variet of radical labour pro"ects, unions, activists and
N/7s. 7N leads the wa towards bridging the separate islands of labour and social "ustice
activists and hacktivists gathering in international $eetings like @haos @o$puter @a$ps
#@@@-, 7ekeunox or De /rowth @onferences, 8ree @ulture 8oru$s, 4cono$ics and the
@o$$ons conferences, or $edia!digital art biennales. Newer activist networks too have
5
gained significant experience with co$bining online organising #through transnational
Instant Rela @hat and 1u$ble conferences- and international grounded asse$blies #like
Iub 1eetings, Agora EE, *lockup, 7ccup National /atherings, and /lobal 0=uare-
organised b those linked to ,>1 and 7ccup $ove$ents.
Unchaining the General Intellect of the Collective Worker
At the @@@ congress in Ia$burg in Dece$ber &',3, +ikiLeaks founder Culian Assange<s
kenote speech was titled, ;0ste$s ad$inistrators of the world, uniteK< Iis speech, relaed
via 0kpe, highlighted how capitalis$ and the rulers have turned the utopia of 8ree Internet
into an 7rwellian distopia of $ass control and surveillance. The develop$ent of collection,
storage, analsis and trans$ission of large a$ount of digital #$eta!-data has coincided with
the global econo$ic crisis and rising authoritarianis$. Large scale invest$ents have poured
into pro"ects like Internet of Things, Industrial Internet, and Internet of 4verthing pro"ects
that share the vision of full fledged artificial intelligence #/4 and @isco 0ste$ Reports and
websites) 0chul% &',&) Pas=uinell &',B-. Dating fro$ the E's, these pro"ects have
accelerated in the last few ears. In 1arch &',B, /4, I*1, @isco and ATLT for$ed the
Industrial Internet @onsortiu$ #II@- to work out the protocols and standards for an
infrastructure ;to further develop$ent, adoption and wide!spread use of interconnected
$achines, intelligent analtics and people at work<. The II@ ai$s at creating an absolute
;general intellect< #Faccelerone &''5-, a technolog alread allowing capital to organise
work, production and global co$$odit chains but also evoking the spectre of a ;collective
worker< #1erk, this volu$e-. Thus the capitalist pro"ect of total control $a give rise to its
ne$esis in the for$ of an agenc capable of confronting it. *uilding on the egalitarian and
direct de$ocratic organisational for$s described above, this $ight then usher in a realistic
and feasible ;econo$ for all< #1aret% &',3) 1arsh &',3-.
E