Free, Fair, and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons

by David Bollier, Silke Helfrich

Overview

The power of the commons as a free, fair system of provisioning and governance beyond capitalism, socialism, and other -isms.

From co-housing and agroecology to fisheries and open-source everything, people around the world are increasingly turning to 'commoning' to emancipate themselves from a predatory market-state system.

Free, Fair, and Alive presents a foundational re-thinking of the commons — the self-organized social system that humans have used for millennia to meet their needs. It offers a compelling vision of a future beyond the dead-end binary of capitalism versus socialism that has almost brought the world to its knees.

Written by two leading commons activists of our time, this guide is a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook. Highly readable and full of colorful stories, coverage includes:

• Internal dynamics of commoning
• How the commons worldview opens up new possibilities for change
• Role of language in reorienting our perceptions and political strategies
• Seeing the potential of commoning everywhere.

Free, Fair, and Alive provides a fresh, non-academic synthesis of contemporary commons written for a popular, activist-minded audience. It presents a compelling narrative: that we can be free and creative people, govern ourselves through fair and accountable institutions, and experience the aliveness of authentic human presence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865719217
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.98(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

David Bollier is an activist, scholar, and blogger who is focused on the commons as a new/old paradigm for re-imagining economics, politics, and culture. He pursues his commons scholarship and activism as Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics and as cofounder of the Commons Strategies Group, an international advocacy project. Author of Think Like a Commoner and other books, he blogs at www.Bollier.org, and lives in Amherst, MA.

Silke Helfrich is an independent activist, author, scholar, and speaker. She cofounded the Commons Strategies Group and Commons-Institute, was former head of the regional office of Heinrich Böll Foundation for Central America, Cuba, and Mexico, and holds degrees in Romance languages/pedagogy and in social sciences. Helfrich is the editor and co-author of several books on the Commons, and she blogs at www.commons.blog. She lives in Neudenau, Germany.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: The Commons as a Transformative Perspective
1. Commons and Commoning
Commoning is Everywhere, but Widely Misunderstood
What Island Is Not a Commons
Commons in Real Life
     Zaatari Refugee Camp
     Buurtzorg Nederland
     WikiHouse
     Community Supported Agriculture
     Guifi.net
Understanding Commons Holistically in the Wild

2. The OntoShift to the Commons
The Window Through Which We See the World
The OntoStory of the Modern West
OntoStories as a Hidden Deep Dimension of Politics
The Nested-I and Ubuntu Rationality: The Relational Ontology of the Commons
Complexity Science and Commoning
Making an OntoShift to the Commons

3. Language and the Creation of Commons
Words, Terms, and Categories
The Tenacity of Systems of Opinion; The Harmonyof Illusions
Language and World-Making
Frames, Metaphors, and the Terms of Our Cognition
Language Evokes and Sustains a Worldview
Keywords from a Fading Era
Misleading Binaries
How Commoning Moves Beyond the Open/Closed Binary
Glossary of Commons-Friendly Terms

Part II: The Triad of Commoning
Introduction
Principles and Patterns
A Word on Methodology

4. The Social Life of Commoning
Cultivate Shared Purpose & Values
Ritualize Togetherness
Contribute Freely
Practice Gentle Reciprocity
Trust Situated Knowing
Deepen Communion with Nature
Preserve Relationships in Addressing Conflicts
Reflect on Your Peer Governance

5. Peer Governance Through Commoning
A Few Words About Governance
Patterns of Peer Governance
Bring Diversity into Shared Purpose
On the Origins of Peer Governance
Create Semi-permeable Membranes
Honor Transparency in a Sphere of Trust
Share Knowledge Generously
Assure Consent in Decision Making
Sociocracy and Consent-Based Decision Making
Rely on Heterarchy
Peer Monitor & Apply Graduated Sanctions
Relationalize Property
Keep Commons & Commerce Distinct
Enclosures as a Threat to Commons
Finance Commons Provisioning

6. Provisioning Through Commons
Make & Use Together
Support Care & Decommodified Work
Share the Risks of Provisioning
Contribute & Share
Varieties of Allocation in a Commons
Pool, Cap & Divide Up
Pool, Cap & Mutualize
Trade with Price Sovereignty
Cecosesola, or How to Ignore the Market
Use Convivial Tools
Rely on Distributed Structures
Creatively Adapt & Renew

Part III: Growing the Commonsverse
Introduction

7. Rethinking Property
Me, My Freedom, and My Property
Property is Relational
Collective Property as a Counterpoint to Individual Property?
Possession is Distinct From Property
Custom as Vernacular Law
Inalienability: A Crucial Concept for Commoning
Rediscovering the Power of Res Nullius
Property and the Objectification of Social Relations

