[Air-L] Cyberchiefs: Autonomy and Authority in Online Tribes

[Mathieu O'Neil]

[Apologies for cross-postings]

Dear AOIR,

I am proud to announce the publication of my book Cyberchiefs. Please 
find below some information from the publisher.

Cheers,

Mathieu

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Cyberchiefs: Autonomy and Authority in Online Tribes

Mathieu O’Neil
    
April 2009

PB / £ 17.99 / $ 32.95 / 978-0-7453-2796-9 /  215mm x 135mm  / 242pp
HB / £ 60.00 / $ 95.00 / 978-0-7453-2797-6 /  215mm x 135mm  / 242pp


People are inventing new ways of working together on the internet. 
Decentralised production thrives on weblogs, wikis and free software 
projects. In Cyberchiefs, Mathieu O’Neil focuses on the regulation of 
these working relationships. He examines the transformation of 
leadership and expertise in online networks, and the emergence of 
innovative forms of participatory politics.

What are the costs and benefits of alternatives to hierarchical 
organisation? Using case studies of online projects or ‘tribes’ such as 
the radical Primitivism archive, the Daily Kos political weblog, the 
Debian free software project, and Wikipedia, O’Neil shows that leaders 
must support maximum autonomy for participants, and he analyses the 
tensions generated by this distribution of authority.


‘Going against all easy celebrations of an Internet culture without 
authority or power structures, Cyberchiefs offers an important and 
relevant account of the innovations in forms of authority expressed by 
the social dynamics of Internet group formations.’
Tiziana Terranova, associate professor of Sociology of Communications 
and Cultural Studies at the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’ and 
author of Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age.


Mathieu O’Neil is Adjunct Research Fellow at the Australian National 
University in the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, 
and Principal Researcher at Australia’s Department of Broadband, 
Communications and the Digital Economy. He has contributed articles to 
Le Monde diplomatique, Manière de voir and Factsheet 5. He has also 
worked as a magazine editor and designer, as an editor on the 
collective New Media Art weblog Under the Sun, and has curated 
international digital art exhibitions.

Publisher webpage (US): http://us.macmillan.com/cyberchiefs
Obligatory Facebook page: Coming soon!

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Dr Mathieu O'Neil
Adjunct Research Fellow
Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute
College of Arts and Social Science
The Australian National University

E-mail: mathieu.oneil at anu.edu.au
Tel.: (61 02) 61 25 38 00
Web: http://adsri.anu.edu.au/people/visitors/mathieu.php
Mail: Coombs Building, 9
Canberra, ACT 0200 - AUSTRALIA