deuxlits

my dream spring quarter

Originally uploaded by cupcup

here are my books on tap for next quarter. i imagine this being the syllabus for my dream class about anthropologies of open source and development. anyone want to start a reading group with me?

the vietnamese government has recently decided to crack down on bloggers. following the release of a government circular laying out the new official stipulations for blogging. much like anywhere else, the rubber hits the road not so much in the articulation of law but more in its implementation. so this alone doesn’t necessarily surprise me. what’s interesting about this is the underlying metaphors that frame the justification of these legislative controls. speech in blogs has been cast as a damaging kind of communication that diseases a cultural body. these so-called offensive blog are described as “black blogs” and are somehow contrary to vietnamese customs and habits. i also read somewhere that south korea intends to move in a similar direction and the kind of language they used to justify these measures entailed some kind of perilous “infodemic.” does anyone know where this term “infodemic” comes from? who originated it? i’m just a bit confused about this disease metaphor and information. i suppose what’s most fasinating for me is that these disease are interna, that they originate from within rather than being brought from some external force. has anyone else seen this metaphor in other places?