We conclude our treatment of: A Tale of Two Conferences: Globalization, the Crisis of Neoliberalism and Question of the Commons. By George Caffentzis George Caffentzis’ essay is a history of the political usage of the concept of the Commons which distinguishes reformist and radical usage. For extensive excerpts, see our wiki entry on: Antagonistic Usage… Continue reading
Date archives "March 2009"
Virtual and physical p2p spaces as a policy against the meltdown
What do you do when you find yourself with a lot more time and a lot less money on your hands than you’re used to? That may be the most important question of 2009. Dougald Hine has been thinking about how social media can be a tool for coping with the effects of the current… Continue reading
A revolution in responsiveness
Want better clothes? Don’t ask the Gap. Want better software? Don’t ask Microsoft. Want better cars? Don’t ask Detroit. Want better music? Don’t ask record labels. Want better healthcare? Don’t ask big pharma. Want to hold on to your money? Don’t ask a banker. Umair Haque assesses the Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act… Continue reading
Knowledge is a Commons
Why are contemporary individuals so much more ‘productive’ than those of say 200 years ago? Indeed, as Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly write: “Recent estimates suggest that national output per capita has increased more than twenty fold since 1800. Output per hour worked has increased an estimated fifteenfold since 1870 alone.” The reason is not… Continue reading
George Caffentzis’ tale of two Commons (4): the Rise of the Neo-Hardinian Scholars
In our earlier treatment of the essay on the two schools of thought and practice regarding the Commons, George Caffentzis argues that the current crisis of value induced by the unsustainable requirements of the neoliberal vision on absolute corporate IP Rights, necessarily demanded a new approach, which would render the Commons compatible with the current… Continue reading
An update on the Geospatial Web
The March issue of the Open Source Business Resource is dedicated to the Geospatial Web. The following selection will give you an idea of its contents: * Paul Ramsey, Senior Consultant with OpenGeo provides us with an overview of the state of open source geospatial technologies within the geospatial industry. Paul explores the strengths and… Continue reading
An Open Letter to Obama on the Cap and Dividend
Peter Barnes wrote an appeal to President Obama, to start a cap and dividend citizens trust as a crucial step in the fight against global warming and pollution. It appeared in Tikkun magazine and was republished in On The Commons as well. See the 90-second flash animation as well as the endorsement by Newsweek here…. Continue reading
George Caffentzis’ tale of two Commons (3): Is the Commons a anticapitalist concept?
We continue our treatment of: George Caffentzis: A Tale of Two Conferences: Globalization, the Crisis of Neoliberalism and Question of the Commons. Earlier, we reviewed his description of the revival of the Commons, and how it is rooted in a long-standing struggle to destroy forms of common property. Today, the author asks: is the idea… Continue reading
Do we need closed systems for lean economies?
This one is counter-intuitive to me, i.e. Irish localization advocates are proposing a shift to closed systems of production. Reactions from ‘open advocates’ would be very welcome. David Fleming: “Lean thinking, adapted to this context, is about establishing and sustaining a closed system which provides food, water, energy and materials from local resources and, as… Continue reading
A strategy to advance Open Manufacturing
Nathan Cravens continues his efforts to advance progress on Open Manufacturing, Via a new wiki project called Fab Focus at http://www.appropedia.org/Fab_Focus Nathan Cravens: “Objective: Make fabrication facilities and resources accessible. The strategy begins with the outline for practice called the MiniCollaboration Platform, a working method for communicating collaberatively to the OM list and a hub… Continue reading
A proposal for Agriculture Supported Communities
Aaron French explains: “What we are all looking for with this stimulus plan, after all, is a plan that will quickly create jobs all across the country while at the same time protecting and improving the health of the people involved and the environment in which they live. The typical Shovel-Ready project that is being… Continue reading
The trial of The Pirate Bay in Sweden
The EDRi-gram newsletter of February 25 has a good summary of the first days of the Pirate Bay trial. “The big, long and extremely mediatized trial filed on 31 January 2008 by Swedish prosecutors against the four Pirate Bay founders for “promoting other people’s infringements of copyright laws” started at Stockholm’s District Court, on 16… Continue reading
George Caffentzis’ tale of two Commons (2): The Commons and Primitive Accumulation
Second part of our treatment of an important essay by George Caffentzis. Today, we cover the issue: What do commons and enclosures have to do with primitive accumulation? George Caffentzis: “Marx’s discussion of the “secret of primitive accumulation” (Chapter 24 of Capital I) was integrated with the commons/enclosures discourse with the result that the antiglobalization… Continue reading
A report on catch share fishing
From a report on equal share fisheries by Stephen Leahy: “It is widely known that in the majority of fisheries there are too many boats vying with each other to catch fewer and fewer fish. Fish quotas just mean that hundreds of boats fish intensively and indiscriminately to get as many fish as possible before… Continue reading
A call for open and participatory design
Via Jordan Kraemer at Smart Mobs: “Eric Paulos (professor of HCI and Ubiquitous Computing at Carnegie Mellon), lays out a vision for technology design that is increasingly participatory and relevant to contemporary social concerns, in his Manifesto of Open Disruption and Participation. Paulos highlights the computing design shift from professionals concerned with usability, to creative… Continue reading
George Caffentzis’ tale of two Commons (1): history and revival
In the next few days we will present an important essay by George Caffentzis which though written 2004 is still important and very informative. It’s a review of the antagonistic usages of the concept of the Commons and why it matters for political struggle. The author cites Brecht, who said: “it might be necessary to… Continue reading