Yet this approach to the public management of space that serves the collective good requires citizens to think beyond their own immediate interests and make sacrifices, which can be a tough sell from a political perspective. An interview with Eric Piolle by Rosalie Salaün. This post is part of our series on articles on the… Continue reading
By Eric Nanchen and Muriel Borgeat In Valais, Switzerland, a network of “artificial canals” was rediscovered in the 1980s. They were “drilled and built into mountainsides, enabling the irrigation so important to land cultivation by transporting water across several kilometers,” as Auguste Vautier recounts (1942:19). Above and beyond their original purpose, the canals have become… Continue reading
If you’re like most people, you’ve had a mix of emotions since Election Day. Some combination of “Nooooo,” “Aaaaaaaaugh,” and “Ok, let’s get to work” seems to sum up a lot of what I’ve been hearing. It may seem like we face problems of unfathomable dimensions in a sharply divided political climate, but here’s an important… Continue reading
Why are there limits to growth? How can we bring about a flourishing post-growth economy? Dr. Samuel Alexander — a lecturer with the Office for Environmental Programs — originally wrote this paper for the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne (MSSI), where he is a Research Fellow. Here, Alexander lays out the contradictions posed by the growth paradigm in… Continue reading
Isabel Carlisle reports from the European Commons Assembly in Brussels: On 16 November I was in Brussels for the first European Commons Assembly: a gathering of over 100 people from all over Europe and beyond who are stepping forward to make visible, manage and protect the resources that we as citizens hold in common. We… Continue reading
Continuing our series on the new political landscape Richard Heinberg writes the following article, which was originally published by Post Carbon Institute . 2016 will be remembered as the year Donald Trump—a wealthy, narcissistic political novice with a strong authoritarian bent—was elected president of the United States after campaigning against economic globalization. The events are fresh enough in many… Continue reading
For peer to peer theory to develop, it needs to engage with a variety of discourses on social change, a journey practicing the possibility of a “relational p2p perspective” which can be porous and open to new and alien language and trans-disciplinary and discursive insights, and which can be opportunities for syntheses. In 2011, on… Continue reading
To overcome the crises of our time, new ways of thinking, acting and being are urgently needed. This film looks at the global crises facing humanity and at a hopeful vision of the future emerging across the world. To find out more, see the links at the end of the video. We hope the film… Continue reading
An analysis of France’s role on the Open Government Partnership Global Summit provided by our friends at La Quadrature du Net: Paris, 9 December 2016 — As France is hosting the Open Government Partnership Global Summit, a number of Civil Society Organizations point out the inconsistencies of the French government. Some have decided not to… Continue reading
“Reflection on Journey to Earthland: The Great Transition to Planetary Civilization,” Great Transition Initiative (November 2016) was originally published on greattransition.org The following contribution by Evelin Lindner on Dignism is part of a broader discussion on a necessary Great Transition Initiative, which was launched by Paul Raskin and has been recently updated with a new… Continue reading
A proposal by Stephen Hinton: How can we create alternatives to the current system that: 1. Protect collective resources, both material and immaterial, that require a lot of knowledge and know-how? 2. Develop social processes that foster and deepen thriving relationships? 3. Produces in, as Commoning expert Silke Helfrich calls it, a Commons-Creating Peer Economy,… Continue reading
An article by José Ramos published by Springer (2016) as Chapter 11 of the book “The Future Internet, Public Administration and Information Technology”, J. Winter, R. Ono (eds.). Introduction “The governance of our societies and our world is in transition. Far from an endpoint or ‘End of History’, as Fukuyama presumptuously argued (Fukuyama 1989), the… Continue reading
With nearly 5 million people in the UK now self-employed, we need to find new ways to ensure today’s workers have rights and representation. In the US a model is emerging where unions are coming together with co-ops of self-employed workers to give them control over their work. The gig economy The ‘gig economy’ has… Continue reading
The latest issue of the Green European Journal on “Finding Common Ground” (Volume 14), originally published here: You may also read the editorial of this issue here. “An investigation into the commons reveals the wide-ranging spectrum of definitions and applications of this concept that exist across Europe. Yet from the numerous local initiatives, social movements,… Continue reading
A study by Elena Como, Agnès Mathis, Marco Tognetti and Andrea Rapisardi. Presented in ISIRC Conference, Glasgow, September 2016: Excerpt From the Introduction: 1. “In the past years we have assisted to the rapid spread of what is now commonly called the “sharing economy” in various sectors, adopting different forms frequently based on the use… Continue reading
http://teamhuman.fm/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/TH-Ep-12-Mushon.mp3 Playing for Team Human is Mushon Zer-Aviv. Mushon shares his creative strategies for resistance against assimilation into the big data mindset. His playful, interactive designs turn the cult of data collection on its head, re-ambiguating humans and embracing the most quirky, inspired, and anomalous aspects of our lives. Mushon’s recent project, AdNauseam.io challenges surveillance advertising… Continue reading