“This book makes a bold and startling claim: diffuse interests, rather than concentrated interests, dominate the making of public policy in the advanced democracies. (Pepper D. Culpepper, European University Institute )” * Book: Strength in Numbers: The Political Power of Weak Interests, by Gunnar Trumbull. Harvard University Press , 2012. From the publisher: “Many consumers… Continue reading
The dark side of India’s neoliberal model
Excerpted from Arundhati Roy: “In India, the 300 million of us who belong to the new, post-IMF “reforms” middle class—the market—live side by side with spirits of the nether world, the poltergeists of dead rivers, dry wells, bald mountains and denuded forests; the ghosts of 2,50,000 debt-ridden farmers who have killed themselves, and of the… Continue reading
Microgrids in Rome in the context of European ‘Third Industrial Revolution” policies
Excerpted from Livio de Santoli and Carlo Maria Drago: “Mayor Gianni Alemanno and the city of Rome host a joint press conference with Jeremy Rifkin (the principal architect of the European Union’s Third Industrial Revolution long-term economic sustainability plan), on May 31st 2010, to release a master plan that will radically transform Rome into a… Continue reading
Response to Natalia Fernandez on the history of cooperativism (3), by Pat Conaty
As a reminder, Natalia’s key thesis (see the article published on the 16th) is: – By severing cooperativism from its communal origins and and focusing on consumption, British cooperativism … caused lasting damage to the transformative capacity of cooperativism, which we should not repeat today in the debate between the economy of the commons and… Continue reading
Book of the Day: The Commons Guide to Placemaking
‘We are witnessing a significant social shift in which people are rediscovering common connections and recognizing the collaborative power we share for strengthening our communities. On the Commons documents these examples of the commons in action in our new guide to placemaking, public space, and convivial living by Senior Fellow Jay Walljasper, who writes, speaks,… Continue reading
Project of the Day: the Bucky Box
The Bucky Box is a web application which supports the local food movement. Enabling vege box schemes, community supported agriculture & food hubs through automating subscriptions, billing and delivery. More details: “(Will) Lau has now created a web-based application, Bucky Box, for food box delivery companies like Ooooby (Auckland) to take care of the IT,… Continue reading
Enlivenment: Towards a Fundamental Shift in the Concepts of Nature, Culture, and Politics
* Essay, Enlivenment: Towards a Fundamental Shift in the Concepts of Nature, Culture, and Politics. Heinrich Boell Foundation, 2012 (please note we discussed our critique of this approach on the 17th) “Our mono-cultural worldview is literally preventing us from understanding the deeper causes of our multiple crises. Author Andreas Weber gives us a glimpse of… Continue reading
Why hierarchy creates a destructive force within the human psyche
What we can learn from the baboons, including the results of a tragedy-induced social revolution: (fascinating and strongly recommended! based on the lifelong research of Dr. Robert Sapolski)
Book of the Day: Squatting in Europe
* Book: Squatting in Europe: Radical Spaces, Urban Struggles. Edited by the Squatting Europe Kollective. 2013 Essays by Miguel Martínez, Gianni Piazza, Hans Pruijt, Pierpaolo Mudu, Claudio Cattaneo, Andre Holm, Armin Kuhn, Linus Owens, Florence Bouillon, Thomas Aguilera, and ETC Dee: “Squatting offers a radical but simple solution to the crises of housing, homelessness, and… Continue reading
The Rise of the Sharing Economy in Italy
Excerpted from Marta Mainieri: (the full articlein Shareable has extra tables, figures, and links) “Collaborative services experiencing a surge in Italy. Much ink is being spilled by the media about this growing movement. The radio does its part, too, by making people aware of this new phenomenon born out of economic necessity. Further still, there… Continue reading