However, more problematic questions arise through participatory practice which
paradoxically merges radical New Social Movement perspectives with that of the
neo-liberal market economy (Boltanski & Chiapello 2005). The “molecular revolu-
tion” (Guattari 1984) or the tactics of the “multitude” (Hardt and Negri 2004) are
indeed suggestively similar in their bottom-up approach to that of “viral” or “buzz”
marketing, where “epidemics of demand” (Kirby and Marsden 2006) are deliber-
ately generated from a bottom-up perspective. Similarly the classic term from
guerrilla marketing slogan of “the truth made fascinating” (Levinson 2007) is very
similar to the “tactics” of indymedia and the popular “anarchist” protests against
globalization of groups such as CrimethInc (CrimethInc 2001 & 2004). The micro-
political or street actions that are intended to raise consciousness (Hudema 2004)
share common traits to the marketing tools used to “tip” dynamic market systems
into large profits or promote “sticky” slogans of social change (Gladwell 2000).
It can be said that my research is sandwiched between the two dominant ideologies
or logics of our time. On one hand we have the de-skilling uniformity of industri-
alism, massproduction, and the depersonalized managerial strata DeLanda calls
“anti-markets”, after a term by economic historian Fernand Braudel. From this
perspective of mass society the imposed consumerism of big capital and hierarchi-
cal discipline are still the big evils of the world. The masses are passive herds of
consumer sheep but the rebel dream of “sex, drugs and rock’n roll” can still help to
empower people to at least “drop out” of the system.
On the other hand we have the “liquid” modernity of distributed consumerism
(Bauman 2000, 2007), of the “creative society” with a ubiquitous creative impera-
tive. From this perspective rebellion is the new uniformity (Heath and Potter 2005)
that is boosted by the profit generating “creative class” (Florida 2002). Through this
every person is forced to be an inventive entrepreneur to survive in the attention
market, through self-discipline, motivation and intuitive social competence. No-
bel-prize winning micro-finance banking meets “base of the pyramid” protocols,
where every virtuous designer helps “selling to the poor” (Whitney & Kelkar 2004,
Prahalad 2005, Hart 2005). Here the market also de-commodifies, as it turns into
ubiquitous services, subscriptions and micro-finance plans, often in the name of
“development” or “sustainability”, which from a sceptic’s view could be seen as
simply new market strategies supporting a perpetual feeding of the global econo-
my with a confluence of money to the top strata.
It is problematic to find a quick designer-oriented way out of this dilemma, and all
its shades on the gray scale cannot be discussed at length here. If we take the Inter-
net as an example, we can see participants remixing music, sharing photos, writing
wikipedia entries, linking and commenting blogs, etc. All these examples are forms
of co-productive and participatory work, often shared with “open” licences, such as
Creative Commons or Copyleft. On the one hand these participants work towards
a common goal and a common good, “the commons”. Here they share cultural
expressions and information to collectively sharpen their skills and develop a cul-
tural commons for everyone to partake for free. On the other hand this means
much work is done “for free”, and used “for free” by others, be they amateurs or big
anti-market corporations, something that makes it hard for creators to survive on
their work, at least through the usual mechanisms of the market. Some creations
take a contained shape to become easily exchanged commodities, others remain
amorphous free-floating memes or codes. We also see intermediate forms arise
bridging the gap between producer and consumer, actor and audience. The clear
Ruf n Tuf jeans is an example of
the “Base of the Pyramid” protocol.
They are cheap DIY kits aimed at
Indians who cannot afford conventional
jeans but still wish to purchase them.
The big denim producer Arvind Mills
offers the Ruf n Tuf jeans kit cheaply
to local tailors all over India who in
turn function as a distribution channel
to reach the final local customers.