Peer Value: Advancing the Commons Collaborative Economy Amsterdam. September 2-3, 2016 Peer Value: Advancing the Commons Collaborative Economy is a conference integrating conversations and plans of action for shaping and connecting the Commons on a global level. Our final program is listed below, please join us in Amsterdam! The conference is organized along three tracks:… Continue reading
New co-operativism and the FairShares model
In this article, we reproduce co-founder Rory Ridley-Duff’s article published in Issue 7 of STIR Magazine in 2014. It discusses the differences between ‘old co-operativism’ and ‘new co-operativism’ and the position of the FairShares Model as part of the latter. The provisions for solidarity between multiple stakeholders make the FairShares Model one of very few… Continue reading
New Democracy 10: David Bollier and the City as a Commons
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EVENT, SEE THE ORIGINAL POST ON dezwijger.nl This event takes place today, September 1, at 8PM in Amsterdam. The event is free-of-charge. New Democracy 10: David Bollier and the City as a Commons An evening on the rich history and promising future of the commons. How can we govern… Continue reading
Towards an Algorithmic Social Contract
Algorithmic Social Contract = Social contract between humans and governance algorithms Originally published by Iyad Rahwan at Medium: “What happens when an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system does not serve a narrow, well-defined function, but a broad function with wide societal implications? Consider an AI algorithm that controls billions a self-driving cars; or a set of… Continue reading
Exvestment: The Political Economy of Open Source Software
“Exvestment (Kleiner) is one element of the identity transvestment (Kleiner & Gottlieb) which elaborates how to channel value out of capitalist circulation into alternative communal organizations and keep the bulk of it circulating there. One legal instrument which has been created to generate more exvestment is the Peer Production License.” Here is Gavin Mendel-Gleason’s 15… Continue reading
Platform Cooperativism: Building the Cooperative Internet (Event)
DATE: Nov 11-13, 2016 PLACE: New York City Almost unnoticed, in the gaps and hollows of the digital economy, a new economy is emerging that follows a different ethical and financial logic. Platform cooperativism, as it has come to be called, is an emerging movement for democratic governance and collective ownership on the Internet and… Continue reading
SwellRT Free Software Contest – Enter by Sept. 18
SwellRT Software Contest If you like to code, free/libre/open source software, and support a decentralized Internet, the SwellRT project invites you to participate in its Free Software Contest 3,000€, 2,000€ and 1,000€ prizes will be awarded to the best three projects which use or improve SwellRT technology. Find more info at: http://swellrt.org/contest SwellRT is a… Continue reading
Working under the palm trees in Thailand
These days, it’s a common complaint that we are all chained to a screen during all of our waking hours. For some, however, the screen has meant a completely new freedom. An article by Asser Bøggild Christensen, originally published at Information (in Danish): “There is an expectant buzz in the tiny health café in the… Continue reading
Sebastian Junger on Our Evolutionary Need For Community
Cross-posted from the Peak Prosperity Podcast: Peabody award-winning author Sebastian Junger joins our podcast this week. Junger is well-known for his NYT-bestselling books The Perfect Storm and War, the latter of which was written after a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. Based on his observations while in… Continue reading
In search of Europe
Preceding the Dutch EU presidency Flemish artist Lucas de Man proposed a bold idea: he would be travelling through the EU and find young and somewhat older people to explain him how Europe is changing and could be changed. ECF supported Lucas de Man in his plan with networks and some financial help. Upon return… Continue reading
Agroecology and the Green Revolution
This post by Patty and Leigh Anne originally appeared on o ecotextiles. The promise of the Green Revolution was that it would end hunger through the magic of chemicals and genetic engineering. The reasoning goes like this: the miracle seeds of the Green Revolution increase grain yields; higher yields mean more income for poor farmers,… Continue reading
“Co-operatives aren’t co-operatives unless they co-operate with each other”
An excellent interview with our colleague Nathan Schneider. It was originally published at Imperica.com: High-tech tools of exploitation are being repurposed to build a fairer economy. The digital platforms that have become the connective tissue of our lives – the likes of Airbnb and Google – have proven to tend towards monopolies, monetisation of surveillance… Continue reading
Naples and its Department of the Commons
Naples was the first Italian city to establish a “Department of the Commons” and the first to change the municipal statute by inserting the “commons” as one of the interests to be protected and recognised as the functional exercise of fundamental rights of the person. A discussion from Italia che cambia: “All these buildings were… Continue reading
Photographer Files $1bn Copyright Claim Against Getty Images
When Getty Images sent photographer Carol Highsmith a $120 settlement demand for using one of ‘their’ images without permission, things were about to get messy. The image in question was actually Highsmith’s own work, displayed on her own website. Highsmith has now responded with a $1bn lawsuit. This post originally appeared on torrentfreak.com Seattle-based Getty… Continue reading
New SELC Report: How to Equitably Regulate Airbnb-style Short-term Rentals
If you live in a fairly populous city, or if you like to travel off the beaten path, you’ve probably heard of Airbnb-style short-term rentals (STRs). Residential housing that is rented for short periods of time, STRs were once a niche way to travel, but are now available for rent all over the world. The… Continue reading
Sebastian Junger’s Meditation on Tribes
Why is it that American combat veterans experience the highest rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the world, while soldiers from other countries have far lower levels? Amazingly, warriors of the past, such as Native Americans, rarely experienced PTSD-like symptoms. In his new book Tribe, Sebastian Junger argues that much of the difference lies… Continue reading