Peer2Politics

Here’s a very special treat. Originally published on Guerrilla Translation, Movimiento por la Democracia´s “Charter for Democracy” stands out as premier example of citizen-led solution making to the various crises we face. It is a constitution for the commons written by commons.

How can we construct a right to a healthy and clean environment that is enforceable in today’s complex international legal order? What legal construct would be visionary and ambitious enough to meet the urgent need for environmental justice and protection and at the same time be enforceable in court rather than fall into the category of ‘soft law’?

We are witnessing the outstanding emergence of a new economic model, the collaborative commons, which some have already stated as the End of the Capitalist Era. One of the first analysts shedding light on the importance of these phenomena was Yochai Benkler in  his book The Wealth of Networks. Few years ago I had the honour of being part of the translator team of this book into Spanish within the @Commontrad  project. Leaded by professor Florencio Cabello, it consisted on translating this theoretical essay on the current economic production through collaborative practices by producing a book through a collaborative practice on PiratePad (rarely known tool at that time). Through this amazing experience, I immediately understood that common value generation is so efficient, democratic and socially valuable that would sooner or later supersede current economic model based on close standards and private property. In other words, this is a new reality that will prevail.