Free software production as critical social practice.
This paper analyses the phenomenon of free and open source software (FOSS) in the light of Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello'sThe new spirit of capitalism. It argues that collaborative FOSS production by volunteer software developers is a species of critical social practice in Boltanski and Chiapello'...
| Publicado en: | Economy & Society Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 597 - 626 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Nov2013
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=92664343&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 92664343 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03085147 5B0 jtl: Economy & Society issn: 03085147 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Nov2013 vid: 42 iid: 4 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 92664343 10.1080/03085147.2013.791510 ppf: 597 ppct: 29 formats: tig: atl: Free software production as critical social practice. aug: au: Barron, Anne su: Boltanski, Luc, 1940- Chiapello, Eve Capitalism Open source software Freeware (Computer software) sug: subj: Capitalism Open source software Freeware (Computer software) Boltanski, Luc, 1940- Chiapello, Eve keyword: copyleft free software immaterial labour new spirit of capitalism open source reputational capital copyleft free software immaterial labour new spirit of capitalism open source reputational capital ab: This paper analyses the phenomenon of free and open source software (FOSS) in the light of Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello'sThe new spirit of capitalism. It argues that collaborative FOSS production by volunteer software developers is a species of critical social practice in Boltanski and Chiapello's sense: rooted in resistance to capitalist social relations, and yet also a source of values that justify the new routes to profitability associated with contemporary network capitalism. Advanced via collective projects that are sustained by hacker norms and privately legislated ‘copyleft’ law, the FOSS ethos is apparently antithetical to private property-based accumulation. Yet it can be shown to embody the ‘new spirit of capitalism’ in its most distilled form; moreover FOSS developers have instituted new forms of property and new modes of profit creation around software that are in the process of being adapted for use in other economic sectors. Meanwhile, the private law constraints on profit-seeking that have emerged from the FOSS movement are counteracting some of the social pathologies that accompany network capitalism only to consolidate others. The paper concludes by identifying likely bases for a renewal of critique given these realities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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