Blog
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“Free, Fair and Alive”: The New Language of the Commons
How do we talk about the commons when we talk about the Commons? Silke Helfrich and David Bollier have spent years devising a new language for a future commons society. The video shows their working method and their exuberant creativity. The authors explain the necessity of invented terms: “Somehow we had to escape the powerful…
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The Sharing Society’s Vibrant Forum for Studying Cooperation
While there are many ways that academics now study commoning, few show the broad-minded enthusiasm, scholarly engagement, and political awareness that I encountered at the Sharing Society’s international conference in Bilbao, Spain. The May 23-24 event brought together a wide variety of international scholars, practitioners and activists who care about cooperation in its many permutations…
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Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons
This book offers a compelling narrative for change – that we want to be free and creative people, governing ourselves through fair, accountable institutions, and experiencing the aliveness of authentic human presence. Free, fair, and alive! Click here to download the German edition. The forthcoming English edition will be available in September 2019. Video reposted…
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How Does The Commons Work? Our new animation elaborates on David Bollier’s next system
Originally published at The Next System David Bollier, in his paper for our “New Systems: Possibilities and Proposals” series exploring viable political-economic alternatives to the present order, suggests that a commons-based framework could provide a critical template for de-commodification, mutualization, and the organization and control of resources outside of the market. We’re excited to share…