Introductions
Description: Introduce yourself to the ABRI community here.
Jump down to post comment...
| Comment | Who | When |
|---|---|---|
| Hello, Mark here. Along with Mimi Marcus on the legal side and Marcus Leonard on the technical side, I helped develop, design and implement ABRI. ABRI is ostensibly a component of my phd at the Centre for Ideas - you can read a bit more about me here: http://mark-elliott.net However ABRI is much more that that to me. I have a distinct interest in the development of open, inclusive and collaborative policy drafting through the blurring of boundaries between expert and novice / government and governed. For me (and from the perspective of my current research), this is the future of democracy - be it in 5, 10, 50 or 100 years - and it truly excites me that the technological foundations to begin this exploration are here (you're looking at them!). Of course the technological ability to contribute to a piece of policy that might one day play a part in your very own governance doesn’t mean that it will. Not only must the constituents value contributing to this process, but cultural, social and political norms, beliefs and communities of practice mush also emerge to support it. And this takes time. From my past experiences and general knowledge, online discussions/communities are slow to start. The growth of anything organically driven, whether it be an embryo, a sprouting seed, or a virtual community, grows with the same asymptotic/exponential curve: it is at first imperceptible, then there’s a tiny speck, then an indistinct something, and finally the basic form starts to take shape. At this point, the curve launches upwards all at once and within a very short time, whatever it is, is practically all grown up. So being the first to post here fills me with great wonder, excitement and curiosity at what this space might become, and further, what that becoming might contribute to the realm of human rights in Australia and beyond. So that’s a bit about me and where I’m coming from – what about you? | MarkElliott | 02 Apr 2006 - 15:02 |
| My name is Alex Gibson. I work with Mark Elliott (above) in a number of ways that relate to the functioning and development of programs at the Victorian College of the Arts. I am also involved in projects with Mimi Marcus and Marcus Leonard and so I have some to ABRI with some baggage. :) My main interest in the project is the development of a Bill of Rights that represents the interests of the Arts and the creative, free expression of ideas. I am also interested in the dynamic and fluid hierarchy of online cooperative/ collaborative projects that relate to governance and the management of people and groups. I am quite interested in how this project develops and am excited about involving myself in its growth. | AlexGibson | 01 Feb 2007 - 02:38 |
| Gidday all - Marcus Barber here (the 3rd of the 3 Marcus' on the list). I met Mark & Mimi via the SD chat group and was immediately drawn to the ABRI concept so I am glad this is kicking off in earnest again. A brief bio of me is here http://www.lufg.com.au/marcus and my main skill set will be hopefully contributing a futures based and values based capability to what we generate. | MarcusBarber | 05 Feb 2007 - 02:59 |
| Welcome Alex! It's great that you've raised the issue of freedom of expression from the perspective of the arts - censorship (directly, threats thereof, or fear of exclusion from opportunity ) is an increasing issue in this field. Please join in on the discussion surrounding this article at the Freedom of Religion and Belief Discussion and raise the relevant topics as you see them - I'm hoping to get some legal minds onto the issues you raise. Looking forward to more from the arts perspective on freedom of expression and human rights in general! | MarkElliott | 06 Feb 2007 - 03:06 |
| Oh, and Alex runs Polyopticon.org - a collaborative arts site, very cool... | MarkElliott | 06 Feb 2007 - 07:07 |
| Recently I had a (still unformed) thought about freedom from oppression. It went something like this... International free markets that are more powerful than international and national justice systems become oppressive when they threaten, or abuse a lack of, human rights and freedoms. The problem with the UN's Bill of Rights is that the instruments of international justice are too blunt to prosecute its abuses. I am interested in how the ABR would be implemented and upheld and how it could benefit people outside of Australia. I have not developed this idea though further, but it seemed worthwhile mentioning. I would be interested in feedback for this idea, and how it could relate to the ABRI project. Where should I post ideas like this? | AlexGibson | 08 Feb 2007 - 22:50 |
| Oh... and there is some interesting reading about freedom of expression and sedition here: http://www.visualarts.net.au/campaigns/current/freedomofexpressionsedition | AlexGibson | 08 Feb 2007 - 22:54 |
| I think the fact that there exists (to my understanding) no enforceable international law to speak of is a significant feature of our modern landscape - that is, it today's international relations and even internal affairs would be very different if there were. In regard to how an ABR might benefit those outside Australia, in the first instance, probably much like how the other bills listed in our resources are benefiting us here - that is, they provide at the very least a template helping us draft our own. However I think they also help on another level. Law is largely a matter of precedent, and mirroring the way many bills come into existence (i.e. Canada), once enough states have implemented their own, the federal level is really pushed into acting to unify them. At least that's my understanding... Is that along the lines of what you were thinking Alex? - and posting here is fine for now, however we can move this discussion to its own thread on international law if it keeps up cause there's probably a lot people can say on the issue... And great resource on freedom of expression and sedition. I listed it on our external resources page. | MarkElliott | 10 Feb 2007 - 22:23 |
| Hi all, Matt Daniel here. I've been talking/planning with Mark for some time now, and it's great to have a project start moving that I can get my teeth stuck into. I'm interested in the ways that people may collaborate and share understanding and the role that progressive technology has to play in this field. I was recently talking with one of my friends who is a teacher at Ivanhoe Girls, and she suggested that some of their students may be interested in participating. it would be great to put an information sheet/guide together and contact some secondary teachers and see what kind of input we could get out of the kids. I think making young people aware that possibilities are opening up for them to have more input into the way their world is run will lay some handy seeds for the future. | MatthewDaniel | 15 Feb 2007 - 02:43 |
| I couldn't agree more Matt. I've got a few students in a third year course that Alex and I am teaching at the VCA - the one with the online component Marcus has helped build and run - and they are interested in doing a collaborative research project on and around human rights / BoR? and with a creative component added to it. I'm hoping at the very least this could then be uploaded and serve as one example of how to combine educational projects with our themes. I really like the idea of an information sheet / guide / thingy - a lot could probably be copy an pasted from the ABRI section of this site. If you could perhaps have a quick look at this it would be most helpful - it's hard for me to know what info is best cause i've been so wrapped up in the project for so long. | MarkElliott | 19 Mar 2007 - 21:11 |
| Hello, As Mark mentioned briefly above I am a student from the Victorian Collage of the Arts. I am involved in a collaborative project with some other students which is based on human rights, or lack thereof, in Australia. The project has a more local focus. We are three musicians (instrumental and electronic), a film maker and a drama student. We began by looking at how the HR framework in Aus. could be improved to better implement and enforce the UN Declaration of Human Rights. This led us to the ABRI. A question I have had throughout the research stage has been how does a country set up HR framework in a way it is not open to political manipulation? We constantly see Governments in developed nations with relatively established framework undermining HR and not being held accountable. The project is taking shape along the lines of a multi-media mash up. We are exploring some central themes – Censorship, historic revisionism (relating to indigenous Australia), treatment of refugees. We are planning to start rehearsals in the next month and the project should be completed towards the end of the year. | AlisterMew | 19 Apr 2007 - 03:33 |
« Back to Message Board Index
 |
|
Copyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors. Ideas, requests, problems regarding ABRI? Send feedback