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<p align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4" color="#990000"><b>SOME
THOUGHTS ON THE IDEA OF "HACKER CULTURE"<br>
</b></font><br>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4" color="#990000"><b>Patrice
Riemens<br>
<br>
</b></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3" color="#000000"><i>"The
Theory of 'Free Software' as the seed of a post-capitalist society only
makes sense where it is understood as the exposure of those very contradictions
of the development of productive forces which are relevant to the process
of emancipation. It does not, however, make sense as a discovery of a
format for their deployment out of which would automatically spring forth
a better society. And it does not make sense either as the first stage
of a process that one ought to follow as if it were a blueprint."
("Eight Theses on Liberation," <a href="http://www.oekonux.de/liste/archive/msg04304.html" target="_blank">Oekonux</a>
mailing list)</i></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">As
the new information and communication technologies (ICT) entered our lives
and became increasingly important in our daily activities, so did all
kinds of knowledge, working habits and ways of thinking that were previously
the exclusive domain of "geeks" and computer experts. Even though
the vast majority of ICT users are passive consumers, a modicum of technological
know-how is more and more prevalent among non-professionals, and these
days, artists, intellectuals, and political activists have become fairly
visible as informed and even innovative actors in what has become known
as the public domain in cyberspace.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">"Hackers,"
also often, but inexactly referred to as "computer pirates"
or other derogatory term, constitute without doubt the first social movement
that was intrinsic to the electronic technology that spawned our networked
society. Hackers, both through their savyness and their actions, have
hit the imagination and have been in the news right from the onset of
the "information age," being either hyped up as bearers of an
independent and autonomous technological mastery, or demonized as potential
"cyber-terrorists" in the process. More recently they have been
hailed in certain "alternative" intellectual and cultural circles
as a countervailing power of sorts against the increasingly oppressive
onslaught of both monopolistic ICT corporations and regulation-obsessed
governments and their experts. Transformed into role-models as effective
resistance fighters against "the system," their garb has been
assumed with various degrees of (de)merit by a plethora of cultural and
political activists associated, closely or loosely, with the "counter-globalization
movement."</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Yet,
whereas hackers (if we take a broad definition of the term) have been
pioneering the opening up of electronic channels of communication in the
South, in the North, they initially were held in suspicion by those same
circles. Political militants there hesitated for a long time before embarking
into computers and the new media, which they tended to view as "capitalist"
and hence "politically incorrect." By the mid-nineties, however,
"on-line activism" made rapid progress worldwide as more and
more groups adopted the new technologies as tools of action and information
exchange. The dwindling costs of equipment and communication, the (relative)
ease of use, the reliability and security, and the many options that were
offered by ICT were a boon to activists of all possible denominations.
All this was also a very bad surprise to the people at the helm of corporate
and political power, as they saw a swift, substantial, and many-pronged
breakdown of their stranglehold on communication and information taking
place. For some time, it looked like as if a level playing field between
hitherto dominators and dominated had come within sight.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">The
Net, as a result, became not only one of the principal carriers of political
activism, but also one of its major locus and issue. Once they had overcome
their initial shock and surprise, the powers that be were bound to react
forcefully. And they did, beefing up the "protection" of so-called
intellectual property, erecting ever higher walls around expert knowledge
and techniques, and unlashing all-round measures of control and surveillance
on electronic communications. But resistance against this (re)subjugation
of the networks also got organized. Almost by necessity, more and more
activists became conversant with the new technologies, which in the given
circumstances had to be a hands-on learning process. This process saw
activists turning "techies" and "geeks" turning activists
and has resulted in activist circles (political, but also intellectual,
cultural, and artistic) becoming markedly, sometimes completely, ITC-driven.
However, as we will see, this does not ipso facto make them hackers.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">But
it was equally within the domain of ICT itself that the exponential expansion
of both range and carrying capacity of the Internet, as well of that of
the related technologies, and all this within an increasingly aggressive
commercial environment made experts think again about the consequences
of these developments and even reconsider their methods, opinion, and
for quite a few of them, their position within the hitherto obtaining
order of things. Rejecting the new enclosures that are being imposed on
the dissemination of knowledge and techniques by commercial and/or state
interests, they are exploring new avenues of developing, spreading, and
also rewarding knowledge-building that are not exploitative and monopolistic
or even solely profit-oriented. Hence the flight taken by various software
programs, utilities and application modalities that have become known
under the generic name of Linux, Free Software, Open Source, and General
Public License (for definitions, see www.gnu.org).</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">De
prime abord, these developments suggest that given these technological
settings and socio-economic and political circumstances, convergence was
bound to take place between the actors involved, meaning a merger between
hackers and (political, cultural etc) activists since they were spreading
the same message, and operated in parallel ways under similar threats.
