Ablinger Franz

The word processor is a stupid and grossly inefficient tool for preparing text for communication with others. That is the claim I shall defend below. It will probably strike you as bizarre at first sight. If I am against word processors, what do I propose: that we write in longhand, or use a mechanical typewriter? … Read more

On June 10, 2010 we caught up with Gustavo Martinez, a union leader in the worker-controlled, nationalized coffee company, Fama de América, in Caracas, Venezuela. The company has 350 workers at the national level, with two separate plants – one in Caracas and one in Valencia. We sat down with Martínez to discuss the centrality … Read more

A recent episode of the NPR show ‘This American Life’ takes up the question of group agency and, in particular, the degree to which people are willing to ascribe psychological states to corporations. Oddly enough, the presenters end up getting into an argument about precisely the issue that Adam Arico addressed in his very nice … Read more