Koppelting, the great gathering of the commons: 21 – 27 August 2017 Koppelting is an annual grassroots festival about peer production and free/libre alternatives for society. It is filled with projects, lectures, debates and workshops, and is co-created by the attendees. Anyone can contribute, whether by giving a lecture, a workshop or demonstration, or by… Continue reading
Does cooperativism work? Since ‘political economy’ became a subject in the 18th century, the predominant political dichotomy has been framed as labour versus capital. Marx talked about ‘control of the means of production’ as the essential political power that the workers needed to wrest from the capitalists. A great deal of activism and political theory… Continue reading
Silke Helfrich interviews architect Van Bo Le-Mentzel: Van Bo Le-Mentzel has invented all kinds of useful things, among others, do-it-yourself blueprints for furniture and tiny houses. He has become known for social DIY projects such as “Hartz IV1 Möbel,” the Unreal Estate House,2 and the One-Square-Meter House.3 He is now transferring the concept of these projects… Continue reading
‘Post-truth’ politics are in fact pre-truth: Populists pick up on our anxiety about the world, but divert our attention from root causes. It’s easier to blame a Muslim, than entropy. Abstract words don’t make much difference. What’s needed is a new story in which care for the places where we live is a practical focus for… Continue reading
The following lecture by Jeremy Corbyn is well worth watching, not just for the hopeful vision he expresses, but also for the connection it shows with the British youth attending the Glastonbury festival.
Mary Mellor, professor emeritus at the University of Northumbria and one of the featured thinkers in the CSG’s “Democratic Money and Capital for the Commons” report, clarifies the ongoing debate on the UK about where money comes from. Originally published in The London Economic. Mary Mellor: That’s right there are two magic money trees. Both the state… Continue reading
Why is the Commons steadily gathering attention as a concept and practice? Commons include not only the gifts of nature,like water and land, but also shared assets or creative work, such as cultural and knowledge artifacts. Commons are a shared resource, co-governed by its user community, according to the norms of that community. Considering the… Continue reading
This article by Lionel Maurel was originally published in French on scinfolex.com, and translated to English by Maïa Dereva. Last month, an interesting article on Jean-Luc Danneyrolles was published (in French) on the site Reporterre. Danneyrolles is the founder of “Potager d’un curieux” (The Curious One’s Garden), a place in the Vaucluse region of France… Continue reading
Albert Cañigueral: How can technology lead to more participation in democratic processes? Who should own and control city data? Can cities embrace a model that socializes data and encourages new forms of cooperativism and democratic innovation? In the run-up to the OuiShare Fest Paris, Albert Cañigueral interviewed Francesca Bria, the chief innovation officer of Barcelona. Albert… Continue reading
Extracted from Battle for the net. The P2P Foundation fully supports this protest. Click here for more resources to help save net neutrality. WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY? Net neutrality is the basic principle that protects our free speech on the Internet. “Title II” of the Communications Act is what provides the legal foundation for net… Continue reading
An article by Massimo Menichinelli, Massimo Bianchini, Alessandra Carosi and Stefano Maffei, published at the Journal of Peer Production: Abstract “Peer production has emerged as a new and relevant way of organising the work of distributed and autonomous individuals in the production and distribution of digital content. Increasingly, the adoption of peer production is taking… Continue reading
Continuing our series covering the #FearlessCities event, this post by Plan C and Bertie Russell was originally published on opendemocracy.net. ‘Municipal politics’ may raise new types of demands crucial in organising powerful social movements and improving material conditions, while orienting us towards new understandings of what is possible. The last decade has been a miserable… Continue reading
In an era in which the digital technologies are redefining how people produce, distribute and consume information, the book industry could not remain unaffected. Much has been said about the business models of new-age corporate giants, like Amazon, which utilize digital technologies to maximize profits. Are there alternatives to the profit-driven models of translating, publishing… Continue reading
Reclaiming Public Services is vital reading for anyone interested in the future of local, democratic services like energy, water and health care. This is an in-depth world tour of new initiatives in public ownership and the variety of approaches to deprivatisation. Reposted from our friends at the Transnational Institute, a new report authored by Satoko Kishimoto,… Continue reading
Tristan Copley-Smith: It’s difficult not to appreciate the unfolding potential of the open source movement. The concept is beautifully simple: “When we share together, we are stronger.” It taps into a broad range of human sensibilities, from the practical, to the creative, abstract and even spiritual. This is a relatively young and apolitical movement, whose… Continue reading
This is the year of the passing away of the elder statesmen of the Commons Movement. Last September, the P2P Foundation lost Jean Lievens, who co-wrote the first book about the commons transition approach; this year, we lost Robin Murray, a life-long activist for the ‘cooperative commonwealth’ in the UK, and one of the co-founders… Continue reading