Unfortunately, this interpretation is as unwarranted in its optimism as
it is precipitate in its formulation. Following a line of reasoning aptly
called by the Dutch "the wish is the mother of the idea," such
interpretation is based on the assumed relation, not to say equivalence,
between individuals and groups, and between pursuits, motives, and methods
whose affinities and linkages, even when viewed under the designation
of "new social movements," are far from evident. In fact the
alleged congruence is inherently unstable since it is contingent, and
the supposedly common positions between those two groups are often absent
altogether, and sometimes even contradictory. Whereas it would be excessive
to portray hackers and activists in terms of "never shall the twins
met," the idea, asserted by many a political activist and certain
"public intellectuals," to the effect that their coalescence
is both natural and inevitable is equally outlandish. Not only does it
run roughshod of the sensibilities of "authentic" hackers -
and it does so unfortuitously - it also misrepresents reality hence giving
rise to erroneous hypothesizes and unwarranted expectations.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">"Hacker
culture," a concept one often encounters these days among networked
activists, purports to represent this playful confluence between tech
wizardry and the moral high ground. Hence, "Open Source" is
fast becoming an omnibus framework and a near-universal tool-kit to tackle
very diverse social issues, such as artistic production, law, epistemology,
education, and a few others, which are but remotely - if at all - related
to the field of software research and development, and the social environments
from which it originates. There is little wrong in itself to this - imitation
being the best of compliments - but for the fact that it tends to obscure
a sticky problem. Between hackers and activists often looms a wide gap
in approach and attitude that is just too critical to be easily papered
away. And it is precisely this fundamental difference that is usually
being hushed up by the evangelists of what I call the "hackers-activists
bhai-bhai" gospel - phrased after the celebrated slogan mouthed by
Chinese and Indian Ministers in 1953: "Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai"
("India and China are Brothers") … nine years later, both countries
were at war. A good, if a contrario, example of a really occurring non-equivalence
between political activists applying ICT and hackers is provided by that
spurious hybrid known as "hacktivism." "Hacktivism"
was originally coined by the Boston-based hackers "Cult of the Dead
Cow" (www.cultdeadcow.com), whose tag-line read "We put the
hack in activism." It was all about using ICT skills to thwart attacks
on liberties by powerful institutions. The group later had to defend itself
of guilt by association with respect to recent manifestations of "hacktivism"
as Distributed Denial of Services (DoDS) attacks.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Behind
the so-called "Hacker Ethic" is the usual, daily activity of
hackers. To put it very simply, without going deeper into its precise
content, the hacker ethic runs strikingly parallel to the formula "l'art
pour l'art." What matters here, is the realization that, unlike activists,
hackers are focused on the pursuit of knowledge and the exercise of curiosity
for its own sake. Therefore, the obligations that derive from the hacker
ethic are perceived by genuine hackers as sovereign and not instrumental,
and always prevail above other aims or interests, whatever these may be
- and if there are any at all. This consequently makes the hackers movement
to be wary of any particular blueprint of society, however alternative,
and even adverse to embrace particular antagonism (some hackers, and not
minor ones, are for instance loath to demonize the Microsoft Corporation).
Hence the spread of political and philosophical opinions harbored by individual
hackers, without any loss of their feeling of identity and belonging to
the "movement" at large or even their particular group, is truly
astonishing, and very unlikely to obtain within any other "new social
movement." In fact, the militant defense of individual liberties
and a penchant for rather unegalitarian economic convictions one encounters
in tandem among a good many hackers has provided for bafflement among
networked political (i.e. left-leaning) activists coming to be better
acquainted with their "natural allies." Yet it is neither fortuitous
nor aberrant that the Californian transmutation of libertarianism enjoys
such widespread support among hackers.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">The
existence of such "ideological" positions has its reflection
in the daily and usual activities of hackers, which are generally characterized
by an absence of preconceived ideas and positions. Despite the avowed
"end of the great narratives," this is not the case with political
activists, since they do have objectives and aims that precede their actions.
