2014, Vol. 15(2) 87–103 | Sylvain Firer-Blaess and Christian Fuchs
This article analyzes the political economy of Wikipedia, exploring its mode of production and its alignment with what the authors term the "info-communist" mode of production. Grounded in Marxist philosophy and political economy, the analysis draws connections to contemporary discussions about the renewal of communism by thinkers like Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou. The article discusses the subjective dimension of cooperative labor, the objective dimension of common ownership of the means of production, and the subject-object dimension of the effects and products of the mode of production. It highlights how Wikipedia's collaborative decision-making process, based on debate and consensus, embodies participatory democracy and cooperative labor. The article also examines the challenges Wikipedia faces, such as the entanglement with capitalist class relations and the potential for commodification of its content. Despite these challenges, Wikipedia represents a significant step towards a communist project, challenging the capitalist domination of the ICT realm and offering a model for a participatory grassroots economy.This article analyzes the political economy of Wikipedia, exploring its mode of production and its alignment with what the authors term the "info-communist" mode of production. Grounded in Marxist philosophy and political economy, the analysis draws connections to contemporary discussions about the renewal of communism by thinkers like Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou. The article discusses the subjective dimension of cooperative labor, the objective dimension of common ownership of the means of production, and the subject-object dimension of the effects and products of the mode of production. It highlights how Wikipedia's collaborative decision-making process, based on debate and consensus, embodies participatory democracy and cooperative labor. The article also examines the challenges Wikipedia faces, such as the entanglement with capitalist class relations and the potential for commodification of its content. Despite these challenges, Wikipedia represents a significant step towards a communist project, challenging the capitalist domination of the ICT realm and offering a model for a participatory grassroots economy.