Speculate This!

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Economic Policy, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Speculate This! by uncertain commons, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: uncertain commons ISBN: 9780822376934
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: May 24, 2013
Imprint: Duke University Press Language: English
Author: uncertain commons
ISBN: 9780822376934
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: May 24, 2013
Imprint: Duke University Press
Language: English

Speculate This! is a concise, provocative manifesto advocating practices of "affirmative speculation" over and against contemporary forms of speculation that quantify and contain risk to generate financial profit for a privileged few. This latter mode of speculation is predatory and familiar, its fallout evident in ongoing environmental degradation, in restrictive legal claims on natural resources in distant lands, and in the foreclosures, evictions, and unemployment resulting from the financial collapse of 2007–08. While such exploitive speculation seeks to reduce uncertainty and pin down the future, the affirmative practices championed by the authors of Speculate This! engage uncertainty, contingency, and difference, and they multiply, rather than reduce, possible futures. In these affirmative practices, social relations and the creation of goods and knowledge are not driven by the desire for financial gain or professional status. Whether manifest in open-source software, eco-communes, global activist movements, community credit networks, or experimental art, speculative living affirms our commonality. As a collaborative work coauthored by a group of anonymous scholars, Speculate This! argues for and embodies affirmative speculation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Speculate This! is a concise, provocative manifesto advocating practices of "affirmative speculation" over and against contemporary forms of speculation that quantify and contain risk to generate financial profit for a privileged few. This latter mode of speculation is predatory and familiar, its fallout evident in ongoing environmental degradation, in restrictive legal claims on natural resources in distant lands, and in the foreclosures, evictions, and unemployment resulting from the financial collapse of 2007–08. While such exploitive speculation seeks to reduce uncertainty and pin down the future, the affirmative practices championed by the authors of Speculate This! engage uncertainty, contingency, and difference, and they multiply, rather than reduce, possible futures. In these affirmative practices, social relations and the creation of goods and knowledge are not driven by the desire for financial gain or professional status. Whether manifest in open-source software, eco-communes, global activist movements, community credit networks, or experimental art, speculative living affirms our commonality. As a collaborative work coauthored by a group of anonymous scholars, Speculate This! argues for and embodies affirmative speculation.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Color of Violence by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Literature but Were Afraid to Ask Žižek by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Aurality by uncertain commons
Cover of the book The New History in an Old Museum by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Inventing High and Low by uncertain commons
Cover of the book The Unpredictability of the Past by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Revolt of the Saints by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Chineseness across Borders by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Airborne Dreams by uncertain commons
Cover of the book The Ruins of the New Argentina by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Earth Politics by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Hitting the Brakes by uncertain commons
Cover of the book A New Type of Womanhood by uncertain commons
Cover of the book Tropical Zion by uncertain commons
Cover of the book From the Revolution to the Maquiladoras by uncertain commons
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy