Commons Transition
Stories
Stories
News and Articles
Browse through our selection of featured essays, interviews and texts on Commons Transition projects and related initiatives.
P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival
"If you want to flip your economic mind, and leap to the cutting edge of commons-based thinking, simply read on." - Kate Raworth
Peer to Peer: A Commons Manifesto
As capitalism faces a series of structural crises, a new social, political and economic dynamic is emerging: peer to peer. This book explores it in depth.
The City Taking the Commons to Heart
Ghent is engaging with the Commons by re-imagining its structures around citizen participation, the sharing of resources, and ‘translocal’ cooperation.
Organizing and Governing the Commons: A Coop-Commons Multilevel Dialogue with Municipalities and Labour
Facilitating the convergence cooperatives, social and solidarity economy, commons (and open source and collaborative platforms), cities and trade unions.
Changing Societies through Urban Commons Transitions
A report examining the rise of the urban commons as both a bottom-up emergence by citizens/commoners and a radical municipal administrative configuration.
Summer of Commoning: a Tour of French Communities and Projects
During the summer of 2017, the P2P Foundation's Maïa Dereva travelled throughout France. Now she shares the stories of the commoners she met along the...
Peer to Peer and the Commons: A matter, energy and thermodynamic perspective
Commons Transition presents this report in two volumes by Céline Piques and Xavier Rizos, with the support of P2P Foundation founder Michel Bauwens. The...
The History and Evolution of the Commons
Is it possible to historicize the commons, to describe the evolution of the commons over time? This is our first draft and preliminary attempt to do so.
Cities Against the Wall
Two years into its governing mandate, how is Spain’s municipalist movement fighting back against the impositions of global capital?
Commons in the time of monsters: How P2P Politics can change the world, one city at a time
Can Commons and P2P practices offer viable solutions for our present and future social, political and ecological crises? This is the story of how it's...
How the Commons can revitalize Europe
Where does EU policy stand today with regards to the commons? An article by Sophie Bloemen and David Hammerstein.
Commons Transition and P2P: a Primer
This short primer explains the Commons and P2P, how they interrelate and how a Commons transition could to reinvigorate work, politics, production, and...
Nine Key Political Propositions for Building the Commons
Martin O’Shaughnessy summarizes Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval´s nine political propositions on how to build the commons at the global level.
From Platform to Open Cooperativism
Two movements mesh cooperative traditions with the digital revolution: Platform Cooperativism, and Open Cooperativism. How do they relate?
Developing a Coop-Commons alliance for a Collaborative Equitable and Participatory Economy
In-depth report from the Platform and Open Cooperativism Conference at the European Economic and Social Committee, 5 December 2016. Includes audio.
Ten Theses on Trump
As 'normality' decomposes under Trump, can we find new forms of organizing production compatible with social justice and ecological sustainability?
Free trade vs free tech
Free tech is a better objective for the global political economy and, probably, a more viable one. And it is surely one for societies to start fighting...
Value in the Commons Economy
Why the Real Accounting Revolution is not the Blockchain, but Open Contributory Accounting Systems
Peer To Peer: A New Opportunity For The Left
Peer to Peer allows for the creation of new modes of production and allocation, as well as new types of social relations beyond the state-market nexus.
What the P2P Foundation did in 2016
2016 has been widely acknowledged as difficult year but it turned to be a very productive period for the P2P Foundation and the wider P2P/Commons community.
Common space for exchange: cities in transition and citizen struggles
How has activism in Spain produced new political platforms that are victorious in municipal elections? These are the stories of the cities in transition.
Solidarity in Brussels: the voices of the European Commons Assembly
On Wednesday 16th November about 100 commoners were swarming outside the doors of the European Parliament for the first European Commons Assembly.
Re-imagine the Future: A List of Resources for Commoning
Commons-oriented resources and links on the growing world of system-change activism, legal and policy innovation, academic research and political analysis.
10 Ways to Accelerate the Peer-to-Peer and Commons Economy
What is peer production and commons economics? More importantly, how can they help bring about a thriving economy that work for people and planet?
Connecting the Dots the P2P Way: The Commons as the Response to the Structural Crises of the Global System
Against pseudo-abundance, scarcity engineering and perpetually increasing social injustice… Enter the Commons. An article by Michel Bauwens
Feminist Socialism and the Commons
Why are the Commons and P2P movements so male dominated? Is the economy of domestic labor as hidden in the P2P/Commons movement as in the rest of society?
Progressive Philanthropy Needs to Spur System Change
The weak reforms enacted after the 2008 financial crisis….the ineffectuality of climate change negotiations over the course of twenty-one years….the...
