[iDC] Prelude

[Trebor Scholz]

Dear all,

Thank you so much to all who contributed to the amazingly rich and
diverse list discussion over the past months leading up to The Internet
as Playground and Factory conference (http://digitallabor.org/) in
November. I'll follow up on the discussion but I'd like to already
invite all of you to consider how we could turn the discussed issues
into curriculum. How would you start thinking about that?

The discussion thus far:
https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2009-June/thread.html
https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2009-July/thread.html
https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2009-September/thread.html

Note: 
All iDC subscribers are invited to join the discussion.
idc at mailman.thing.net

This international conference on "digital labor" will be the first in a
series of conferences related to digital media at Eugene Lang College
(The New School). It will be followed by The Internet as Playground and
University, a conference on media education in 2011. 

The Internet as Playground and Factory
Introduction
http://digitallabor.org/

WHEN: November 12-14, The New School University, NYC

Conference Participants (Biographies and Abstracts)   
http://digitallabor.org/participants

We'll make the press release and program available shortly.

Conference convener: Trebor Scholz (New School University)

Main Contact:
Deepthi Welaratna 
email: deepthiw at gmail.com
ph: 415-335-0500

It is essential that you register if you consider attending this free
conference. 
http://digitallabor.org/registration/

Based on many papers presented at this conference, a special issue of
the peer-reviewed online journal First Monday will be launched in the
spring of 2010.  
http://firstmonday.org/

We are aiming to record short video interviews with most participants
and a few are already online. 
(Video: Assal Ghawami)
http://vimeo.com/user2103510/videos/

You could embed our invitational conference video on your blog or FB
profile.
http://vimeo.com/6713417

A bibliography compiled from suggestions of conference participants is
available at:
http://digitallabor.org/references/

Many of you just joined this list quite recently. The iDC list does not
accept announcements
(https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc). Every now and then,
however, an announcement slips through but for the most part there are
no calls, announcements, etc. Discussions on this list are often
instigated by large international conferences such as "Free Cooperation"
in 2004, "Share, Share Widely" in 2005, "Situated Technologies" in 2006
and "The Internet as Playground and Factory" in 2009. A very small
number of announcements related to these events are of course featured
on this list.

On Tuesday September 29th, for example, we are glad to welcome Andrew
Ross, Tiziana Terranova, and Richard Sennett as part of a prelude event
for The Internet as Playground and Factory conference. This event is
organized in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and
Politics. 

http://digitallabor.org/prelude   
more soon,
Trebor Scholz

===================================
PANEL DISCUSSION & ART INSTALLATION
Changing Labor Value
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Panel: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Installation: 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.
The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor, New York City
Admission: $8, free for all students, New School faculty, staff and
alumni with valid ID
www.veralistcenter.org

Drawing from critical perspectives on labor, social media, political
theory, this panel discussion addresses the nature of the work of
Internet users and networked workers, focusing on the relationship
between invisible labor, play, exploitation, pleasure, and the
production of value. What constitutes work in the digital era? What are
some alternatives to the seamless corporate expropriation of value from
millions of net users? Is it possible to acknowledge the moments of
ruthless exploitation while not eradicating optimism, inspiration, and
the manAs annotations to the panel, several web-based projects will be
installed in the same lecture hall from 5:30 p.m. onwards through the
evening.

This event is presented as a prelude to “The Internet as Playground and
Factory,” a conference organized by Eugene Lang faculty member Trebor
Scholz that will take place at Eugene Lang College (The New School),
from November 12 to 14, 2009 (www.digitallabor.org). The conference will
address the massive transformations in economy, labor, and life related
to digital media and confront the urgent need to interrogate what
constitutes labor and value in the digital economy.

Moderator: 
McKenzie Wark, Associate Professor, Chair of Media Studies and Associate
Dean of Eugene Lang College

Panelists: 

Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York
University and author of the recently published collection of essays,
Nice Work if You Can Get It

Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology, New York University and author
of The Craftsman

Tiziana Terranova, Associate Professor of Sociology of Communications,
Università di Napoli “L'Orientale” and author of Network Culture:
Politics for the Information Age 

Artist projects by: 
Burak Arikan
Scott Kildall
Ursula Endlicher
Stephanie Rothenberg and Jeff Crouse
and others

Presented on occasion of the Vera List Center's 2009/2010 program theme
"Speculating on Change."

The Vera List Center for Art and Politics | Alvin Johnson-J.M. Kaplan
Hall | 66 West 12th Street, Room 918 | New York | NY | 10011
===================================