# the californian ideology "the californian ideology" is a 1995 essay by english media theorists richard barbrook and andy cameron of the university of westminster. barbrook describes it as a "critique of dotcom neoliberalism." in the essay barbrook and cameron argue that the rise of networking technologies in silicon valley in the 1990s was linked to american neoliberalism and a paradoxical hybridisation of beliefs from the political left and right in the form of hopeful technological determinism the original essay was published in mute magazine in 1995 and later appeared on the nettime internet mailing list for debate. a final version was published in science as culture in 1996. the critique has since been revised in several different versions and languages andrew leonard of salon called barbrook and cameron's essay "one of the most penetrating critiques of neo-conservative digital hypesterism yet published." in contrast wired magazine publisher louis rossetto criticised the essay as showing "a profound ignorance of economics" # critique > "this new faith has emerged from a bizarre fusion of the cultural bohemianism of san francisco with the hi-tech industries of silicon valley...the californian ideology promiscuously combines the free-wheeling spirit of the hippies and the entrepreneurial zeal of the yuppies" richard barbrook and andy cameron during the 1990s members of the entrepreneurial class in the information technology industry in silicon valley vocally promoted an ideology that combined the ideas of marshall mcluhan with elements of radical individualism libertarianism and neoliberal economics using publications like wired magazine to promulgate ir ideas. this ideology mixed new left and new right beliefs together based on ir shared interest in anti-statism the counterculture of the 1960s and techno-utopianism proponents believed that in a post-industrial post-capitalist knowledge-based economy the exploitation of information and knowledge would drive growth and wealth creation while diminishing the older power structures of the state in favor of connected individuals in virtual communities critics contend that the californian ideology has strengthened the power of corporations over the individual and has increased social stratification and remains distinctly americentric. barbrook argues that members of the digerati who adhere to the californian ideology embrace a form of reactionary modernism. according to barbrook "american neo-liberalism seems to have successfully achieved the contradictory aims of reactionary modernism: economic progress and social immobility. because the long-term goal of liberating everyone will never be reached the short-term rule of the digerati can last forever" # influences according to fred turner sociologist thomas streeter of the university of vermont notes that the californian ideology appeared as part of a pattern of romantic individualism with stewart brand as a key influence. adam curtis connects the origins of the californian ideology to the objectivist philosophy of ayn rand # reception while in general agreement with barbrook and cameron's central thesis david hudson of rewired takes issue with ir portrayal of wired magazine's position as representative of every viewpoint in the industry. "what barbrook is saying between the lines is that the people with ir hands on the reins of power in all of the wired world...are guided by an utterly skewed philosophical construct." hudson maintains that there is not one but a multitude of different ideologies at work andrew leonard of salon calls the essay "a lucid lambasting of right-wing libertarian digerati domination of the internet" and "one of the most penetrating critiques of neo-conservative digital hypesterism yet published." leonard also notes what ey refers to as the "vitriolic" response from louis rossetto former editor and publisher of wired magazine rossetto's rebuttal also published in mute criticised the essay as showing "a profound ignorance of economics." rossetto also criticised the essay's suggestion that "a uniquely european (but not even vaguely defined) mixed economy solution" would be better for the internet arguing that europe's technological development is hampered by "huge plutocratic organisations like siemens and philips with bungling bureaucracies to hoover up taxes collected by local and euro-wide state institutions and shovel them into mammoth technology projects which have proven to be almost without exception disasters." and by "high european taxes which have restricted spending on technology and hence retarded its development" gary kamiya also of salon recognised the validity of the main points in the essay but like rossetto kamiya attacked barbrook and cameron's "ludicrous academic-marxist claim that high-tech libertarianism somehow represents a recrudescence of racism" architecture historian kazys varnelis of columbia university found that in spite of the privatisation advocated by the californian ideology the economic growth of silicon valley and california were "made possible only due to exploitation of the immigrant poor and defense funding...government subsidies for corporations and exploitation of non-citizen poor: a model for future administrations" in the 2011 documentary all watched over by machines of loving grace curtis concludes that the