The Commons Collaborative Economy explodes in Barcelona
In 2016 Barcelona, it is well understood that the “Sharing Economy” is a flawed model, while the Commons Collaborative Economy is a totally different...
The dark side of digital finance: On financial machines, financial robots & financial AI
If the future of finance is going to be digital, we want it to be populated with those who value the deeper tenets of open source philosophy
Transmediale 2016: Necessary Conversations Off-the-Cloud
Furtherfield's Marc Garrett provides a P2P/Commons oriented overview of the goings-on at Transmediale 2016 and the necessary conversations we have off-cloud
Has ‘Degrowth’ Outgrown its Own Name?
Kate Raworth, renegade economist and development re-thinker, feels that degrowth has outgrown its name. Giorgos Kallis the world’s leading academic on...
Freedom technologists and the future of global justice
What role have internet freedom activists played in ongoing struggles for progressive political change around the world and how can the pursuit of liberty...
Rebooting Work: Programming the Economy for People
Digital and robotic technologies offer us both a bounty of productivity, but how do we employ people when robots are taking all the jobs?
What the P2P Foundation did in 2015
2015 was a year of groundbreaking work and whirlwind travel for the P2P Foundation, Commons Transition and the P2PLab. Here are some of the highlights.
Top 10 P2P Trends of 2015
A list of P2P trends for reconstructing our world with distributed infrastructures, shared resources, commons, and related livelihoods.
Mapping the emerging Post-Capitalist paradigm and its main thinkers
2 diagrams that map the big picture of the emerging post-capitalist paradigm, underpinned by peer-to-peer and collaborative dimensions.
Imagining the (R)Urban Commons in 2040
Commons scholar Silke Helfrich invites you to take a walk through an environment that we can co-create: The (Rural) Urban Commons of 2040.
How Platform Coops Can Beat Death Stars Like Uber to Create a Real Sharing Economy
We have an epic choice before us between platform coops and Death Star platforms, and the time to decide is now.
Post Growth Futures: How do we get there?
Post Growth Futures: How not-for-profit enterprises can make meaningful change bypassing immense private wealth accumulation and slowing global growth.
P2P Revolution and Commons Phase Transition
Contribute to the phase transition first; and be ready for the coming sparks and organic events that will require the mobilization of all.
Who May Use the King’s Forest? The Meaning of Magna Carta, Commons and Law in Our Time
"In King John’s time, enclosure was mostly about the forest. Today it’s about everything, including life itself." The Magna Carta and Law for the Commons.
Hope, power and delusion
Jeremy Corbyn has won the race for leadership of the Labour party. But Greek and Spanish activists advise against placing too much faith in political parties.
Integrating activism into governance institutions
The idea of the commons as an organising principle has moved from the streets to the heart of the European political establishment.
Here’s What a Commons-Based Economy Looks Like
Michel Bauwens focuses on three specific realms crucial to a Commons-Based Economy – ecological sustainability, open knowledge and social solidarity.
The Problem with Saving the World
The UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals aim to save the world without transforming it.
The Death of the Labor Market: An Interview with David de Ugarte
David de Ugarte, founder and theorist of the Spanish cyberpunk group las Indias, on the organization, technology and P2P opportunities of cooperative groups
Property Rights, Inequality and Commons
David Bollier describes how the Commons (and Commons-based law) might be a force for reducing inequality
The Commons Have Come to Town
The Commons have come to Barcelona to promote a Good Life that redefines economic and social policies, municipal responsibilities and democratic practices
The Real Question of the Referendum: The Enclosure of the Greek Commons
The real question of the referendum is whether Greek citizens approve or disprove the enclosure of their commons.
Closed in and crowded out: urbanising against the city
In the gap between people and increasingly unaccountable institutions beholden to financial interests, citizens are rising up to reclaim the commons.
Michel Bauwens: The Transition Will Not Be Smooth Sailing
A pioneer of the peer-to-peer movement lays the conceptual foundations of a production system that would serve as an alternative to industrial capitalism.
Bologna Celebrates One Year of a Bold Experiment in Urban Commoning
The Bologna Regulation for the Care and Regeneration of the Urban Commons, a unique city policy that has turned “no you can’t” into “yes we can...
A new evaluation of the FLOK experience in Ecuador: what’s next?
Michel Bauwens reflects on the highly innovative qualities of Ecuador's FLOK Society project while offering ideas on how to transcend its local context.
Buen Conocer/FLOK Society: public policy and sustainable models for a social knowledge economy in Ecuador
FLOK Society book launch: "Buen Conocer/FLOK Society" describes the participatory process in Ecuador to create public policies and sustainable models.