Hackers, on the other hand, are usually happy with the "mere,"
but unrestricted, pursuit of knowledge, which reduces their "political
program," if that can be so called, to the freedom of learning and
enquiry, and thus would seem to fall very much short of demands for justice,
equality, emancipation, empowerment, etc that are formulated by political
militants. Yet they seem to be content with it, and there are good arguments
to think that such a program, as limited as it may sound, is essential,
not subsequent, to the achievement of the better society we all aspire
too.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">This
being said, the points of convergence between the activities of hackers
and those of (political) activists are many, and they increase by the
day. It is becoming more and more evident that both groups face the same
threats, and the same adversaries. As expert technological knowledge -
especially of ITC - that sits outside the formally structured (and shielded)
domains of corporate or political power gets evermore vilified in the
shape of "(cyber)-terrorist" fantasies, paranoia, and finally,
repression, while at the same time this very expertise is increasingly
being mastered and put to use by the enemies of the neo-liberal "One
Idea System," stronger, if circumstantial, links are being welded
between hackers and activists. And these linkages are likely to deepen
and endure in the same measure as the hostility and risks both groups
are likely to encounter augment, it is worthwhile to analyze what unites
as well as what separates them.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">"Hacktivist"
activities (and I am mostly referring here to the handywork of three groups,
Electronic Disturbance Theater, Electrohippies and RTMark), well advertised
by their authors, but also gleefully reported in the mainstream media,
are illustrative of the gap that parts activists from hackers. The former
usually view "hacktivism," which exploits the innumerable glitches
and weaknesses of ICT systems to destabilize the electronic communication
supports of "enemy organs" (government agencies, big corporations,
international financial institutions, "fascist" groups, etc.),
as a spectacular form of resistance and sabotage. The latter (generally)
take a much dimmer view, considering these activities as ineffective and
futile, and moreover, in most cases, technically inept as well. Such activities
(or antics) endanger the integrity of the network which hackers consider
to be theirs also. "Denial of Service" attacks, irrespective
of aims and targets, amount in their eyes to attacks on the freedom of
expression, which they seem to respect in a much more principled manner
than most political activists.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">The
truth is, that by abetting "hacktivism," activists implicitly
admit that the net has become a mere corporate carrier, to which they
have only a subordinate, almost clandestine, access, as opposed to be
stakeholders in, and thus sharing responsibility for it. This constitutes
their fundamental divergence with hackers, and it is not easily remediable.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Political
activists are also, almost by definition, inclined to seek maximum media
exposure for their ideas and actions. Their activities, therefore, tend
to be public in all the acceptations of the term. The range of issues
that are covered by their ideals, and the variety of means and methods
to achieve the same make they need some form of organization, which is
often complex, because of and not despite the fact they strive for distribution
and horizontality. The result is that even in the most alternative of
circles, an apparatus and leaders appear, whose very informality obscures
rather than prevent hierarchies from arising. This does not suit well
the practice and the ethics of hackers, which Pekka Himanen has described
as "monastic" (www.hackersethic.org). The habitus may be monastic,
the behavior of hackers may however, perhaps be more suitably paralleled
with the "Slashta," the Polish gentry. There too, we see a desire
between equals, that is equals recognized as such beforehand, and hence
also elitist. Political activists on the other hand are much more opportunistic
when it comes to alliances and associations they engage in.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">So
does the idea of "hacker culture" represent an effective way
to describe and define certain current modes of political activism, especially
when those do have a large ICT component? In many instances where the
term is being used, to the point of having become one of the "buzz-word
du jour," I do not believe so. In many cases, it is the romantic
appeal of what is perceived as hacker power and prowess that leads to
a superficial adoption of the "hacker attitude" moniker by the
cultural and political activists, but not of its underlying methods and
values. That does not mean that there exists an absolute incompatibility
between those two groups, and there are fortunately cases suggesting the
existence of a continuum - such as the Indymedia tech community's pairing
of expertise to a "serve the people" type of operation (tech.indymedia.org,
www.anarchogeek.com). But it should caution against a facile (and trendy)
assumption of an equivalence, and maybe against the confusion-inducing
use of the term "hacker culture" itself.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br>
<i><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">This article first
appeared in French in <a href="http://www.samizdat.net/multitudes" target="_blank">Multitudes</a>,
Vol 2, No 8, March-April 2002, and in (an expanded) English translation
in <a href="http://cryptome.org/hacker-idea.htm" target="_blank">Cryptome</a>
on June 3, 2002.<br>
</font></i></font><br>
</p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><a href="http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors3/riemensbio.html" target="_self"><font size="3">about
Patrice Riemens >></font></a></font></b></p>
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