[Asis-l] [Fwd: MIT Press publishes Liberating Voices pattern language book]

[M.J. Menou]

-------- Message original --------
Sujet : 	MIT Press publishes Liberating Voices pattern language book
Date : 	Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:53:32 -0800
De : 	douglas at cpsr.org

	




Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution Is
Now Available!

I'm writing to you as a friend or colleague or, in some cases, as a
person whom I've never met but whose work I admire. In any case I'm
hopeful that you'll find this work compelling. If you do, please read
this announcement and send it along to friends and colleagues who might
also be interested. (Please also take a look at the attachments, the
endorsements on the back cover of the book, are worth a look.)

After eight years of work, the book on our information and communication
pattern language project, Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for
Communication Revolution, is finally available. Liberating Voices brings
together a multitude of ideas and suggestions from a variety of
perspectives including activism and social change, education, community
informatics, governance, media, development, information science,
economics, journalism, arts and culture. It can be used by researchers,
by practitioners in a variety of fields including teachers in the
classroom, by activists, and by citizens and community members
throughout the world.

This book is particularly relevant at this time in history. It is a call
for social change based on a peaceful revolution in grassroots
information and communication. Our manifesto takes the form of a pattern
language containing 136 patterns. Each pattern is a template for
research as well as social critique and action. And each pattern is
linked to other patterns to form a single coherent whole. We (myself and
85 co-authors) have tried to show that the struggle for liberatory
information and communication systems is absolutely critical to a just
and sustainable future.

Inspired by the vision and framework outlined in Christopher Alexander's
classic 1977 book, A Pattern Language, the book presents a pattern
language containing 136 patterns designed to meet these challenges. We
are proposing a new model of social change that integrates theory and
practice by showing how diverse information and communication based
approaches can be used to address local as well as global problems.

The pattern language was developed collaboratively with nearly 100
co-authors using an online pattern language management system. The
patterns from the book are all online as are approximately 300 other
patterns in work. We are treating the publishing of the book as an
important milestone rather than the culmination of the project. While we
are very enthusiastic about what we've produced so far we realize that
people and organizations who use the patterns will often need to adapt
the pattern language to their specific needs which may even include
developing new patterns. For this reason and others we are revamping our
web site to encourage collaborative pattern language construction and
allow people to readily share ideas and experiences with others.

We worked to create an intriguing and informative catalog of
intellectual, social, and technological innovations, a practical manual
for citizen activism, and a compelling manifesto for creating a more
intelligent, sustainable, and equitable world. Now is the time to
unleash our collective creativity—social as well as technological—and
develop the communication systems that promote community and civic
innovation and engagement to address serious challenges like climate
change and environmental degradation.

If this sounds interesting I encourage to take a look at the book. Also,
please don't hesitate to get in touch with me for any reason. And thanks
in advance for sending this note to friends and colleagues!

Doug Schuler
The Public Sphere Project
The Evergreen State College

Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution can
be ordered online at:
     http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601>

The Public Sphere Project
     http://www.publicsphereproject.org/

The Liberating Voices pattern language project
     http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/

Online portal to the patterns in the book
 
http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/pattern-table-of-contents.php




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