Overthrowing The Network State: Untangling Balaji's Helical Theory of History
Feb 26, 2023
01:06:46
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Quick takeaways
Quinn DuPont critiques the network state's lack of empirical grounding in blockchain and crypto, emphasizing the need to address financialization, assetization, and digital inequality.
The conversation explores the shift towards bottom-up self-governance mechanisms and polycentric governance structures to collect private information from network edges for more inclusive decision-making.
Contrasting Quinn DuPont's progressive framework for Web3 with Balaji's libertarian perspective highlights the importance of empirical grounding, bottom-up governance, and addressing financialization and digital inequality.
Deep dives
The Network State and its Criticism
In the podcast episode, the concept of the network state is discussed, emphasizing the collaboration between individuals to address complex governance issues. Quinn DuPont critiques the network state's lack of empirical grounding in blockchain and crypto, highlighting the necessity for addressing key challenges like financialization, assetization, and digital inequality. The discussion delves into the epistemological gap in centralized planning, with a push towards bottom-up governance to incorporate private information from the network's edges for a more inclusive decision-making process.
Critique of Central Governance and Self-Governance
The conversation navigates through the limitations of centralized governance systems, drawing parallels to the epistemological challenges faced in a hierarchical model of governance. It explores the need for a shift towards bottom-up self-governance mechanisms to collect individual preferences and contextual information effectively. The emphasis is on utilizing polycentric governance structures to gather private information from network edges for more informed and inclusive decision-making processes.
Progressive Framework for Web3
Quinn DuPont's progressive framework for Web3 is contrasted with Balaji's libertarian perspective, positioning them as two divergent approaches in the crypto space. While DuPont's framework focuses on addressing financialization, commodity fetishism, and digital inequality, highlighting the importance of empirical grounding and bottom-up governance, Balaji's ideology leans towards libertarian principles and hierarchical governance models.
Evolving Crypto Landscape and Governance
The evolving landscape of Web3 and crypto governance is discussed in the context of current challenges and opportunities. DuPont's research emphasizes the need for decentralized decision-making structures and the incorporation of diverse individual preferences. The conversation underscores the significance of moving away from centralized models to embrace self-governance dynamics for more effective and inclusive governance systems.
Bottom-up Approach to Inclusive Governance
The podcast delves into the concept of inclusive governance through a bottom-up approach, drawing attention to the importance of capturing private information and individual preferences for informed decision-making. The discussion highlights the potential of polycentric governance structures to bridge the epistemological gap present in centralized planning, advocating for a more participatory and contextually relevant decision-making process in digital governance.
For this episode, I'm joined by Kelsie Nabben from Blockchaingov to speak to Quinn DuPont (@quinndupont), a historian of technology who recently gave a talk about his criticisms of TNS at the Commons Stack Unconference. He also recently published an article titled A Progressive Web3: From Social Coproduction to Digital Polycentric Governance. During the episode we interrogate Balaji's misunderstandings of history and proposing the commons as an alternative framework for what is already happening in some parts of web3.
Overthrowing the Network State (OTNS) is a series in collaboration with Blockchaingov where we critique The Network State by Balaji Srinivasan while also pulling out the salvageable parts and concepts in discussion with a variety of guests. We are overall critical of Balaji’s specific ideas in the book, but we want to discuss it with intellectual honesty and highlight the larger concepts around how these technologies are and could subvert state structures. You can find the first episode of OTNS where we give our initial criticisms and alternatives here.
Blockchaingov is a 5-year long, transdisciplinary research effort aimed at restoring trust in institutions at the community and global levels, by promoting better on chain and off chain distributed governance practices. Throughout the series, each discussion will include me and a member of Blockchaingov with either a new guest each episode or just a discussion between us to tackle various topics from the book.
If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit and Discord to join the discussion.
ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix Itand is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.
The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.
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