The P2P Foundation was conceived to help people, organizations and governments transition towards commons-based approaches to society through co-creating an open knowledge commons and a resilient, sustainable human network.
Between the paradigms of the network and the organization, the P2P Foundation exists as an ‘organized network’ which can facilitate the creation of networks, yet without directing them. Our primary aim is to be an incubator and catalyst for the emerging ecosystem, focusing on the ‘missing pieces’, and the interconnectedness that can lead to a wider movement.
P2P, in practice, is often invisible to those involved, for a variety of cultural reasons. We want to reveal its presence in discrete movements in order to unite them in their common ethos. To do this, a common initiative is required which:
- gathers information
- connects and mutually informs people
- strives for integrative insights contributed by many sub-fields
- organizes events for reflection and action
- educates people about critical and creative tools for “world-making”
We produce two blogs and several wikis, and organize activities so that people can connect and strengthen each other, and discuss topics of common interest. We are also creating alliances with other organizations to broaden our scope and abilities, and forging relationships with key people and public officers to extend our policy recommendations to those in the position to effect change within governments.
Strategic Priorities
Our aim is to be a pluralist network, actively documenting, researching, and promoting peer to peer alternatives. Our political aims may be summarized under the following maxims:
- Ending biosphere destruction by abandoning dangerous conceptions of pseudo-abundance in the natural world (based on the assumption that natural resources are infinite)
- Promoting free cultural exchange by abandoning innovation-inhibiting conceptions of pseudo-scarcity in the cultural world (based on the assumption that the free flow of culture must be restricted through excessive copyrights, etc.)
The following broad “streams” have been identified in order to best channel our efforts and resources:
- Stream 1: P2P Cultures and Politics. Reclaiming political voice and power via bottom-up Assemblies of the Commons and Chamber of the Commons putting forward social charters, in conjunction with “top-down” progressive coalitions through existing political parties. These coalitions around the commons, or ‘the politics and policies of the commons’, will further our efforts to implement Commons Transition Plans.
- Stream 2: Open Coops & Sustainable Livelihoods. Co-creating and catalyzing the alternative eco-system for open and cooperative peer production, to enable reconstruction of economic and social power around the commons. This includes work on our Commons-Based Reciprocity License (or Copyfair License), Open Cooperativism and Phyles, to create ethical entrepreneurial coalitions that co-produce commons.
- Stream 3: Building the Open Source Circular Economy. Creating synergies between cooperative peer production and sustainability, i.e. showing how a transition to the new modes of production, governance and ownership can solve the ecological and climate crises.
Click here for a more in-depth look at our 2017-18 priorities.
Image by Daniel Lombraña González from an event at MediaLab-Prado.