Source Date – Saturday, 31. January 2015 – Location – PIP – BINK36, Binckhorstlaan 36, Den Haag Contact – Ying Que, Casco During this workshop, we would like to review different commoning practices in terms of organisation here in the Netherlands. But we would also like to think about strategies to politicise these practices, so… Continue reading
Date archives "January 2015"
Why a Public Data Infrastructure Should Be Developed by Not-for-Profits
We’re at a transition moment in history. Many core human activities are changing profoundly: the way we seek information; the way we connect to people; the way we decide where we want to go, and who we want to be with. The way we make such choices is becoming more and more dominated by a… Continue reading
Details about the role of cooperatives and the social economy in the Rojava region
Excerpted from an interview of Özgür Amed, conducted by Dylan Murphy: (the second question below deals with the governance model) “* What economic alternatives are being proposed in Rojava? “Özgür Amed: The economic pillar has been an essential part of the Rojava revolution! It defends an autonomous economic model and is working to put it… Continue reading
Hackers can’t solve Surveillance
This essay by Dmytri Kleiner explores how the ideologies of hacker culture limits its capacity to affect social change. Source – http://www.dmytri.info/hackers-cant-solve-surveillance/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors without Borders, is an organization that saves lives in war-torn and underdeveloped regions, providing health care and training in over 70 different countries. MSF saves… Continue reading
Ten Steps to Running an Offers and Needs Market
by Donnie Maclurcan at the PostGrowth.org In 2010, my 250cc motor scooter broke down on the road leading out of the small town in which I was living. I spent a frustrating half hour trying to get the scooter to restart. As there wasn’t a local auto repair shop, I ended up having the vehicle… Continue reading
P2P Agri-food Projectfest (4): the Sharing Garden in Monroe, Oregon
Via Kelly McCartney in Shareable: “In Monroe, Oregon, the Sharing Garden started and managed by Chris Burns and Llyn Peabody is the gift that keeps on giving. Over the past few years, the garden’s bounty has tripled thanks to the support and hard work of “Sharegivers” (aka volunteers) who donate various materials and actual labor… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Paul Gilding on How the Resource Crisis Will Stop Economic Growth
Watch the video here at:
It’s time to consider bioregional self-sufficiency
Excerpted from James Quilligan in the ever excellent Kosmos journal: “For more than two centuries, laissez-faire economics has promoted the idea that free trade leads to democracy and prosperity. This concept may have had some significance in earlier years when the world was less integrated. But in an age of global connectivity and global warming,… Continue reading
An appeal to launch ‘communiversities’, commons-unversity partnerships
Pat Conaty: “What we need to aim for is not only public-social partnerships but also commons-university partnerships moving to concepts of communiversity. During the late 1970s and up to 1985 before Reagonomics secured a strangle hold on thinking, there were something akin to ‘communiversity partnerships’ then co-developing the paradigm shifting ideas of Ivan Illich and… Continue reading
Hilary Wainwright on successfully democratizing public services
“This booklet is about how public service workers, with their fellow community members, are not only defending public services but also struggling to make them democratic and responsive to people’s needs and desires. It is also about how these alliances are working at different levels – local, national and international.” The following is a review… Continue reading
Video: Dave Montgomery on Soil Degradation and the Erosion of Civilizations
This is a very good and must-watch video lecture on soil degradation, based on a book by David Montgomery. Some details about the book: “Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it’s everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however,… Continue reading
P2P Agri-food Projectfest (3): Mapping Access To Land for Community-Connected Farming
The European working group on Access to land for Community Connected Farming has conducted an initial mapping of experiences accross Europe: “We have looked both at regional movements and at specific farms who are conducting locally-oriented sustainable agriculture, involving the community in different ways (land ownership, farm management, marketing, on-farm social and cultural activities, etc.).”… Continue reading
Disagreeing with Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz: the rise of land values is the chief culprit of inequality
Excerpted from an interview conducted by LYNN STUART PARRAMORE: “* LP: What’s new in your recent work on the distribution of income and wealth among individuals? There are several things. There’s some debate about this, but I think most readers of Thomas Piketty’s book (Capital in the Twenty-First Century) get the impression that the accumulation… Continue reading
Self-government in Rojava: interview with Janet Biehl
Excerpted from an interview with Janel Biehl interviewed by Cesur Milusoy upon the return from a study trip in the Rojava region: “* You went to Rojava to see whether the self-government functions along libertarian principles. What did you find? To what extent are the principles of Murray Bookchin present? Rojava’s system is similar to… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Trebor Scholz on Digital Labor
Stanislas Jourdan writes: Good talk on the exploitative effect of the digital labor Watch the video here:
Social mobilization vs. the power of disruption
Interesting debates on what makes social movements successful: their capacity to mobilize resources vs. the power to disrupt. Excerpted from Mark Engler and Paul Engler: “Today social movement theory is a well-established area of focus within sociology and political science. In the 1970s, however, it was just barely gaining a foothold in the academy. Stanford… Continue reading