Reading #1: Abstract Hacktivism
An essential text, abstract hacktivism: the making of a hacker culture, by Otto Von Busch and Karl Palmås, discusses a shift in cultural production and social navigation as they relate the practice of hacking to phenomena such as shopdropping, craftivism, fan fiction, liberation theology, and Spanish social movement YOMANGO.
Download the book in PDF, which is licensed under the General Public Licence, and read the section called, Hacking and Heresy, pages 27 – 60 (please note the page numbers in the bottom corners of each page). Don’t worry, the reading isn’t actually as long as it sounds, and if there’s anything particularly tough for you to understand, don’t spend a lot of time with it, just keep reading—there’s lots of material to talk about in this section!
Be prepared to discuss something particularly interesting (or confusing) from the reading on Monday in class. Feel free to blog about anything particularly interesting from the reading in the meantime.
