International Journal of Communication Publishes a Special Section on Afterlives of the Californian Ideology: Tech Movements, Pioneer Communities, and Imaginaries of Digital Futures

It was some 30 years ago that Richard Barbrook and Andy Cameron coined the term “Californian Ideology”: At the intersection of hippiedom and yuppie entrepreneurship, they argued, a vision for recreating the world with digital technologies arose. But what has happened since? Has the rise of a more global Internet eclipsed the centrality of California? Are emerging technologies repeating the same patterns of political economy as earlier ones, or have they required the crafting of new ideologies entirely?   

This Special Section on Afterlives of the Californian Ideology: Tech Movements, Pioneer Communities, and Imaginaries of Digital Futures, guest edited by Andreas Hepp, Anne Schmitz, and Nathan Schneider, reflects on the “afterlives” of this Californian Ideology—an ideology that emerged in and through tech movements and pioneer communities. 

The Special Section’s contributions include case studies from Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States and address recent manifestations of the Californian Ideology by looking at Ethereum blockchain communities, tech communities of crafting and repairing, the “mindset” of the Maker movement, early civic hacking in South Korea, contemporary imaginaries of autonomous driving, and the micropolitics of everyday online life. The issue concludes with an interview with Richard Barbrook, who looks back at the polemic he and Andy Cameron wrote, along with the limits of critiquing ideology alone.

These articles reveal that the Californian Ideology remains alive and well, manifesting in many afterlives, which span diverse geographies and technological substrates. Even among efforts to challenge and supplant the dominance of Silicon Valley, Californian habits of mind continue to persist, even if in new forms and disguises. 

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on June 22, 2023. Please log into ijoc.org to read the papers of interest. We look forward to your feedback! 
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Afterlives of the Californian Ideology: Tech Movements, Pioneer Communities, and Imaginaries of Digital Futures—Introduction
Andreas Hepp, Anne Schmitz, Nathan Schneider 

Building Blockchain Frontiers: Ethereum as an Extension of the Californian Ideology
Ann Brody, Tamara Kneese, Julie Frizzo-Barker

More-Than-Tech Communities: Alternative Imaginaries Within Hacking and Crafting 
Fredy Mora-Gámez, Sarah R. Davies

Local Ambivalences Toward the Maker Ideology: Makerspaces, the Maker Mindset, and the Maker Movement
Andreas Hepp, Anne Schmitz

Negotiating Silicon Valley Ideologies, Contesting “American” Civic Hacking: The Early Civic Hackers in South Korea and Their Struggle
Danbi Yoo

Deepest Mediatization? Inventing the Autonomous Vehicle
James Miller

Homesteading on a Superhighway: The Californian Ideology and Everyday Politics 
Nathan Schneider

“Polemic Becomes Canon”: An Interview With Richard Barbrook on the Californian Ideology
Nathan Schneider
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Larry Gross, Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections
Andreas Hepp, Anne Schmitz, Nathan Schneider, Guest Editors

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