[via translator] Carlo, with whom I had dinner last night (along with Roger Clarke) talks about the links between the Internet and democracy. Democracy, he says, is a compromise that’s worked for a long time.

The Internet can be seen as a new platform that could strengthen democracy or as a new social sphere that’s integrated with political and economic reality. [I’m not trusting that the translator is getting this exactly right.] So, what new political forms can we choose? Do we have to assume a class conflict? Manuel Castells says ____[missed it!]. Richard Florida says there is new class that controls knowledge; we are in a struggle for the control of knowledge. MacKenzie says there’s a new hacker class, and a venture capital class.

Carlo worries that a new elite is arising in the blogosphere. [And no mention of Clay Shirky!] [Technorati tags: ArsElectronica2005 CarloFormenti]

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