8. Relationalize Property
Decommodifying a Supermarket
Why Relationalize Property?
A Platform Designed for Collaboration: Federated Wiki
Neutralizing Capital in the Housing Market: The Mietshäuser Syndikat Story
Hacking Property to Help Build Commons
Platform Cooperatives
Open Source Seeds
Commoning Mushrooms: The Iriaiken Philosophy
Building Stronger Commons Through Relationalized Property
Re-Introducing Meaning Making into Modern Law

9. State Power and Commoning
"The State" and "The People"
Equal Under Law, Unequal in Reality
Some Working Notes on State Power
Beyond Reform or Revolution
The Power of Commoning
Revamping State Power to Support Commoning
Catalyze & Propagate
Establish Commons at the Macroscale
Provide Infrastructures for Commoning
Create New Types of Finance for the Commons
Commons and Subsidiarity
What about Fundamental Rights Guaranteed by the State?

10. Take Commoning to Scale
Charters for Commoning
Distributed Ledgers as a Platform for Commoning
A Brief Explanation of Hash and Hashchain, Blockchain, and Holochain
Commons-Public Partnerships
Commoning at Scale

Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Notes on the Methodology Used for Identifying Patterns of Commoning
Appendix B: Visual Grammar for the Pattern Illustrations
Appendix C: Commons and Commoning Tools Mentioned in This Book
Appendix D: Elinor Ostrom's Eight Design Principles for Successful Commons and Commoning Tools
Notes
Index
About the Authors
A Note About the Publisher

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"If you want a truly exciting glimpse into what the world after this one might look like, this book is for you. When we move past "markets solve all problems" into a more mature approach, it will incorporate precisely the insights in this lively and engaging volume."
— Bill McKibben, author, Falter and founder, 350.org

"David Bollier and Silke Helfrich don't just establish that commoning can work, and work well. They've analysed the contours of successful experiments in how humans have come together to make their worlds freer, fairer and more alive. This book is an expansive, thorough, and deeply thoughtful guide to a possible future politics. All that remains is for us to take up their call: not to do it ourselves, but to do it together."
— Raj Patel, author, The Value of Nothing and Stuffed and Starved

"Wiki has confused educators and economists, but not our authors. They explain how and why its social system allows people to make things that couldn't have been made any other way. You will find here a handbook for tackling seemingly intractable problems by sidestepping the mistakes that make them hard."
— Ward Cunningham, inventor of the wiki

"Free, Fair and Alive is an inspiring treatise for our troubled times. It presents a passionate argument for commoning and lays out thoughtful rules to follow to enact a commoned world. Its insurgent worldview is bold, caring, exciting, and challenging all at once. This book offers hope as well as down to earth strategies to all who care for the future of this planet."
— J.K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy, authors, Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities

"Free, Fair and Alive shows the path to respond to the ecological emergency and the polarisation of society, economically, socially, culturally. The recovery and co-creation of the commons offers hope for the planet and people. Through commoning we sow the seeds of Earth Democracy and our future."
— Vandana Shiva, activist and author, Earth Democracy

"Like a medieval cathedral this book is both philosophically lofty and as down-to-earth as a gargoyle. Its structure is encompassing and harmonious, buttressed by psychology, cybernetics, and social science. Magnificent windows let insights illuminate a new world of common facts and a new paradigm of understanding. Major ideas such as the Nested-I or Ubuntu Relationality infuse the whole, tentatively at first but with mounting conviction as this edifice of our future is constructed block by block of example and of reasoning to become a place of refuge from the destructive elements of neoliberalism and a place of collectivity against the fears it instills. Common sense and the sense of the commons are united at last, so, men and women of the commons, let us be up and doing."
— Peter Linebaugh, author, Red Round Globe Hot Burning

"[Free, Fair, and Alive] is grounded in the contemporary practices of commoning and present the transformative potential of commons. With great enthusiasm and a thoughtful attitude the authors introduce the commons as set of practices, believes and values for politicizing the needed societal transformation for a fairer and more sustainable world. If you aim to initiating commoning actions or you are already entangled in a networks of commons, this is the right book for you; after reading it you will have new sparks, new ideas, new energies and the right dose of bravery to (re)launch again and again the counter-hegemonic logic of commons and enjoy the performative power of the everyday commoning."
— Giacomo D'Alisa, Center of Social Study, University of Coimbra, Portugal

"Free, Fair, and Alive eloquently describes a worldview that is both old and new. Old, because it is based on an accurate conception of human nature and society. New, because it provides a robust alternative to individualism, which has dominated social science and public policy for over a half-century. A must-read for all who are working toward an ethics for the whole world."
— David Sloan Wilson, President, Evolution Institute, and author, This View of Life