The article has been co-authored by Alex Pazaitis, Vasilis Kostakis and Michel Bauwens. Special thanks to Alanna Krause and Joshua Vial for their valuable input and support, as well as to all Enspiral people.

Abstract: This article explores how autonomous workers/contributors, involved in peer-to-peer relations, can organise their productive efforts so that they have sustainable livelihoods. The discussion is guided by the concept of ‘open cooperativism’, which argues for a synergy between the commons-based peer production movement and elements of the cooperative and solidarity economy movements. To this end, we review the case of Enspiral, a network of professionals and companies that empowers and supports social entrepreneurship. We explore its values, operation and governance as well as the chosen strategies for autonomy and sustainability. Finally, some lessons are summarised for the cooperative and union movement, which point to open cooperativism as an integrated vision.

Full text available here: http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/cQtJrUauKHrIGGYmMZtq/full (find this and more publications of the P2P Lab openly accessible here).

Photo by mimitalks, married, under grace

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