The Revolution will (not) be decentralised: Blockchains
Blockchain-based technologies may have a role to play in the commons. They look set to have significant implications for money, for property and for cooperative...
6 Lessons for the U.S. from Spain’s Democratic Revolution
How Spain’s 15M movement went from occupying city squares to city halls—without compromising its independence
The Commons – a new European concept?
Will the Commons be embraced as a template for a more participatory politics? A report on the first European Parliament Common Goods Intergroup.
Towards a peer society based on the commons
The Commons are more effectively utilized and developed as community-managed resources and infrastructures than as state-managed property.
Towards a new municipal agenda in Spain
Carlos Delclós writes about new generation of activist-politicians advancing the municipal agenda in Spain.
Rights to Water and Land, a Common Struggle
Land and water resources are increasingly scarce, and therefore critical to the security of societies and the sovereignty of States. A special presentation...
Research for Transition
The problem with this current economic model is that most of the value created is not put back into the commons.
Open Coop Development Agency
Unlike their traditional for-profit counterparts, Open Cooperatives are oriented towards the common good in their statutes.
Civil Power and the Partner State
John Restakis speaks about the Civil Economy as a contrast to the the crisis that has gripped Europe, and the western democracies, over the last 30 years.
Syriza’s new plan for economic development
P2P Lab Founder Vasilis Kostakis reviews Syriza’s new plan for economic development and how it relates to the P2P/Commons movement.
Open Co-ops: Inspiration, Legal Structures and Tools
In this feature packed article, Josef Davies-Coates talks about the inspiration, legal structures and tools that can help Open Cooperativism become the...
SELC and Shareable Kickoff Campaign to Save Seed Sharing in the U.S.
Neil Thapar first encountered seed issues in law school when he worked with the Center for Food Safety against genetically-modified food. But...
Civil Power and the Path Forward for Greece
That Syriza is taking the social economy seriously is a good sign. The social economy represents one of the very few bright spots in Greece, with hundreds...
Commoners in Transition
Commoners in Transition showcases exclusive interviews with individuals and teams working together to increase the viability of the Commons.
Includes our series on the 100 Women Who Are Co-Creating the P2P Society.
Includes our series on the 100 Women Who Are Co-Creating the P2P Society.
The commons, the state and the public: A Latin American perspective
What are the commons and what is their political, social and economic relevance? An interview with Daniel Chavez from the Transnational Institute.
Everything for everyone: Michel Bauwens interviews Nathan Schneider
This book followed especially naturally from the Occupy one, Thank You, Anarchy. After the protests died down in 2012 and 2013, I started noticing that...
Elena Martinez and Silvia Díaz of P2P Models on Blockchain, Feminism and Affective P2P
Silvia Díaz Molina is an anthropologist specialized in Gender Studies and a social researcher seeking to ground her work in more humane and sustainable...
The Political Economy of the Common: An Interview with Andrea Fumagalli
P2P Foundation founder Michel Bauwens in conversation with economics professor and coordinator of the Italian node of commonfare.net project, Andrea Fumagalli. ...
Beet the System! A dialogue on food sovereignty, inclusivity and healing the rural/urban divide.
Can food and food sovereignty be the catalyst for a Commons Transition? FIAN is working with grassroots movements and local administrations to make it...
Freedom, Security and Commoning in the Age of the Precariat: an interview with Dirk Holemans
Michel Bauwens interviews Dirk Holemans to explore how freedom, security and a new social contract could take place in the age of precarity.
Susana Martín Belmonte on de-commodification, abundance and capital for the commons
An interview with Spanish economist Susana Martín Belmonte on her work on monetary reform, commons-oriented P2P systems and future economies.
Julien Reynier and Fabrice Clerc from L’Atelier Paysan on self-build communities in farming
L'Atelier Paysan is a French cooperative working with farmers to design machines and buildings adapted to the specific practices of small farm agroecology.
Mayo Fuster Morell on Collaborative and Digital Commons
As part of our series on the 100 Women Who Are Co-Creating the P2P Society, Rachel O’dwyer interviews Mayo Fuster Morell on her varied work in the...
This is how people power wins an election: the story of Ahora Madrid
How do you win an election? According to Ahora Madrid’s activist councillors, the key is keeping it real - with real openness and participation.
Digital Generative Economies and the New Guilds: A Conversation between Michel Bauwens and Douglas Rushkoff
An audio conversation between Michel Bauwens and Douglas Rushkoff covering finance, the commons how to replace the extractive economy with generative models
Silke Helfrich on Patterns of Commoning
What are the patterns of commoning? Michel Bauwens interviews Silke Helfrich on her work in the commons, and her latest Commons Stategies Group anthology
Maïa Dereva on the Emergence of Assemblies of the Commons in France
Michel Bauwens and José M. Ramos interview Maïa Dereva on the emergence and future of Assemblies of the Commons in France.
