Kategorie: English

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Michel Bauwens challenged my claim that markets are totalitarian:

well, this is absolutely factually and historically incorrect … even in tribal times, there have always been a multitude of exchange and reciprocity mechanisms, except for perhaps really small bands who had no contact with outsiders […]. market mechanisms were used with strangers and enemies in tribal societies …

Which however missed the point of my remark, since actually I had written:

Market production is totalitarian: if some goods (e.g. health care in your example) are only available on the market (by paying for them), then everybody must remain a market producer (engaging in some form of paid work or else living from the work of others), since otherwise how would they get the necessary money?

Clearly, reciprocity (possibly in the form of generalized reciprocity) exists in every society, as I pointed out before. (mehr …)

This continues the discussion on required vs. facilitated reciprocity that took place on the jox mailing list. Michel Bauwens remained skeptical that stigmergic self-organization is the way to go; he inquired:

what makes you believe that faced with healthcare issues, I will find with certainty a right doctor and equipment willing to take care of me … since I’m facing this kind of issues right now as a peer producer without health insurance, I’d be more than happy to follow your instructions …

As I understand it, his reasoning goes like this: (mehr …)

Bre Pettis, co-founder of MakerBot Industries, explains the basic principles behind open source hardware in simple terms. Pettis says, that open source is »sort of a ’standing on the shoulders of giants‘ Möbius strip«. In a Möbius Strip you endlessly come from the inner side of a strip to the outer side and vice versa. Is this a good image for the principles of open source? Anyway, nice video:

[via]

The following post is based on two mails I wrote as part of a discussion on the jox mailing list (a relict of the short-lived [DE] CSPP journal) at the end of March. I try to explain why I have changed my position compared to the suggestions formulated in the book From Exchange to Contributions, but also why the change is not as radical as some people seem to think.

While in my book I describe what could be characterized as “open sharing communities requiring reciprocity” (you are required to contribute in order to benefit), my more recent work is about “open sharing communities facilitating reciprocity” – where contributing in some ways is easy and encouraged, but it is not required in order to benefit. When we look at existing successful peer communities, we see that they tend to follow the latter model, hence the change.

(mehr …)

Michel Bauwens at the London Tent University, December 10th 2011

The following documentary about the occupation of the Teatro Valle in Rome, the oldest theater in Italy, is part of a project to the study the practice of the Commons. The aim of the project is to explore the connection between the occupation movements of 2011 & 2012 with the paradigm of the commons.

Read more about the relationship between occupation movements and the commons in an interview with Saki Bailey, director of the documentary.

Summary of the characteristics of peer production, first part using Meretz’s work, the second part from my own studies:

A. The social logics of peer production

It is important to see the value inversion that occurs in peer production. Though it is integrated in the dominant economic model and embedded in the strategies of business firms, there are numerous inversions in the logic of value and production: (mehr …)

Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P-Foundation, wrote a great article on Al Jazeera website on the expansion of sharing economy and peer production — and the problems for capitalism it causes.

The headline taken from Bauwens article is somewhat vague, because it is not clear what type of value is meant there. In the text he distinguishes between use value and exchange or monetary value. He explains, that the more use value is produced by way of open source and peer production, the more exchange value has been removed from the market:

Thus, the open-source economy destroys more proprietary software value than it replaces. Even as it creates an explosion of use value, its monetary value decreases.

(mehr …)

The following animation describes why capitalism with its infinite growth model will collapse. It presents many data in an easily comprehensible way (including such complex things like EROEI). The conclusion is quite desillusioning. [credit] [script] [via]

Interview with Bernie Horowitz (The Horowitz Website)

Today, copyright influences strongly how cultural works are produced, who can access them, and how they can (or cannot) be used and shared. An important problem connected with the current strict copyright practices is the danger of confinement, degradation or even loss of important cultural heritage.

The world-famous artist Vladimir Horowitz is a striking example for these problems: His recordings are highly esteemed by critics and fans alike; nonetheless, a significant part of them remain unpublished, in locations without access of public or conservation specialists, and thus in danger of permanent loss.

The following interview discusses the reasons for these problems, as well as implications for general copyright practices, with Bernie Horowitz, administrator of The Horowitz Website, enthusiast and collector. (mehr …)