Socially Responsible Outsourcing => ethical outsourcing => ethical economy. There is a growing sense of the need for social & ethical framework for development and doing business in emerging markets. Is there a good ethical side to outsourcing, when it is specifically dedicated to create an economy in the poorer regions of the world? Samasource… Continue reading
The jobs we need, and those that we don’t
While the essay is right that collectively we are trashing the planet, and that consuming less slows this, ultimately it is a failed philosophy, because slowing your descent into a volcano still leaves you falling into a volcano, just more slowly. I asked Franz Nahrada to discuss a very readable essay or condensed talk called… Continue reading
Are free ideas and Peak Oil compatible?
Lisa Margonelli asks a good question, referring to Chris Anderson’s book on the Freeconomy: “Underlying this copious pile of free is a steady stream of electrons that keeps our eyes and ears hooked into the ideas beaming out of our computers, TV’s, stereos, and twitter-enabled smart phones. Between 2000 and 2005 according to this pdf… Continue reading
Peer to peer science, network effects, and consilience
Just as the technium is currently in the process of connecting all humans to each other (via the internet), and all devices to each other (ditto), it is also in the process of connecting each idea to all other ideas, so that there is a one unified body of knowledge. From the extensive meditation by… Continue reading
Steven Vedro launches peer-based blessing community
A message from Steven Vedro: Friends: Many of you know me from Digital Dharma, others are friends from spiritual practice, or just ‘friends.’ In the last six months I have been working on using the Internet to facilitate the giving and receiving of blessings. I first created a blog to share the blessings I have… Continue reading
How the Internet killed California’s economy
Douglas Rushkoff’s take on the Crisis of Value created by peer production. Douglas Rushkoff: “The real estate crash is really just the second leg of the dot.com crash–the failure of housing to absorb the tremendous cash surplus generated by the irrational exuberance of Internet investors. And it actually goes deeper than this. The Internet is… Continue reading
Food localisation and the culture of the audit (vs. regulation)
From an interesting essay on the resurgence of sustainable agriculture and its stress on food localization. Jordan Kleiman reviews critical reactions to Michael Pollan, whose 2006 bestseller The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals “has contributed substantially to the recent burst of enthusiasm for local food.” The critic is Julie Guthman, professor of… Continue reading
The zigzag path of collaborative community within the firm
Essay: Paul S. Adler and Charles Heckscher. Essay: Paul S. Adler and Charles Heckscher. Towards Collaborative Community / (Book: The Corporation as a Collaborative Community) This is an absolutely remarkable essay, nothing else than an indispensable must-read, that charts the history of community within the capitalist form, from the earliest community oriented paternalism (the ‘Gemeinshaft’… Continue reading
Thomas Diener’s proposal for a FairWare system
From an extensive discussion about the possibility of a infrastructure for Open Hardware stores, at the p2presearch mailing list. Thomas Diener: “I’ll can send a more structured text within the next few weeks but it will be in my very simple English. If somebody would like to translate from German into English it would make… Continue reading
Carrotmob activism
Via Mediacology: “Carrotmob is a good example of the kinds of social activism enabled by Internet social networks that Clay Shirky talks about in Here Comes Everybody– a combination flash mob and consume pressure that invites social change through positive engagement with businesses.” Watch the founder of the movement explaining it here:
Dean Baker: the market is not the problem!!
Below is Dean Baker’s contribution to the Re-Imagining Society debate at ZNet. Dean Baker: “As every backcountry hiker recognizes, you must first know where you are before you can figure out how to get to where you want to be. While it is important to know where we want to go, progressives often badly misunderstand… Continue reading
The creative city mythology of Richard Florida
The Toronto Star reports on a backlash against Richard Florida’s Creative City policy proposals. Here’s a sample excerpt on the kind of local opposition that is emerging: “Richard Florida’s exotic city, his creative city, depends on ghost people, working behind the scenes. Immigrants, people of colour. You want to know what his version of creative… Continue reading
A Red and Green Coalition
Often the cause of labour and that of environmentalism clash – for example in the UK debate of the expansion of Heathrow airport we see the union siding with the airport operators, both of whom are squared off against a coalition of environmentalists and residents who will see their houses lost. The often over-simplistic ‘jobs… Continue reading
Len Krimerman on solidarity and subjectivity
As part of the larger pool of contributions to ZNet’s Reimagining Society debate, Len Krimerman discusses the Solidarity Economy movement at length. This article is well worth reading in full for its strategic assessment and recommendations. Here, we excerpt Len’s discussions of the strengths of the movements, closely related to how it deals with subjectivity,… Continue reading
The DIY podcast/webcast revolution
Via the Replicator blog: “While not quite a mass customization catalog, the latest iTunes Podcast Spotlight does feature a collection of great podcasts centered around the DIY ethos. Howcast, Threadbanger, and Make: and others are well worth a watch/listen and hopefully this is just sample of what’s to come.” Here’s a selection from our own… Continue reading
Value Creation outside the Cash Nexus
A contribution by Kevin Carson: “The shift of value-creation outside the cash nexus provoked an interesting blogospheric discussion between Tyler Cowen and John Quiggin. Cowen raised the possibility that much of the productivity growth in recent years has taken place “outside of the usual cash and revenue-generating nexus.” Quiggin, in an article appropriately titled “The… Continue reading