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Date archives "April 2014"
Call for Articles – Open Innovation in Cities
in Cities
Towards a Charter for the Precariat
John Harris on Guy Standings’ Precariat Charter: “Standing’s contention is that the precariat will soon become “we”. It is increasing in size and range, and spanning no end of occupational categories, from the fluorescent-jacketed service workers who keep our cities running to ambitious graduates who take “jobs” in the digital world on the basis of… Continue reading
Steve Wright on (Uber’s) Algorithmic Monopolies and the distortions of the new sharing economy
to the extent that there is interest in democratic decision-making, algorithmic monopolies are something antitrust authorities should watch. Right now Uber is wringing a lot of inefficiency out of the taxi industry. But eventually it will have so much power that it will introduce problems of its own. Steve Wright‘s comments on an article about… Continue reading
The Gig (i.e. sharing) Economy is not helping workers
For one month, I became the “micro-entrepreneur” touted by companies like TaskRabbit, Postmates, and Airbnb. Instead of the labor revolution I had been promised, all I found was hard work, low pay, and a system that puts workers at a disadvantage. Excerpted from a must-read article by Sarah Kessler: “The prospects of finding a living… Continue reading
The Case for FairShares
We really like the FairShares Model “where the knowledge creation model of Wikipedia is combined with the governance model of the John Lewis Partnership and the values and principles of the Co-operative Group”, and so we’re cross-posting this article (licensed by the FairShares Association under a Creative Commons Attribution, Sharealike License) here: In this article, FairShares Association co-founder Rory… Continue reading
Video: the “I DON’T PAY” Movement (Den Plirono) is spreading across Europe
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Policies for Shareable Cities 2: Transportation
After last week’s introduction, we’re proud to present the first in-depth chapter of Shareable’s invaluable Policies for Sharing Cities Report. This week’s chapter deals with how to maximize shareable transportation (and minimize redundant consumption) in cities. Tune in next week, where we’ll expand the discussion to food and the sharing economy In the sharing economy,… Continue reading
Desktop Regulatory State, Chapter Four — Fictional Examples of Networked Economic Platforms
[This is the eighth installment in my serialization of my book-in-progress, tentatively titled Desktop Regulatory State] , and the second of two installments of Chapter Four. Since this is a draft manuscript, it contains placeholders for additional material. This chapter describes a large number of realworld examples or serious proposals, like the Las Indias Cooperative… Continue reading
Introducing the FairShares Model of Enterprise
The key issue is that while we have developed systems for recognising the contribution of financial capital, we do not have adequate arrangements for recognising contributions of intellectual, human, social and natural capital Excerpted from Rory Ridley-Duff: “The key issue is that while we have developed systems for recognising the contribution of financial capital, we… Continue reading
A review of Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Marvin Brown
Marvin Brown writes: “The key argument in Thomas Piketty’s book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, has gained much attention of late, as it should. Quite simply, we are headed for continued disparity between the very wealthy and the rest of us, unless we create international governing schemes that can control the growth and movement of… Continue reading
Workshop with Michel Bauwens in Bogota Colombia
El día martes 29 de abril de 2014 tendrá lugar el taller “Escenarios post-capitalistas para una transición hacia una economía política basada en p2p/bienes comunes”. en el salón 1001 – Torre 2 de la Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá. El taller está abierto al público en general y será conducido en inglés (sin traducción). El siguiente… Continue reading
Coining crypto-currencies for the common good
Excerpted from KozieJ: “There are already some systems that bind coin issuance to some common good. For example: * Namecoin — doubles as a distributed domain name system. You get NMC for participating in the network and making the domain name service available. You pay for registering domains in the network. * Solarcoin — bound… Continue reading
Empirical Findings from “The Nature of Order”
As it is about a decade since The Nature of Order was published, I think it is time to refresh what this monumental work is about. Original text here. Empirical Findings from The Nature of Order Christopher Alexander Architect, scientist, and writer Christopher Alexander is one of the most remarkable thinkers and makers of our time…. Continue reading
The priority after MoneyLab (2): redefining value within and beyond the money form
How can we arrive at common decisions on what is to be valued? Do we value personal bonds or do we value anonymity? Do we value community or do we value individuality? Is there a way to bridge these apparent opposites or dissolve their inherent contradictions, or will they forever be in conflict? What do… Continue reading
Desktop Regulatory State, Chapter Four — Introduction
[This is the seventh installment in my serialization of my book-in-progress, tentatively titled Desktop Regulatory State] , and the first of two installments of Chapter Four. Since this is a draft manuscript, it contains placeholders for additional material.] Introduction When it comes to networked economies, it seems to be “steam engine time.” Of course it… Continue reading