[-empyre-] Critical considerations linger.

[Renate Ferro]

Thank you Jennifer for introducing Derek and your collaborative work.  I am thankful you listed links to these and I am hoping that any of our subscribers who do have work that resonates with the ideas of data, information, and surveillance capitalism please share them with our listserv.  

What I am trying to wrap my head around today relates to the collapse of the virtual networks of social media highway into networks of physical political engagement, resistance, and protest in the streets.  Certainly, we witnessed this is 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement and then quite negatively during the Capitol uprising.  Global examples of this occurred on Germany's parliament in 2020 in response to Covid and just within the last couple of weeks in Russia crowds gathering in support of Aleksei Navalny who was poisoned and then imprisoned. Where do we go from here individually and collectively?  How does art help to engage social media users to understand the underpinnings? What may have negative impacts? Or positive ones?  What can we learn from comparisons? Critical considerations linger. 

Domenica mentioned digital literacy for the young. Geert listed an overthrow of the system from the ground up. Thoughts from our guests and subscribers? 

Best, 
Renate