Difference between revisions of "Hacklab Belgrade 2013 Report"

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Of the eight people that were at Hacklab before I arrived, three of them were women. Impressed by this minor imbalance I questioned one such female, Daria  (pictured above), if she could conjecture a reason. Yugoslavia, she answered. Communist and socialist Yugoslavia had strong feminism-activist lines and ideals. Inclusion was a theme that was taught and practised in aspects of everyday life of the multi-ethnic Yugoslavia, which of course predates Hackerspaces. Although Daria and the other Serbo-hackers lived only their infancy before the state divisions - fracturing arguably because of intolerance - she still insists that some perhaps nostalgic heritage lives on.
Of the eight people that were at Hacklab before I arrived, three of them were women. Impressed by this minor imbalance I questioned one such female, Daria  (pictured above), if she could conjecture a reason. Yugoslavia, she answered. Communist and socialist Yugoslavia had strong feminism-activist lines and ideals. Inclusion was a theme that was taught and practised in aspects of everyday life of the multi-ethnic Yugoslavia, which of course predates Hackerspaces. Although Daria and the other Serbo-hackers lived only their infancy before the state divisions - fracturing arguably because of intolerance - she still insists that some perhaps nostalgic heritage lives on.
   
   
Arandjel, an ex-student-activist was more skeptical to draw this link. He spun his phone on the table as Milosh, the reason why Serbia has the most active ''Wikinews'' of any language, theorized a connection between the hackerspace and the Yugoslavic tradition of socially-owned companies. Socially-owned companies were to Yugoslavian socialism, as cooperatives are to capitalism; and enjoyed considerable success. A civil engineering firm run by anarcho-feminists became a vanguard example of what socially-owned companies could achieve, even granting their own internal diplomas that were later externally recognized. Such a genetic code I commented would be a fertile breeding ground for hackerspaces. Milosh answered yes, but that it wasn't until post-war Serbian salaries had increased to include a monthly fat of 1,000 dinar ($13) that a hackerspace became viable. This, Arandjel noted, would actually be an argument for a Yugoslavian mentality lending a predilection for self-organized communities, with the price of a few happy-meals being the only barrier to realization.
Arandjel, an ex-student-activist, was more skeptical to draw this link. He spun his phone on the table as Milosh, the reason why Serbia has the most active ''Wikinews'' of any language, theorized a connection between the hackerspace and the Yugoslavic tradition of socially-owned companies. Socially-owned companies were to Yugoslavian socialism as cooperatives are to capitalism, and enjoyed considerable success. A civil engineering firm run by anarcho-feminists became a vanguard example of what socially-owned companies could achieve, even granting their own internal diplomas that were later externally recognized. Such a genetic code, I commented, would be a fertile breeding ground for hackerspaces. Milosh answered yes, but that it wasn't until post-war Serbian salaries had increased to include a monthly fat of 1,000 dinar ($13) that a hackerspace became viable. This, Arandjel noted, would actually be an argument for a Yugoslavian mentality lending a predilection for self-organized communities, with the price of a few happy-meals being the only barrier to realization.


==Activity Speed==
==Activity Speed==