Καλή αρχή λοιπόν εν μέσω φωτιών, δακρύων, αλληλοκατηγοριών και εκλογών.

Πολλά ερωτήματα ίσως ανακύψουν σχετικά με το σκοπό και τη προέλευση αυτού του blog, όπως “τι είναι το P2P;”, “ποιες είναι οι P2P πρακτικές;” ή “ποιοι στο καλό είστε εσείς ρε παιδιά και τι ζητάτε από εμάς;”. Κάποιες απαντήσεις στις παραπάνω απορίες δίνονται στις διάφορες υποενότητες του blog (π.χ. Σχετικά, διαλέξεις Michel Bauwens) ή στη wiki ιστοσελίδα για την Ελληνική γλώσσα.

Όσο για το τι θέλουμε από εσάς; Να συμμετάσχετε με οποιοδήποτε τρόπο μπορείτε. Θέλουμε λοιπόν να ανοίξει ένας διάλογος γύρω από τις P2P (ομότιμες) πρακτικές και τη σημασία τους. Επίσης, ότι διαβάσετε σχετικά με τη P2P θεωρία και τις ομότιμες πρακτικές δεν είναι ούτε στατικό, ούτε δογματικό: είναι θεωρία «ανοικτού κώδικα» πέρα από οποιαδήποτε ιδεολογία, όπου καθετί μόνιμο και μη δυναμικό εξατμίζεται. Μέσα από τη μαζική συμμετοχή και διάλογο, τη κοινωνική δημιουργία η P2P θεωρία επαναπροσδιορίζεται συνεχώς θεωρητικά και πρακτικά.

Παρακάτω παραθέτω αυτολεξεί την επιστολή του Michel Bauwens, ιδρυτή του P2P ιδρύματος, αναφορικά με τη προσπάθειά μας για έρευνα και διάλογο γύρω από τις ομότιμες πρακτικές.

“For some reason that I cannot yet account for, the ideas of the peer to peer Foundation seem attractive to Greek people, and over the last two years, I have had the chance to receive an inordinate amount of emails from this country, both from people living there but also from its dynamic diaspora.

One of the remarkable aspects of the peer to peer dynamic, and of its expression in peer governance, is that we have a mode of decision-making that introduces participation in every human field. Before this, we have a certain type of democracy in the political sphere, where we can choose every so often who can lead us, but as soon as we work or pray, we enter into what should be more properly called feudal structures, such as the corporation.

What may be the reason of such Greek interests? Is it because you had the First Democracy (http://p2pfoundation.net/First_Democracy), which, even if it was not perfect because its excluded slaves and women, still was very deep for those who had rights of participation? Deeper than much of what accounts for participation in our contemporary Acquisitor’s Democracy?

Is it because of Greece‘s particular geo-political identity, part of Europe but at the same time located at its periphery? A possible thesis would be that if new social formations always emerge in dominant countries, it is eventually taken up more by peripheral countries, since they can benefit from it more, and that Greece is sitting on the edge of those two worlds, playing the role of transmission agent?

Is it because of the extraordinary quality of its expatriate community? Meet George Dafermos, one of the world’s foremost experts on Peer Governance (http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_11/dafermos/ ); meet Athina Karatzogianni, expert in Cyberconflicts (http://p2pfoundation.net/Cyberconflicts ). Vasilis Kostakis and his research on Change Dynamics using Laster Theory (http://p2pfoundation.net/Laser_Theory_of_Social_Change) as his point of departure.

Inside Greece, we have George Papanikolaou, who is translating our manuscript on peer to peer theory. And I’m also reminded of the pioneering work of the editorial team of Re-Public (http://www.re-public.gr/en/) magazine, as far as I know the first political thinkers on the continent to tackle the importance of the Commons and Wikipolitics for contemporary democratic practice.

I have received very moving letters that tend to prove that this early interest for peer to peer is not a fluke, but represents a deep need for renewal in Greek thinking, and a tremendous opportunity for the country to play a leading role in preparing the advent of the successor civilization.

Perhaps Greece is not going to be only the birthplace of the First Democracy, but also of the Second.”