Questions about who “owns” or has the right to benefit from Indigenous heritage are at the core of ongoing political, economic, and ethical debates taking place at local, national, and international levels. When it comes to research in this area, Indigenous peoples have typically had little say in how studies related to their heritage are… Continue reading
Date archives "April 2017"
A Shareable Explainer: What are the Commons?
New Economy and Social Innovation: Commons are often associated with natural resources like the oceans and forests — areas that belong to everyone. But commons are not just resources. They are not simply Wikipedia pages or the city grounds used for urban gardening. They comprise of a resource, a community, and a set of social… Continue reading
Patterns of Commoning: AS220 of Providence, Rhode Island: A Commons of, by and for Artists
David Bollier: Nearly everyone knows AS220 as one of the most happening places in Providence, Rhode Island. The “AS” stands for “Artists’ Space”; 220 was the initial address of the distressed building that it originally occupied in 1985. AS220 is now an incredibly vital cultural commons that offers everything: rehearsal spaces, poetry slams, live music… Continue reading
Degrowth in Movements: Care Revolution
By Matthias Neumann and Gabriele Winker. Originally published on Degrowth.de Fighting for Care Work Resource 1. What is the key idea of the Care Revolution? Care Revolution wants to shape care and self-care according to needs with a fundamental change in societal direction Care Revolution activists are working for a good life in which all… Continue reading
Peace vs. Development: The Untold Story of the Colombian Civil War
By Martin Winiecki and Alnoor Ladha, originally published on Truthout.org San José de Apartadó, Colombia — This is a significant feat, given that it is the leading peace community in Colombia, born in the heart of a civil war between the Colombian government, right-wing paramilitaries and the guerrilla army of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of… Continue reading
Disobedience vs Transgression
A few days ago, the Disobedience Award was launched by MIT’s Media Lab. The prize will collect people’s submissions about exemplary acts of civil disobedience which have brought benefit to society by supporting the principles of non-violence, creativity, courage and responsibility, and will award 250 thousand dollars to the one which is deemed to be… Continue reading
Culture and Development: Beyond Neoliberal Reason
Igor Stokfiszewski: Culture and Development: Beyond Neoliberal Reason is a compilation of articles on the issue of relationship between cultural practices (especially grass-root ones but not only) and social development. The book is a result of four-years research we – the Institute for Advanced Study run by Krytyka Polityczna (Political Critique) – have exercised under… Continue reading
From Platform to Open Cooperativism
Stacco Troncoso & Ann Marie Utratel: In the last few years, you’ve probably seen some articles about the flaws and failures of the what’s been called the “sharing economy”. Critics often cite the disingenuous use of the word “sharing”, and the exclusion of users as potential stakeholders or owners of the intermediary platforms. Much of… Continue reading
Gene Youngblood, “The Build: The Challenge To Create On the Same Scale As We Can Destroy”
In 1979, Gene Youngblood was deeply impressed by an idea of Sherrie Rabinowitz, “We must create on the same scale as we can destroy”. He says here: “In one sentence she encapsulated everything I’ve ever wanted to do.” (1:23:10) He is serious, starting out with, “This is about taking things seriously. To take something seriously… Continue reading
C@rds in Common: Learning about the Commons Through Play
Because the practices of commoning fly in the face of market culture, they are frequently misunderstood. What is this process of committed collaboration toward shared goals? people may wonder. How does it work, especially when many industries want to privatize control of the resource or prevent competition via commoning? Matthieu Rhéaume, a commoner and game… Continue reading
Digital economy and the rise of Open Cooperativism: The case of the Enspiral Network
A new paper titled: “Digital economy and the rise of open cooperativism: the case of the Enspiral Network” has been published in Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research. The article has been co-authored by Alex Pazaitis, Vasilis Kostakis and Michel Bauwens. Special thanks to Alanna Krause and Joshua Vial for their valuable input and… Continue reading
Transforming Production: An Open Design Distributed Manufacturing Symposium
A quiet revolution has been underway in material production, in agriculture, construction and manufacturing. A global design commons now provides people with opportunities to draw on a global legacy of human creativity. New technologies allow people to produce locally what was previously only possible by large companies. There is an emerging body of ideas and… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Journey to Earthland, by Paul Raskin
Paul Raskin. Journey to Earthland: The Great Transition to Planetary Civilization (Boston: Tellus Institute, 2016). The idea of a new, humane global civilization emerging from a mid-21st century “Time of Troubles” is a common theme in near-future science fiction. Probably the most notable example is the post-scarcity moneyless communism of Star Trek: The Next Generation,… Continue reading
5 Group Decision Making Resources from Loomio
Cross-posted from Shareable. Cat Johnson: Group decision making has long been one of the big challenges of cooperative organizations. Groups may be able to reach a decision quickly, or, they may spend six hours debating whether to serve beer or kombucha at the next event. A growing collection of digital tools, however, can help groups make collaborative… Continue reading
Patterns of Commoning: Remix The Commons as an Evolving Intercultural Space for Commoning
Alain Ambrosi and Frédéric Sultan: “How would you define commons in one sentence?” “Remix The Commons”1 saw the light of day in 2010 when we shouldered a video camera and started asking many people from different social and educational backgrounds, cultures, and with various ranges of experiences this “little” question. And we received quite spontaneous… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Doughnut Economics
Book: Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. Kate Raworth. Random House Business Books, 2017 “Doughnut Economics proposes 7 fundamental shifts needed in today’s economic mindset if we – humanity – want to give ourselves half a chance of thriving together on this living planet in the 21st century.” Review George… Continue reading