Domination and networks: A response to Nathaniel Tkacz

Commons-based peer production projects such as free software communities or Wikipedia represent a really existing example of a fairer way of allocating resources and resolving conflicts. They have accordingly generated high interest in issues of ‘governance’. Nathaniel Tkacz argues that Actor-Network-Theory’s Foucault-inspired reading of power as a distributed phenomenon represents an appropriate way to map and contest power asymmetries both in peer projects and in wider society (the ‘status quo’). In contrast to Tkacz, I argue that a networked conception of power fails to account for how domination is reproduced over time or for people’s inner sense of justice. I suggest some ways in which organisation studies can contribute to a better understanding of power in anti-authoritarian groups, and conclude by outlining in what way peer production governance can be said to constitute a credible alternative.