The BlockchainGov Newsletter #18 | February Monthly Report
Welcome back to BlockchainGov's monthly newsletter!
As the global landscape keeps moving at an unprecedented pace, our research team is working to conclude their PhD dissertation theses and prepare for future events. February saw a new podcast episode, more research on network sovereignties, and interesting readings as usual.
I. Research
This month we are back to focus on the releases of the articles composing our online symposium on Network States & New Network Sovereignties, co-organized by the Robert Schupmann Center at EUI and BlockchainGov.
In 2018, we explored cloud communities & e-citizenship. Fast forward 5 years, the rise of digital innovations has reshaped traditional notions of governance. Today, digital tools like blockchain enable communities to transcend physical borders, forming new network sovereignties. Are Network States technologically and politically feasible, morally justified, and legally possible? The symposium aims to delve into these critical questions through the work of leading scholars and thought leaders from the field.
Gilad Abiri examines the fundamental tension between liberation and community in these new political forms. Abiri applies Böckenförde's dilemma to network sovereignties, suggesting they must develop governance structures and shared narratives while preserving their voluntary nature to challenge the territorial nation-state system effectively.
Michel Bauwens offers a historical perspective on network sovereignties, tracing their parallels to pre-modern religious communities that transcended territorial boundaries. Bauwens argues that these digital networks can learn from how religions created shared identities across vast distances without state control. In conversation with Bauwens,
Keep following the online symposium on our social media channels and at this link!
II. Podcast
In February, our Director Primavera De Filippi, alongside Morshed Mannan and Wessel Rijers, visited the Decentralization Research Center's podcast Techequitable to sit and discuss their latest MIT Press book 'Blockchain Governance'. Listen to it at this link!
III. What Are We Reading
The Great Adaptation: Technique, Environment, and the Law on the Globe by Guilherme Pratti - This timely book puts forward an understanding of the relationship between law, regulation, technology,y, and science in addressing climate change. Pratti demonstrates how legislation can shape sustainable development and introduces the concept of the 'technique phenomenon,' highlighting how regulation is resulting in Earth being classified as a legal object: a framework that could inform governance models for digital commons and network states.
Research Handbook on Human Rights and Digital Technology edited by Ben Wagner, Matthias C. Kettemann, Kilian Vieth-Ditlmann, and Susannah Montgomery - The second edition of this handbook brings together perspectives from academia and practice on how to respect and protect human rights in an increasingly digital world. Particularly relevant for network sovereignty discussions are the chapters on the management of key Internet resources, governance architectures, and the legitimacy of rule-making in digital spaces. The book's interdisciplinary approach offers valuable insights into the tension between state authority and digital autonomy.
Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant - Merchant offers a fascinating historical perspective by connecting today's tech disruptions with the Luddite uprising of the 19th century. The book draws parallels between historical resistance to automation and contemporary concerns about AI and algorithmic governance. This historical lens provides valuable context for understanding resistance to digital transformation and raises important questions about how network sovereignties might address economic displacement in ways that territorial states have failed to do.
Thanks for reading BlockchainGov's February roundup - we'll be back next month!