“What does the growing trend of collaborative consumption mean for marketers? In this video, Campbell Mithun presents data (and insights) gathered from a national quantitative survey on consumer attitudes about the growing trend. (Campbell Mithun partnered with Carbonview Research to conduct the study in January 2012.)”
Book of the Day: Phyles, Economic Democracy in the Network Century
Phyles: Economic Democracy in the Network Century. by David de Ugarte Introduction by the author: “This work is the last instalment in a series of books, written by half a dozen authors besides me, that try to describe and understand, from a common logic although from different angles, the vast social changes which took place… Continue reading
Invitation to participate in the collaborative development of a General Theory of Relationality
A very important initiative proposed by Daryl Taylor: (for background see here) “A small team (Melbourne and east coast of Australia) have begun a focussed discussion about collaborating on the development of a ‘General Theory of Relationality.’ Starting with Adorno, we’re investigating shifts from a 20th C scientific-technical-industrial-instrumental rationality to a 21st C socio-ecological-egalitarian-empathic relationality…. Continue reading
Essay of the Day: Commons and World Governance
• Essay: The Commons and World Governance. Toward a Global Social Contract. Arnaud Blin and Gustavo Marín. Forum for a New World Governance. April 2012 (draft version) Excerpted from Arnaud Blin and Gustavo Marín, What’s wrong with the state and the market: “A new set of problems and issues have arisen that have shown the… Continue reading
Linux and the Management of Decentralized Networks
Essay: MANAGEMENT & VIRTUAL DECENTRALISED NETWORKS: THE LINUX PROJECT. By George N. Dafermos. This older essay is still very interesting and worth reading as a primer on peer governance. Abstract “This paper examines the latest of paradigms – the ‘Virtual Network(ed) Organisation’ and whether geographically dispersed knowledge workers can virtually collaborate for a project under… Continue reading
Graphic of the Day: Social Sharing Button Playground Infographic
By Heather Sundell: Social Sharing Button Playground brought to you byThe Search Agency
Book of the Day: Zapotec Science
Book: Zapotec Science. Farming and Food in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca. By Roberto J. González. University of Texas Press, 2001 Zapotec farmers in the northern sierra of Oaxaca, Mexico, are highly successful in providing their families with abundant, nutritious food in an ecologically sustainable fashion, although the premises that guide their agricultural practices would… Continue reading
History of Community Asset Ownership
Report: A history of community asset ownership. by Steve Wyler. Development Trusts Association, 2009. Description “In the last few years community ownership of land and buildings has become, alongside social enterprise, a hot topic across the political spectrum, evidenced by manifesto promises, government reports and White Papers, enabling legislation, regulation and guidance, new investment funds,… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: New Work
Franz Nahrada describes the work of Frithjof Bergmann: “At its very core, the New Work movement that he is heralding is searching for technologies that allow people to become more self-reliant, less economically dependent, in a very serious sense of that word, more “free.” The point is to showcase that an astounding diversity of innovations… Continue reading
Monitoring Bitcoin: Two significant hardware developments are announced.
In a clear example of how code and hardware exist in a relationship that can be understood as a feedback loop, two Bitcoin-specific hardware products have been announced in the past days. The Bitcoin protocol has given birth now to a new kind of chip, especifically designed to maximise the speed of Bitcoin cryptographic calculations… Continue reading
Viva PeerPoint!
I’m disappointed but not surprised that the PeerPoint Open P2P Application Design Specification Project[1] is viewed with scorn by old-guard digital libertarians and anarchists. They accuse the PeerPoint project of being too ambitious and naive–they’ve seen everything and done everything and they have a superior, smug, cynical attitude. They argue that the only solution is… Continue reading
Designing an Economy of Provision
Article: Marvin Brown. Designing the Future Economy. Catalyst. Business Models, Design Management, Economy, ISSUE 10: CIVILIZING THE ECONOMY. Marvin Brown: ‘Can we design an economy that provides for everyone? In contrast to the current economic design that is limited to recording exchanges among property owners and therefore excludes the misery of people and the degradation… Continue reading
Economics as a Science of Infrastructure
Excerpted from Christian Arnsperger: “Economics is a science of infrastructure. Its sole social function — but it is, of course, an important one — is to work out the conditions under which everyone can access the required goods and services to live a full life. Period. By infrastructure I mean here not just investment goods… Continue reading
Movement of the Day: Internet Defense League
Andy Greenberg: “Alexis Ohanian, the 29-year old founder of social news site Reddit, has partnered with the online advocacy group Fight for the Future to create what they’re calling the “Internet Defense League.” Ohanian describes the project, which they plan to officially launch next month, as a “Bat-Signal for the Internet.” Any website owner can… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Divine Right of Capital
The Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy. Berrett-Koehler, 2001. Wealth inequality, corporate welfare, and industrial pollution are symptoms-the fevers and chills of the economy. The underlying illness, says Business Ethics magazine founder Marjorie Kelly, is shareholder primacy: the corporate drive to make profits for shareholders, no matter who pays the cost. In The… Continue reading
Five Ways Government Can Help Collaborative Consumption
Melissa O’Young: “There is now enough evidence to show that collaborative consumption can be good for the economy – it provides many environmental, economic and social benefits to society. Below is a list of five things governments can do to help facilitate the movement (moving from the scale of easy-to-implement interventions to interventions that require… Continue reading