Case Studies in Open X

Over the weekend I read Kevin Young’s book Abolishing Fossil Fuels: Lessons from Movements That Won. The first couple of chapters are an opinionated look at the current state of fossil fuel politics in the United States; the next few dive deep into four grassroots victories in US history (the abolition of slavery, unionization, civil rights, and clean air).

Young’s contention is that most popular and scholarly accounts of those victories misrepresent them. In all four cases, the people striving for change did not have the majority on their side until well after they won, and did not achieve their aims through the ballot box. Instead, they succeeded by bringing economic pressure to bear. (Young quotes one abolitionist as writing, “The quickest way to a white man’s conscience is through his pocketbook.”) The lesson Young draws from this is that present-day attempts to elect environmentally-minded politicians are unlikely to make a difference. Instead, decarbonization advocates’ successes have come from targeting banks and businesses in ways that make fossil fuels economically risky.

I don’t know enough of the history to judge Young’s arguments, and I suspect 99% of readers won’t either. (Union organizers of the 1930s are hardly household names.) His version of history rings true, though, and leaves me wishing for a book like this one about the successes and failures of the open source, open science, and open data movements. I don’t want polemics, advocacy, or how-to guides: I’ve read (and written) enough of those. What I want, and what I think our movements are ready for, is a set of critical, historically-informed case studies that analyze how and why specific initiatives won or lost. If anyone is working on something like this, please let me know how I can help and thank you in advance