CoLET (The Collective for Liberation, Ecology, and Technology) is a small, Brooklyn-based, community-centered, radical feminist and anti-capitalist community of study and practice. We work to maintain, develop, extend, and promote open tools and documentation for political communication and organization.
We view our technological work not as liberatory work in an of itself, but rather support work for radical political and ecological interventions. To that end, we believe we can be most useful to the movements when we have a deep understanding of the challenges and goals; we meet monthly to carry this out.
Through continued reading, discussion, and debate we hope that we might not only increase camaraderie within our group but, more importantly, deepen our analysis of the roots of oppression and broaden our vision of liberation.
What We Read:
- Manifesto for An Accelerationist Politics – Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
- Economic Opportunities for Our Grandchildren – John Maynard Keynes
- (Watch) Kate Raworth’s Animations on Donut Economics
What Came Up For Us:
- Accelerationist Manifesto was clearly written by two white men. It is macho and doesn’t particularly lift up women or the environment. Raworth’s work, and its focus on centering people and the environment, is a great counterpoint.
- Bitcoin’s crazy energy usage explained (Ars Technica)
- Telekommunist Manifesto
- The Composites Collective are travelling the world looking at alternative systems. We want to connect with Claudina and Darshana.
- Red Hook Wireless and NYC Mesh are looking at different ways to digitally connect communities. It does, however, privilege property owners.
- CoLET is focusing on feminizing tech. The core collective (known as “Build”) is going to be all women. Despite our qualms, Srnicek and Williams have a great point when they say, “Secrecy, verticality, and exclusion all have their place as well in effective political action (though not, of course, an exclusive one).” Relates back to Tyranny of Structurelessness.
- Easter Island and environmental destruction (Scientific American)
- Is the Left still useful? IGD interview with Parkdale Organize
- “Ice Apocalypse” on melting glaciers and sea level rise (The Grist)
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire has a good critique of Marxism
- How Walmart is using blockchain for food safety (Forbes)
- New York City Council Takes On Algorithmic Discrimination (ACLU) “Just recently, a highly controversial DNA testing technique used by New York City’s medical examiner put thousands of criminal cases in jeopardy. Flawed code can also further entrench systemic inequalities. The algorithms used in facial recognition technology, for example, have been shown to be less accurate on Black people, women, and juveniles, putting innocent people at risk of being labeled crime suspects.”