Seminar 9
Date: May 26, 2014
Time: 1pm – 2:15pm
Venue: Room 2175, Level 2, Haydon-Allen Building, The Australian National University
Speaker: Mathieu O'Neil, Associate Professor, ADSRI, ANUNMRC / University of Canberra & ADSRI / Australian National University
Paper title: Collaborative and formal organisations: A political economy of the main perspectives
Paper abstract:
The wider social implications of collaborative online organisations such as Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects have been the subject of intense scholarly speculation. A review of the literature shows that the relationship between formal (hierarchical) and collaborative (non-hierarchical) organisations fits into four models: collaborative organisations can be portrayed as a variant of the evolution of formal organisations into post-bureaucratic networks; as increasing worker exploitation in comparison to formal organisations; as a prefiguration of a post-capitalist society; and as co-partnering with formal organisations to foster innovation. Some of the claims these perspectives make are highly questionable. In this paper, I argue that these conflicting interpretations derive from the attitude each perspective advocates in regards to the defining feature of commons-oriented collaborative production, the “abjuring of exclusive proprietary control over the software in which one has copyright” (Benkler). Whether this feature is overlooked, considered irrelevant, idealised, or co-opted implies distinct conceptions of worker motivation, governance and conflict resolution, and societal impact.