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The Obsession with Profit & the Dark Side of Technological Innovation

ByRichelle SteynSep 30, 20248 mins

The tech world is obsessed with profit and that obsession is showing symptoms of an unsettling pattern, the exploitation of human vulnerability disguised as technological innovation and progress. This article presents three compelling examples: the militarization of AI, the creeping influence of centralised finance on decentralised finance, and the rise of unemployment-tech. Together they illustrate […]

Are NFTs Dead, or is Digital Art on the Blockchain a Game-Changer for Art and Culture?

ByRichelle SteynSep 15, 202410 mins

Digital art on the blockchain—often referred to as NFT Art, CRYPTOART or just NFTs—represents a ground breaking shift in how we perceive, create, and exchange art. Despite early exuberance, the current NFT market has faced scrutiny, market corrections and cultural re-evaluation. While some proclaim that “NFTs are dead,” others argue that this is merely a […]

Ideas Too Dangerous to Share, Digital Censorship and Cultural Hegemony

ByRichelle SteynSep 13, 202411 mins

Antonio Gramsci developed the concept of cultural hegemony to describe how dominant classes maintain power, not solely through economic control, but by shaping culture and ideology. By framing the accepted norms, values, and beliefs, they secure consent from the public, even when these structures work against the public’s own interests. Gramsci’s insights remain deeply relevant, […]

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The Quiet Extractive Machine: How Soft-Power Art Non-Profits are Rewriting Africa’s Future in VR

ByRichelle SteynNov 21, 20256 mins
There is a new kind of extractive industry rising quietly across the African cultural landscape—nothing as obvious as mining, nothing as brutal as the colonial museum raid. Instead, it arrives with friendly logos, “innovation labs,” creative grants, workshops for emerging storytellers, and the promise of global visibility.

Slow-Profit DAOs and Cultural Infrastructure: A New Commons for Systemic Change

ByRichelle SteynMay 23, 202512 mins
At the heart of Art Stoke Commons is a quiet but radical belief: You cannot have sustainable systems change or social impact without a decentralised, slow-profit social economy. This isn’t ideology. It’s structural necessity.

Composting the Bypass: Entanglement, Grief, and the Pitfalls of Post-Anthropocentric Movements

ByRichelle SteynMay 15, 20255 mins
Are some post-anthropocentric movements — from mycelial networks to rhizomatic thinking, biomimicry to planetary intelligence — bypassing cultural healing by retreating into nature metaphors?
Art Stoke Commons Public Goods for collective impact and systems change using decentralised frameworks
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