Prefiguring the Design of Freedom: An Informational Theory Approach to Socio-Political Cybernetics; Analysing the Messages in 2021 Colombian Uprisings

Abstract

Origin. The research analysed the messages communicated during the uprisings in a city in Colombia during 2021. The objective of the study was to determine the organisational idea of the country pre gured by the protestors during the marches.Method. The research uses participatory observation in an ethnographic method for data collection; for data analysis and reduction, it uses grounded theory; and for data analysis, it uses cybernetic communication modelling and the viable systems model. During the six marches, the study registered and analysed the messages contained in speeches, alternative media outlets, chants, signs, gra ti, and theatrical plays.Findings. It identi es the people´s demand for autonomy in the country, the emergence of new political identities, the use of telecommunications as a means for changing the state´s institutions, the use of art and culture in the country's demonstrations, and the demand for the respect of human rights. The study analysed the ndings using the socio-political cybernetics framework proposed by Stafford Beer.Originality. The article presents a novel approach to the study of the Colombian uprisings of 2021. The paper applies the socio-political cybernetic approach, which is uncommon in studies in cybernetics. It also proposes an extension to the cybernetic theory of communications. Introduction: The Colombian Uprisings and InformationThis article offers a framework to understand information elicited during political demonstrations and interpret it towards a model of how society should be. Stafford Beer thought cybernetics had the power to change the world and that political ideas could be embedded in a cybernetic model that supports that change (Medina 2006). Umpleby (2012) coincides with this view, and in a tutorial conference about the history and development of cybernetics, he concluded that British cybernetics displayed a strong sense of empathy towards the poor and disadvantaged. Even though there is currently a resurgence in management cybernetics, there are not many academic publications that explore the intersection of management cybernetics and political activism (Osejo-Bucheli 2023c), except for a few explorations speci cally in anarchism and cybernetics (Swann 2020, Osejo-Bucheli 2023a). Beer, in his book Designing Freedom (originally published in 1974), a book written after the experience of Beer in Chile, re ects on the dynamic nature of society and the way cybernetic thinking can help to improve it before offering a general outline for a government of "the people."An important part of a cybernetic government is how to listen to the people. For this, he proposes a set of technological devices that would eventually manage that information. Although almost half a century has gone by and a steep technological development separates us from Beer´s time, listening to the will of the people is still a challenging task, as will be apparent in the following pages.This article uses as a case study the Colombian uprisings of 2019-2021, where a wave of protests led by pe...