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In his recent paper, Commoning as a Transformative Social Paradigm, author, activist and commons scholar David Bollier argues that the commons, which he describes as “at once a paradigm, a discourse, an ethic, and a set of social practices,” holds great promise in transcending the conundrum of imagining and building a “radically different system while living within the constraints of an incumbent system that aggressively resists transformational change.”
Ballarat St permanent park providing green space for the people of Yarraville (Melbourne).
In 2012, the city of Seoul launched Sharing City Seoul to create a local, government-sanctioned sharing culture – establishing the city of 10 million as a frontrunner in the sharing cities movement. City officials committed to cultivating a vibrant local sharing economy, and Seoul was quickly praised as a global sharing leader. But results on the ground have been mixed, and the initiative remains a work in progress. Sharing City Seoul hasn't taken off as hoped, and awareness of the sharing econo
However the political and juridical content remains to be defined, especially for its interaction with the concepts of public and private. In certain domains the political and theoretical thinking about the commons is stronger than in others, therefore the contribution they can offer to the debate is particularly interesting. In this perspective the study focuses on urban spaces and the role played by social movements in their definition. In fact no legislation in Europe recognizes the commons as a legal category and most of the social and political thinking about is part of grassroots engagement. The lack in legislation however doesn’t imply a lack of interest among law scholar nor among institutions: the proceedings of the Rodotà Commission in Italy in 2007 (aiming to include the commonsin the classification of goods in the civil code) and the researches and publications sponsored by the Social Cohesion Division of the Council of Europe (highlighting the importance of a legal recognition of the commons to protect them) are two consistent examples of this attention and provide focused views and approaches to the topic. According to the study of the Council of Europe, for example, the recognition and protection the commons would contribute to the eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights. In fact for grassroots movements focusing on social and economic alternatives the use of the definition of the commons is particularly relevant as a form of resilience against the crisis. Furthermore among the same grassroots movements an interest for legal aspects and legal implications is raising and it could contribute to the definition of the framework, where different components and different levels of awareness are blended.
On November 6-7 in Bologna, Italy, leading scholars, researchers, policymakers, practitioners and social innovators will gather to further the discussion and movement around the urban commons.
Have you started a summer reading list? For those of us interested in the sharing economy, there is no shortage of great reads. Whether your interests lie in collaboration, sustainable cities, community-building, simplicity, or work in the new economy, there is something for everyone. We’ve rounded up the top 21 books for summer to inspire, empower, and inform.
The proliferation of activist initiatives calling for systemic change around the world has never been more impressive. Yet collaborations among like-minded organizations, projects and movements have been disappointingly modest. As neoliberal economics and policies tighten their grip on American society—notwithstanding the dismal misbehavior of financial institutions, corporations and the two political parties—can leading alt-economic and social movements find ways to work more closely together?
Article cross-posted from Bollier.org. It is always refreshing to read Peter Linebaugh’s writings on the commons because he brings such rich historical perspectives to bear, revealing the commons as both strangely alien and utterly familiar. With the added kick that the commoning he describes actually happened, Linebaugh’s journeys into the commons leave readers outraged at enclosures of long ago and inspired to protect today's endangered commons.
Saturday night in the Hongdae district of Seoul. Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs line the streets four stories high for blocks. The crowds in the street cover acres of blacktop. It's nightlife on mega-city scale.
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Shareable, the Sharing Cities Network, our partners — and hopefully you — are hosting the third annual #MapJam starting April 4th through the 17th. We’re excited to bring communities together in cities around the world to connect the dots and map grassroots sharing projects, cooperatives, community resources, and the commons.
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Somero 2015’s five days of workshops, hackathons, and keynotes concluded successfully last Sunday.
Are you deeply plugged into the sharing movement or simply curious about how the sharing economy works? Whether you're a veteran of the movement or a newcomer, the sharing events happening around the world this fall are bound to spark ideas for new ways to engage in the collaborative economy.
OuiShare Fest is an international gathering in Paris of sharing economy pioneers, enthusiasts and organizers. This year’s fest, which ran May 20-22, featured panels, presentations and discussions that explored numerous aspects of the sharing economy, collaboration, technological developments, and human connectedness. Here are 10 of the top presentations, as chosen by our friends at OuiShare. 1. Nick Grossman: Bringing Collaborative Platforms to Market
The third annual OuiShare Fest, hosted with the theme “Lost in Transition” in Paris’ charming Cabaret Sauvage, concluded last Friday. This unique gathering of sharing economy leaders from around the world found itself in at least two ways with their latest edition.
Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / Foter / CC BY. Article cross-posted from On the Commons. Written by Peter Barnes.
Last week, commons advocates the P2P Foundation, Guerilla Translation, and their partners launched Commons Transition, a public forum to further commons-oriented policy-making. Commons Transition is based on the groundbreaking work of the Free/Libre Open Knowledge (FLOK) Society in Ecuador.
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