Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism

The ascent of neoliberalism and informational capitalism has been largely successful in privatizing and re-regulating state-subject-market relations in ways that treat them “as if” they are a market situation. Here, we observe both the increasing commodification of digital forms of knowledge, as we...

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Main Author: Dimitris Soudias
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: DIGSUM 2021-02-01
Series:Journal of Digital Social Research
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Online Access:https://publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article/view/24979
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author Dimitris Soudias
author_facet Dimitris Soudias
author_sort Dimitris Soudias
collection DOAJ
description The ascent of neoliberalism and informational capitalism has been largely successful in privatizing and re-regulating state-subject-market relations in ways that treat them “as if” they are a market situation. Here, we observe both the increasing commodification of digital forms of knowledge, as well as the commodification of the access to this knowledge. As predominantly non-commercial spaces, libraries serve the vital function of deflecting these developments. In this article, I argue for going one step further and imagining libraries as institutionalized and pedagogical spaces that can negotiate and transgress their institutional limits vis-à-vis public and private resources, discourses, policies, and technologies for the purpose of furthering the commons. In so doing, libraries serve as alter-neoliberal pedagogies, which democratize the construction and deconstruction of knowledge, as well as the access to them. Here, alternative literacies, ways of learning, and ways of being can be prefigured in practice. In imagining these conceptual potentialities of academic and public libraries, this article sets forth an initial agenda toward the commoning library.
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spelling doaj-art-56ef8e26abf040038462f14c3d15b3b42025-08-20T02:18:39ZengDIGSUMJournal of Digital Social Research2003-19982021-02-013110.33621/jdsr.v3i1.58Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational CapitalismDimitris Soudias0London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom The ascent of neoliberalism and informational capitalism has been largely successful in privatizing and re-regulating state-subject-market relations in ways that treat them “as if” they are a market situation. Here, we observe both the increasing commodification of digital forms of knowledge, as well as the commodification of the access to this knowledge. As predominantly non-commercial spaces, libraries serve the vital function of deflecting these developments. In this article, I argue for going one step further and imagining libraries as institutionalized and pedagogical spaces that can negotiate and transgress their institutional limits vis-à-vis public and private resources, discourses, policies, and technologies for the purpose of furthering the commons. In so doing, libraries serve as alter-neoliberal pedagogies, which democratize the construction and deconstruction of knowledge, as well as the access to them. Here, alternative literacies, ways of learning, and ways of being can be prefigured in practice. In imagining these conceptual potentialities of academic and public libraries, this article sets forth an initial agenda toward the commoning library. https://publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article/view/24979digital commonspublic spacelibrariesinformational capitalismneoliberalismpublic pedagogy
spellingShingle Dimitris Soudias
Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism
Journal of Digital Social Research
digital commons
public space
libraries
informational capitalism
neoliberalism
public pedagogy
title Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism
title_full Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism
title_fullStr Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism
title_full_unstemmed Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism
title_short Imagining the Commoning Library: Alter-Neoliberal Pedagogy in Informational Capitalism
title_sort imagining the commoning library alter neoliberal pedagogy in informational capitalism
topic digital commons
public space
libraries
informational capitalism
neoliberalism
public pedagogy
url https://publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article/view/24979
work_keys_str_mv AT dimitrissoudias imaginingthecommoninglibraryalterneoliberalpedagogyininformationalcapitalism