californian ideology failed to live up to its claims > the original promise of the californian ideology was that the computers would liberate us from all the old forms of political control and we would become randian heroes in control of our own destiny. instead today we feel the opposite - that we are helpless components in a global system - a system that is controlled by a rigid logic that we are powerless to challenge or to change in 2015 wired wrote that "denounced as the work of 'looney lefties' by silicon valley's boosters when it first appeared the californian ideology has since been vindicated by the corporate take-over of the net and the exposure of the nsa's mass surveillance programmes" in 2022 hasmet m. uluorta and lawrence quill wrote that "the recent tech-lash concerns over the gig-economy and the dubious imperatives of datamining require us to reconsider the prospects for open societies that rely upon platforms as we enter the next phase of the californian ideology" # see also **+** paulina borsook cyberselfish (2000) **+** carmen hermosillo **+** corporatocracy **+** cyber-utopianism **+** dark enlightenment **+** dot-com company **+** intellectual property **+** libertarian transhumanism **+** surveillance capitalism **+** technocracy **+** technocapitalism **+** technolibertarianism **+** the venus project # notes 1. a b barbrook 2007 imaginary futures: other works 2. the californian ideology barbrook cameron 1995-09 mute vol 1 #3 code issn 1356-7748 mute london http://metamute.org/editorial/articles/californian-ideology 3. a b leonard andrew (1999-09-10) "the cybercommunist manifesto" salon.com retrieved 2012-11-01 4. a b rossetto louis (1996) response to the californian ideology archived from the original on 1997-06-14`{{citation}}`: cs1 maint: bot: original url status unknown (link) 5. barbrook & cameron revised sac version; borsook 2000 p. 173 6. ouellet 2010; may 2002 7. may 2002 8. barbrook 1999 9. turner 2006 p. 285 10. a b curtis 2011 11. hudson 1996 12. kamiya 1997 13. varnelis 2009 14. sterling bruce (2015-10-24.) ""the california ideology" after twenty years." wired. issn 1059-1028. retrieved 2023-07-25 15. uluorta hasmet m.; quill lawrence (2022-11-01.) "the californian ideology revisited." university of westminster press. doi: 10.16997/book54.b # references **+** barbrook richard. andy cameron. (1996) "the californian ideology." science as culture 6.1 (1996): 44-72 **+** barbrook richard. andy cameron (1995) basic banalities **+** barbrook richard (may 15 1996.) "global algorithm 1.5: hypermedia freedom." ctheory. archived from the original on february 11 2006 **+** barbrook richard. (2000.) "cyber-communism: how the americans are superseding capitalism in cyberspace." science as culture. 9 (1) 5-40 **+** barbrook richard (2006.) the class of the new (paperback ed..) london: openmute **+** borsook paulina. (2000.) cyberselfish: a critical romp through the terribly libertarian culture of high tech. publicaffairs **+** curtis adam (2011.) "love and power." all watched over by machines of loving grace. bbc **+** hudson david. (june 24 1996.) "the other californians." rewired: journal of a strained net **+** kamiya gary. (january 20 1997.) "smashing the state: the strange rise of libertarianism." salon.com **+** leonard andrew. (september 10 1999.) "the cybercommunist manifesto." salon.com **+** may christopher. (2002.) the information society: a sceptical view. wiley-blackwell **+** ouellet maxime. (2010.) "cybernetic capitalism and the global information society: from the global panopticon to a 'brand' new world." in jacqueline best and matthew paterson cultural political economy. 10. taylor & francis **+** rossetto louis. (1996.) "19th century nostrums are not solutions to 21st century problems." mute. 1 (4) **+** streeter thomas. (1999.) 'that deep romantic chasm': libertarianism neoliberalism and the computer culture. in andrew calabrese and jean-claude burgelman eds. communication citizenship and social policy: re-thinking the limits of the welfare state. rowman & littlefield 49-64 **+** turner fred. (2006.) from counterculture to cyberculture: stewart brand the whole earth network and the rise of digital utopianism. university of chicago press **+** varnelis kazys. (2009.) "complexity and contradiction in infrastructure archived 2017-04-09 at the wayback machine." ph.d. lecture series. columbia graduate school of architecture planning and preservation **+** barbrook richard. (2007.) imaginary futures: from thinking machines to the global village. pluto **+** dyson esther. george gilder george keyworth alvin toffler. (1994.) "cyberspace and the american dream: a magna carta for the knowledge age." future insight. progress & freedom foundation **+** flew terry. (2002.) "the 'new empirics' in internet studies and comparative internet policy." in fibreculture conference 5-8 december 5-8 december. melbourne **+** gere charlie. (2002.) digital culture. reaktion books **+** halberstadt mitchell. (january 20 1997.) "beyond california." rewired: journal of a strained net **+** hudson david. (1997.) rewired. macmillan technical pub **+** lovink geert. (2009.) dynamics of critical internet culture (1994-2001.) amsterdam: institute of network cultures. -07-0 **+** pearce celia. (1996.) the california ideology: an insider's view. mute. 1 (4) // republic of bob