I was one of those who expressed at least ambivalence about reposting
on pen. My concern was that I view this as an exciting collective project in
which those agreeing to join are committing themselves to work together; in
this respect, it is quite different to lists such as pen where it is an
accepted part of the culture that all but a handful are lurkers and where
there is not a collective project as such. My feeling, then, was that given
those already on the list the project would benefit more by inviting
individuals that we think would make a contribution than by inviting all and
sundry to subscribe. Among those I would suggest inviting are Tony Smith
and Alan Freeman; I've asked Fred Moseley and Paul Burkett (who did join).
In short, I think we can go through the subscribers' list to pen and select
people to invite.
However, I must stress that I don't feel strongly about this
position and am wary of the inherent elitism and, more significant,
an exclusionary process in which we end up making decisions for people. So,
if other opers (!) want to repost to pen, I wouldn't oppose this and would
just hope we don't acquire people who are overly fixated on their own
positions.
I suggested to Jerry that if we did repost to pen, that we indicate our
intention to make periodic progress reports to pen and to develop an
archive (so our discussions could be followed).
in solidarity,
mike
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Michael A. Lebowitz
Economics Department, Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Office: (604) 291-4669; Office fax: (604) 291-5944
Home: (604) 255-0382
Lasqueti Island (current location): (604) 333-8810
e-mail: mlebowit@sfu.ca