John Thackara on How To Thrive In The Next Economy
John Thackara is a writer and event producer who has spent a lifetime searching for stories about the practical steps taken by communities to realize a...
Francesca Musiani on Internet Governance and the Role of the P2P Practices
As part of our series on the 100 Women of P2P, Rachel O'Dwyer talks to Francesca Musiani about Internet Governance, informal P2P practices and much more.
Sophie Jerram on Digital Culture and Art as Commons
Michel Bauwens talks to New Zealand-based artist Sophie Jerram about art, digital commons and the overlooked commoning traditions of Maori culture.
Andrianna Natsoulas on Food Sovereignty and the Commons
As part of our series on the 100 Women Who Are Co-Creating the P2P Society, the P2P Foundation’s Michel Bauwens interviews Andrianna Natsoulas from...
Alison Powell on Open-Source Cultures and Free Software Advocacy
The changing role of wireless infrastructure in reclaiming the city and why creating a P2P society needs much more than the right technical infrastructure.
Lynn Foster on Open Value Accounting and Network Resource Planning
Network Resource Planning (NRP) focuses on economic networks that support peer production and other egalitarian means of production, and which build commons.
Stephanie Rearick on Mutual Aid Networks and Local Solidarity
"The aim of Mutual Aid Networks is to redesign work. To apply what we know about economic and community building tools to creating a new vision for work."
Ruth Catlow of Furtherfield on the Commons, Art and Technology
Digital culture is changing society: Ruth Catlow, co-founder and co-director of Furtherfield, talks to Michel Bauwens about Art, the Commons, and Technology.
Sybille Saint Girons on Facilitating P2P Cooperation for Commons Development
Why do humans, full of good qualities and wishing for happiness, not manage to live together in harmony? Sybille Saint Girons interviewed by Michel Bauwens.
Blockchained: A conversation with Vinay Gupta
The P2P Foundation's James Burke chats with Vinay Gupta about homelessness, Ethereum, blockchains, and whether the Republicans were right or not.
Commons Governance and Law with Primavera De Filippi
The P2P Foundation's Rachel O'Dwyer interviews Primavera De Filippi as part of our 100 Women Who Are Co-Creating the P2P Society series.
“Art is Open Source” with Oriana Persico
CyberEcology, Ubiquitous Commons and P2P Culture: Penny Travlou and Michel Bauwens interview Oriana Persico of Art is Open Source.
“The City as Commons” with Professor Christian Iaione
"The race to the bottom that globalization has triggered is no longer an available strategy for a knowledge economy system like Mantova." Michel Bauwens...
Share the World’s Resources, a conversation with Rajesh Makwana
"Given this rich and still evolving conversation on the role of the commons in society, a definition of what exactly a commons transition would entail...
Fairness and the Commons, an Interview with Enric Duran
Here we present a Commons Transition interview with Enric Duran, who's currently busy organizing the FairCoop Open Cooperative, a community built effort...
Janice Figueiredo: From Buen Conocer to Commons Transition
We present an interview with Janice Figueiredo, who was part of the FLOKSociety project launched in Ecuador. Janice spoke to us about her own experience...
Chris Tittle and Yassi Eskandari from the Sustainable Economies Law Center
In this section, we will periodically feature interviews and articles involving Commoners in Transition, or, individuals and teams working together towards...
Video
Our video library brings together the most relevant lectures, interviews and documentaries related to Commons Transition.
Re-imagine the Future: A List of Resources for Commoning
Commons-oriented resources and links on the growing world of system-change activism, legal and policy innovation, academic research and political analysis.
We’re All In This Together: The Commons, the Collaborative Economies and the Digital Communities
A short film exploring the distinctions between in-person events and the more decentralized ways we interact and collaborate as digital communities.
The Promise of the Commons
The Promise of the Commons questions the orthodox opinion that only private ownership can protect the ecosystems. It discusses the thoughts and rights...
Seeing the Forest
"Seeing the Forest" makes a powerful point about the potential of open collaboration is successfully managing something as large and biophysical as a forest.
POC21: “The World We Need”
POC21: Where more than 100 makers, designers, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and geeks join forces to prototype the collaborative, circular economy.
An Introduction to Basic P2P Ideas
Four short videos specifically designed to introduce newcomers to Commons-oriented P2P approaches to politics, economics, fairness and sustainability
How Peer to Peer will Change the World: An Interview with Michel Bauwens
P2P Foundation co-founder Michel Bauwens talks about his personal background, the ongoing development of the P2P Foundation and how P2P could save the...
