This chapter explores a model of political economy that the authors claim to be indigenous to Africa -- generative justice. Generative Justice is unlike both capitalism and communism, because it does not seek to extract and alienate the maximum amount of value. Instead, it seeks to "generate value and directly participate in its benefits." Under communism, value is generated in the same way as under capitalism, but it goes to the government to be "redistributed," although the practicalities of that are difficult. Under generative justice, production happens at the bottom, but is not alienated from producers. Instead, they produce what they need how they would like to, reusing and innovating along the way. This is more sustainable and egalitarian, and does not require a large bureaucracy to enable it to function. The chapter explores examples of roots of this system in pre-colonial African civilizations, then introduces many case studies of contemporary African makerspaces who continue to work under this ethos. I loved the emphasis on fixing and using what's already around, which is in part out of necessity, and in part out of the ethos of sustainability and collectivism. I also really appreciated the notion that balance and cycle of stability and instability as a way of understanding self-organization and production.
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Module 4: Architecture & Technology
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26/02/2024 8:59 am