Commons State

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= Master's Thesis: A COMMON(S)STATE: Art commons in a Social Knowledge Economy. By Pedro Cagigal. Masters in Digital Culture and Society at Kings College, 2014

Abstract

"The Ecuadorian government is intending to develop a Social Knowledge Economy (SKE) that would change the parameters of the countryʼs intellectual property legislation and create public policies to promote an open commons knowledge economy. SKE comes forth as a convergence of two processes that have been looking into ʻpost-neoliberalʼ alternatives: Free Culture and South Americaʼs ʻleft turnʼ Good Living paradigm. This research pretends to explore some ideas grounding the cultural proposals for the SKE project, to shed light on some of the tensions in delineating these alternatives. Through deep interviews with local artists and cultural managers, I will analyse what contextual aspects and debates on cultural policies should be considered to create a state-supported digital-commons of art production under a SKE. I will argue that discussions around the property of state-supported-art can be useful to look into the challenges and complexities in the relation between a commons and the State. Looking into this process can also bring new perspectives regarding discussions on digital rights; opening a space to rethink the place of the State in some of the core ideas in Free Culture.]