Documents Bauwens, Michel 4 results

"This policy brief discusses the implications for labour and trade unions of new forms of work that are organised via distributed digital networks using the internet.

The authors focus on what has been called ‘commons-based peer production' but also address the more controversial case of ‘platform capitalism' (such as Uber or AirBnB). These new forms of production and work pose real challenges for the trade union movement and workers. According to some research, there is evidence of a direct connection between precarious work, new unemployment and these emerging forms of production and work.

The aim of the authors of this brief is to highlight also the opportunities that the emergence of peer production offers for the labour movement and workers in the form of a new wave of cooperative organisations that can create ‘non-subordinate labour'."

"Pour la plupart des gens, le peer-to-peer évoque des réseaux où les utilisateurs peuvent échanger des documents. Michel Bauwens présente ici une vision bien plus large de ce concept qui est amené à s étendre à tous les aspects de la vie. En effet, pour la première fois dans l histoire, le peer-to-peer permet aux gens du monde entier de créer des choses ensemble une encyclopédie (Wikipédia), tout type d objet (avec les imprimantes 3D) ou bien de financer des projets (avec le crowdfunding).
Le modèle émergent du pair à pair veut contourner la logique de fausse abondance matérielle et de rareté artificielle de l immatériel. L auteur perçoit dans l enchevêtrement apparent de phénomènes nouveaux tels que l économie collaborative, l open source, le crowdsourcing, les Fablabs, les micro-usines, le mouvement des makers, l agriculture urbaine etc. , un modèle qui nous mène vers une société post-capitaliste, où le marché doit se soumettre à la logique des communs. L auteur dessine donc ici les énormes possibilités du nouveau système de pair à pair qui, loin de n être qu un nouveau mode de production, annonce en fait une révolution de la productivité qui va changer la société sur tous les plans ...
Car c est bien le germe d un nouveau paradigme qui est en train de voir le jour au sein du capitalisme. Pour sauver le monde, une relocalisation de la production et un développement de la collaboration mondiale sur le plan des connaissances vont révolutionner notre façon de produire, de penser et de vivre ensemble.
Biographie de l'auteur"

"The aim of this book is not to provide yet another critique of capitalism but rather to contribute to the ongoing dialogue for post-capitalist construction, and to discuss how another world could be possible. It builds on the idea that peer-to-peer infrastructures are gradually becoming the general conditions of work, economy, and society, considering peer production as a social advancement within capitalism but with various post-capitalistic aspects in need of protection, enforcement, stimulation and connection with progressive social movements. Using a four-scenario approach, the authors seek to simplify possible outcomes and to explore relevant trajectories of the current techno-economic paradigm within and beyond capitalism. They postulate that the mature peer production communities pose a sustainable alternative to capital accumulation, that of the circulation of the Commons. They make some tentative transition proposals towards a Commons-based economy and society for the state, the market and the civic domain."

"This essay discusses peer-to-peer social dynamics and the relevant technological infrastructures that enable new modes of production. Commons-based peer production is presented as an alternative to the profit-driven peer-to-peer production models of the digital economy. The latter models utilize the peer-to-peer dynamics to harness social creativity, collaboration and information sharing. The created value is then captured and valorized towards profit maximization. This essay argues that there are possibilities for moving away from such extractive models to more generative ones. Commons-based peer production seems to encapsulate both social and environmental sustainability, and thus has the potential to influence such a transition. As commons-based peer production cannot yet reproduce itself outside of a mutual dependence on capitalism, it risks being subordinated. To counter this, a commons-oriented solid and protective ecosystem is needed to fully unleash the creative capabilities of commons-based peer production."