Commoning the Networks: A Feminist Methodology

How could we undertake a process of ‘commoning the networks’ to co-create and share knowledge, as a form of resistance against the neoliberal understanding of productive labour? How could this be implemented in practical terms and how could feminist approaches to technology facilitate this aim? Which are the techniques, technologies, language requirements and relevant methodologies to make this possible?

CN:FM is an online/offline network of researchers, artists, curators and digital creative practitioners interested in feminist methodologies, which was initiated in 2014 by Penny Travlou (University of Edinburgh) and Sophia Lycouris (University of Edinburgh) in collaboration with Daphne Dragona (Transmediale), Helen Varley Jamieson (Genderchangers, Upstage and FLOSS Manuals) and Cornelia Sollfrank (University of Dundee). In their on-going research, they are using a feminist approach grounded on notions of care and affect, which are nomadic, fluid, reflective, playful and non-profit, to explore how debates about distributed networks intersect with those on the concept of the ‘commons’; that is with knowledge resources that are collectively created, owned or shared between the members of the network, and are available to third parties.Commons, therefore, are there to be used and reused, rather than to be exchanged as a commodity. In Transmediale 2015, CN: FM brings together scholars, practitioners and artists who are members of cyberfeminist collectives, such as Genderchangers and Constant Association for Art and Media, to develop a feminist methodology that facilitates movement, processing and exchange of ideas and practices in multiple directions amongst and across diverse networks with in an ethos that engages with creativity as commons. This event is supported by the University of Edinburgh.

Aiming to address issues of moving from theory to practice, and to set up a network which can pursue further the development of a range of current conceptual and technological approaches to the notion of feminist server, the event includes:
- a workgroup discussion on feminist methodologies to technology and distributed networks
- a hands-on workshop focused a) on the notions of the feminist server leading to observations about the nature of a network focusing on feminist approaches to technology and b) the development of an offline network of individuals, groups and collectives who will initiate further theoretical on feminist methodologies to technology and practical work on the feminist server
- a presentation of the outcomes of the two previous sessions, including a ‘launch’ of a network dealing with the above issues

Organised by: Penny Travlou, Sophia Lycouris, Helen Varley Jamieson, Cornelia Sollfrank, Donna Metzlar, Reni Hoffmuller, Peter Westenberg and Nancy Mauro-Flude (online)

Supported by the University of Edinburgh