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The Hacker Ethic and the Effective Use of ICTs in Alternative Economic Cultures: the case of Ik’ ta K’op in Abasolo, Chiapas

ABSTRACT The capitalist agency of mainstream Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is inherently at odds with alternative economic cultures. This suggests that the problem is technology itself – that is, the capitalist values that underscore their design, use and development. This research studies the Hacker Ethic as an alternative culture and value-system underpinning a series of ICTs –and people– that could serve as a basis for an effective use of technologies within alternative economic cultures. To that end, the case of Ik’ ta K’op –a Maya-Tzeltal collective that offers telecommunication services– was analyzed, for they explicitly and implicitly resort to this Hacker Ethic as a way to ensure the effective use of ICTs. Results suggest that the Hacker Ethic has been instrumental to Ik’ ta K’op in five ways: 1. it has facilitated access to ICTs; 2. it has facilitated self-determination and governance; 3. it has fostered openness; 4. it has allowed for cooperative values to be replicated in the use of ICTs, and; 5. It has strengthened creativity and problem-solving skills. We can conclude that there is a necessity for an alternative technological ecosystem that recognizes, reflects and fosters our cultural diversity as a basic foundation for effective uses of ICTs.