The Cooperative Model Revisited: Michel Bauwens
This video from the Open Everything Convergence features Michel Bauwens exploring the relationship between the cooperative movement and the Commons.
Donnie Maclurcan: Where Sustainable Design Meets Business Sustainability
Watch this thought-provoking video to see how not-for-profit enterprise will be at the heart of a sustainable future by 2050.
The Cooperative Model Revisited: John Restakis
John Restakis independent researcher and teacher on co-operative economies and globalization discusses the challenges facing the cooperative movement.
What is P2P? An Introduction
“We can’t continue with a system that creates wealth, but that’s also destroying the planet and creating so much social inequality. I think that...
Special Reports
In depth special reports featuring commons-oriented approaches to solving the needs of communities and the environments they inhabit.
The Catalan Integral Cooperative: an organizational study of a post-capitalist cooperative
What does a post-capitalist, cooperative and open source society would look like? A full study on the Catalan Integral Cooperative.
A Commons Transition Plan for the City of Ghent
Michel Bauwens documents the emergence and growth of the Commons in Ghent and suggests the bests public policies to support commons-based initiatives.
Building a Cooperative Solidarity Commonwealth
Jessica Gordon Nembhard lays out the vision for a 21st century Cooperative Commonwealth characterised by interlocking ownership and solidarity structures.
The Real Circular Economy
‘The Real Circular Economy’ studies how relocalising production with not-for-profit business models helps build resilient and prosperous societies
Policies for a Post-Growth Economy
Offsetting the limits to growth: Here's a range of bold policy interventions to produce a stable and flourishing post-growth economy.
Unifying commons-based projects in a self-organised solidarity economy
An idea for unifying commons-based projects in a self-organised solidarity economy that’s both easy and convenient to join.
Renewable Energy After COP21: Nine issues for climate leaders to think about on the journey home
COP21 in Paris is over. Now it’s back to the hard work of fighting for, and implementing, the energy transition. Richard Heinberg and David Fridley argue...
A Charter for Democracy
The Charter for Democracy proposes a politics grounded in environmental and social realities, based on the Commons and defended from corporate interests.
The EU and the Commons: A Commons Approach to European Knowledge Policy
The Commons encourages the democratic governance of knowledge for the common good and identifies it as a shared resource and collective responsibility.
Toward Regenerative Society: Plan for Rapid Transition
"The ecological crisis is not just a symptom or a byproduct of industrial society. It reflects a deep predicament – a crisis of civilization."
Community Land Trusts, Urban Land Reform and the Commons
This Special Report provides a crash course in Community Land Trusts and the Cooperative Land Bank and how practical land reform can be systematically...
In Defense of the Commons
Where well managed, the Commons are capable of preserving the long term health of the resources and sustained benefits to the community relying on them.
From basic income to social dividend: sharing the value of common resources
It’s time to examine and broaden the debate on how to fund a universal basic income. An article by Rajesh Makwana, from Share the World's Resources
A New Alignment of Movements? Part II: Strategies for a Convergence of Movements
Can leading alt-economic and social movements find ways to work more closely together? Can there be a greater convergence and collaboration in fighting...
A New Alignment of Movements? Part I: The General Challenge
Can leading alt-economic and social movements find ways to work more closely together? Can there be a greater convergence and collaboration in fighting...
Toward an Open Co-Operativism:
The P2P economy needs bridges between cooperative culture and the organizational forms that can sustain it and advance the general well-being of society.
Co-operative Commonwealth: De-commodifying Land and Money Part 3
In this, the final part of our serialization of "Co-operative Commonwealth: De-commodifying Land and Money", Pat Conaty talks about monetary reform, Commons-oriented...
Co-operative Commonwealth: De-commodifying Land and Money Part 2
In this, the second part of three in our serialization of "Co-operative Commonwealth: De-commodifying Land and Money", Pat Conaty talks about Co-operative...
Co-operative Commonwealth: De-commodifying Land and Money Part 1
In this, the first part of three in our serialization of "Co-operative Commonwealth: De-commodifying Land and Money", Pat Conaty examines the cost of access...
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Slider Image Credits: “News and Articles” by Louis Vest. “Commoners in Transition” by Swapnil Kale. “Videos” by Louis Vest. “Special Reports” by Bob Vonderau.
Category Header Image Credits: “News and Articles” by Adventure Priority and Thomas Hawk. “Commoners in Transition” by Flor A. “Video” by Victoria Stothard. “Special Reports” by Mike Boening Photography.