Book: Nelson A and Timmerman F (2011) (Eds). Life Without Money: Building Fair and Sustainable Economies. Pluto Press: London. ISBN: 978-0-7453-3165-2. Presentation Do we need money? The authors of Life Without Money argue that we need to free ourselves from monetary values and relations to achieve democratic and meaningful relationships with one another and a… Continue reading
Background to the Fifth Free Culture Forum: the history and future of free culture
The fifth FC Forum will be held October 25 and after in Barcelona. Excellent thoughtpiece by Marco Berlinguer: “In this article my aim is to give a picture of the experiences which represent the background of the FCF, presenting some its salient characteristics and achievements. In the second part I will discuss some questions of… Continue reading
Project of the Day: Side Car, a peer-to-peer taxi service
Side Car is a peer-to-peer taxi service (which can also be explained as a community rideshare) comprised of drivers who volunteer to give people rides and work for donations “Chelsea” writes: “I recently discovered a new service, which a friend who works at airbnb adoringly called “Uber for common folk.” While I don’t like that… Continue reading
Synthetic Overview of the Collaborative Economy: Chapter 1: When the Vertical Meets the Horizontal
This month we are serialising the report “Synthetic overview of the collaborative economy”, coproduced by Orange Labs and the P2P Foundation. Today we post Chapter 1: When the Vertical Meets the Horizontal. And don’t forget the “Ask Me Anything” session with Michel Bauwens over on reddit. (Of course if you can’t wait you can download… Continue reading
From Melbourne, Australia: the Doing It Ourselves project
This is a awareness and transition project started in Melbourne Australia: “to get through the economic, resources and environmental crises and build a better world”. They explain: “Doing It Ourselves aims to broaden understanding of the debt crisis and peak resources, and encourage action for the sake of personal preparedness, happiness and ethical living. We… Continue reading
Project of the Day: the Finnish Open Ministry Platform
In terms of civic-minded tech projects that capitalize on open data, Finland has a particularly impressive roster. This is a hub for citizens who want new laws voted on in the country’s parliament. Joonas Pekkanen reported on October 1 that “The first batch of proposals on the Finnish platform is pretty varied: a ban on… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Peter Fein on What Comes After Democracy
Peter is a participant in the Anonymous and Telecomix collectives. Watch the video here: Details on the speaker provided by the PDF12 conference organizers: “On the speaker: “Peter Fein is an Internet activist, computer programmer and media hacker. Since 2010, he’s been a participatant in a global, post-national adhocracy of Internet-fuelled political movements. He is… Continue reading
Franco Iacomella in the Congress “New Paradigms and Challenges in the Sciences and Arts of Cyberspace”
Franco Iacomella will participate this week in the 3rd International Vanguard Science Congress “New Paradigms and Challenges in the Sciences and Arts of Cyberspace”, to be held in Mexico City from 16 to 19 October at UAM – Xochimilco Campus. The event is coordinated by Heinz Dieterich and will be attended by prominent intellectuals, including… Continue reading
An overview of thematics around the economics of the commons
From October 12 to 14 is taking place a preparatory workshop investigating themes around commons-oriented economics. The meeting takes place in Bangkok, in preparation of a larger conference to be held in Berlin in May 2013. The meeting is (co-)organized by the Commons Strategies Group with support of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the FPH… Continue reading
Video of the Day: Sara Horowitz on the Freelancers Union
Organizing networked workers and offering them social insurance, watch the video explaining the Freelancers Union: Details on the speaker, provided by the PDF12 conference organizers: “Sara Horowitz founded Working Today in 1995 to represent the needs and concerns of the growing independent workforce. Working Today built Freelancers Union to pioneer a new form of unionism,… Continue reading