[Air-L] New Book: Move Slowly and Build Bridges

[Lilly Irani]

Thanks for sharing! This looks really interesting, careful, and caring!

On Tue, Jul 22, 2025 at 12:22 PM Robert W Gehl via Air-L <
air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:

> Hello, AoIR friends!
>
> I'm really excited to announce that my new book, Move Slowly and Build
> Bridges: Mastodon, the Fediverse, and the Struggle for Democratic Social
> Media, is now available online from Oxford University Press!
>
> And there will indeed be an old-school print version out in a couple weeks.
>
> The book draws on interviews and years of participant observation to
> tell the story of the activists, developers, moderators, and everyday
> folks who have built the fediverse, a noncentralized, largely
> noncommercial alternative social media system.
>
> Regardless of whether or not the fediverse expands or fades away, I
> think the book gives a lot of insight into questions of digital
> governance. I hope you'll agree!
>
> You can learn more about the book here:
>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://moveslowlybuildbridges.com__;!!Mih3wA!FQgJpw08E6p0JZ33ZqxuYxt23knxzDM3QoDWECxAaKMh7TylLuBQO8tDMh2uxBIfeh0n3LX3jQlg1ejr$
>
> It means a lot to me to announce this here on AIR-L, because this book
> has been influenced by many of you. Not only due to your scholarship,
> but also to the organization itself, which has experimented with our
> very own Mastodon server (aoir.social) to explore alternatives to
> corporate social media. I've learned a great deal by being one of the
> admins of aoir.social, and those lessons have informed the book.
>
> Please reach out if you have any questions about the book.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rob
> --
> Robert W. Gehl (he/him/his)
> Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance for Social Justice, York
> University
> Fulbright Scholar, University of Calgary
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.robertwgehl.org__;!!Mih3wA!FQgJpw08E6p0JZ33ZqxuYxt23knxzDM3QoDWECxAaKMh7TylLuBQO8tDMh2uxBIfeh0n3LX3jcBXA2ji$
> | @rwg at aoir.social
>
> Sent from our OS on our Internet
>
> No part of any of my writing is generated by an LLM
>
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-- 
Lilly Irani
Associate Professor, Communication & Science Studies
Faculty Director, UC San Diego Labor Center <https://laborcenter.ucsd.edu/>
Co-Director, Just Transitions Initiative <https://justtransitions.ucsd.edu/>
Faculty, Design Lab
Affiliate Faculty, Computer Science
Member, Institute for Practical Ethics
http://quote.ucsd.edu/lirani/
http://justtransitions.ucsd.edu/

Books: Redacted <https://tallercalifornia.cargo.site/Libros> (Taller
California 2021) | Chasing Innovation
<https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175140/chasing-innovation>
(Princeton
University Press 2019)

I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded territory of
the Kumeyaay Nation that spans across and precedes the US-Mexico border.  I
further acknowledge the lands of the many other Indigenous Peoples of this
territory, and of those Indigenous lands where my work may take us in the
future. I give gratitude for their labor and stewardship since time
immemorial.

I wish to respect your need for rest and separation from work. Please reply
at a pace that is sustainable and respectful of you.