Alnoor Ladha: The seduction of economic growth is all-pervasive. Even within progressive circles that claim to understand that growth is causing ecological destruction, there is hope in a new type of salvation: “green growth.” This is the idea that technology will become more efficient and allow us to grow the economy while reducing our impact… Continue reading
Call for Papers: Social Solidarity Economy and the Commons: Envisioning Sustainable and Post-capitalist Futures, Lisbon, Portugal, 21-23 November 2018
International Conference: “Social Solidarity Economy and the Commons: Envisioning sustainable and post-capitalist futures”. 21-23 November 2018 ISCTE-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Organiser: CEI-IUL, Centre for International Studies With the support of the Department of Political Economy (ISCTE-IUL) and Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon In response to… Continue reading
What personal and collective change is needed for a successful Commons Transition?
On March 22-23, Michel Bauwens was invited to a lecture co-organized by the German section of the SMart cooperative, which organizes freelance workers for mutual solidarity, and by Supermarkt, one of the more dynamic ‘third places’ in Berlin. This interview that took place on March 23 is a very relaxed conversation with Ela Kagel and… Continue reading
Blockchain is facing a backlash. Can it survive?
Not so long ago, the internet was hailed as the solution to humanity’s ills. It would shine a light on all corners of the globe, bringing new knowledge and exchange. But growing concerns about fake news, surveillance, cybercrime, social media addiction and monopolised power have tarnished that shine. Without ignoring the internet’s positive impact over… Continue reading
The diversity of food sharing in the city
This post by Albane Gaspard was originally published on Urban Food Futures. Buying food is part of everyday life, and seems a normal way to gain access to food. In contrast, food sharing as a means to secure sustenance is somewhat less common in developed cities, at least beyond our friends and family. However, sharing… Continue reading
Some Recent Interviews about the Commons
As you may have noticed, my blogging has suffered in recent weeks because of work on a new book with Silke Helfrich. Fortunately, we should be done soon. In the meantime, I have also given a few interviews that may be of interest. The British web magazine Beshara just published an interview of me, “The Revival of the… Continue reading
An Economy of Meaning, or Bust
Current economic systems are dismal because they waste our precious time. We can pause to reevaluate, and redesign. This post by John Boik is republished from Medium.com. John Boik: It’s not often that a scientist gets to use the words love, creativity, and wisdom in a paper, especially when writing about economics. Perhaps that’s… Continue reading
A Noopolitik for the Global Commons
Twenty years ago we proposed noöpolitik (nü-oh-poh-li-teek) as a new approach for American information strategy (1999). According to our argument, strategists will have to rethink what is “information” and see that a new realm is emerging — the noosphere, a global “realm of the mind” — that will profoundly affect statecraft. and its preference for… Continue reading
When Value Arises From Relationships, Not From Things
The following interview with Valentina Croci appears in the March 2018 special edition on innovation of Domus magazine . The print edition is in Italian and English, but does not include all the illustrations I’ve used here). Q1 The consumerist model and our fossil resources have been stretched to their limits. What could be an alternative model… Continue reading
Why ‘urban villages’ are on the rise around the world
Cross-posted from Shareable. Amanda Abrams: For years, Wayne Trevor was a typical resident of West Norwood, a suburban region in south London. He knew a couple of his neighbors and mostly thought of the area as a place to commute to and from his job as a customer strategy senior sponsor at the Transport for… Continue reading
SAVE, CODE, SHARE! Current EU Copyright Review threatens Free and Open Source Software. Take action now!
Current EU Copyright Review threatens Free and Open Source Software. Take action now to preserve the ability to collaboratively build software online! The P2P Foundation supports the SAVE, CODE, SHARE campaign to defend our Internet sovereignty and digital collaborative spaces. Click here to sign as an individual or organization. The letter below, along with the signatures signatures, will be… Continue reading
NDDL : No to the violence of the State against the commons!
What is the real reason for this destructive rage? It is not the absence of a project, it is the nature of the projects that is at stake. The State and its representatives do not support the life forms that are experimented here and now, and for the past 10 years. These life forms prefigure… Continue reading
Tech workers, platform workers, and workers’ inquiry
Transcript of a presentation given on behalf of the Tech Workers Coalition earlier this month, at Log Out! Worker Resistance Within and Against the Platform Economy, a symposium at the University of Toronto that examined labor unrest and organizing in the modern, tech-centered economy. This piece by Tech Workers Coalition in Technology and The Worker… Continue reading
Disrupting the disruptors: The collaborative economy changes direction
In 2018, collaborative economy workers will start truly collaborative organisations to disrupt the marketplace once again, say Alice Casey and Peter Baeck (originally published on Nesta.org.uk). Alice Casey and Peter Baeck: 2016 was the year the collaborative economy established itself as the big disruptor of everything, how we travel, shop and manage our money; 2017… Continue reading
How a rural community built South Africa’s first ISP owned and run by a cooperative
This article, written by Bill Tucker, of the University of the Western Cape was originally published on The Conversation. Bill Tucker: Mankosi is a remote rural community in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. It is home to almost 6,000 people. The nearest city is Mthatha, about 60 kilometres away, as a bird flies. Most homes are not connected… Continue reading
A call for intergalactic solidarity actions everywhere to end the destruction of the ZAD
The P2P Foundation stands in solidarity with the Commoners resisting by the enclosure of the ZAD. This was forwarded to us by Oliver Ressler, who writes: The ZAD – Europe’s largest autonomous territory that emerged from the struggle against a new airport for Nantes in France – is in danger of being evicted by 2500… Continue reading