Frontiers of Commoning, with David Bollier

The Schumacher Center for a New Economics, David Bollier
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  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

A monthly conversation with creative activists pioneering new forms of commoning.

  1. The Future Requires a Politics of Relationality

    NOV 1

    The Future Requires a Politics of Relationality

    At a time when the superstructures of modern civilization seem terminally messed up, the authors of 'Relationality: An Emergent Politics of Life Beyond the Human' argue that we must start a new conversation about the nature of being and modern myths of the self. Anthropologist Arturo Escobar, cultural studies scholar Michal Osterweil, and biologist Kriti Sharma draw on a diversity of sources – evolutionary science, cultural studies, art and poetry, Indigenous practices, wisdom traditions, and more – to explain the deep interdependence of all living beings: a perspective can help us develop a new political economy and culture. More on the commons at www.Bollier.org.

    47 min
  2. Chris Smaje's Vision of a Post-Collapse Eco-Localism that Works

    OCT 1

    Chris Smaje's Vision of a Post-Collapse Eco-Localism that Works

    What might the world look like if capitalist growth and carbon emissions continue, and modern civilization collapses? Chris Smaje, a small farmer and writer in England, extrapolates from existing trends to sketch a vision of post-capitalist social economies. His new book, 'Finding Lights in a Dark Age: Sharing Land, Work and Craft,' envisions a world that is largely rural, decentralized, and grounded in local ecosystems and self-reliance. The book is neither a doomer nor survivalist tract, but rather an intelligent, speculative inquiry into models of collective organization, bottom-up governance, and ethical belief that will shape "local livelihood communities."

    44 min
  3. Isabel Carlisle, Bioregioning as a Response to 'Gaia on the Move'

    SEP 1

    Isabel Carlisle, Bioregioning as a Response to 'Gaia on the Move'

    As climate change and other crises makes the economy and everyday life more precarious, innovative forms of bioregional action are needed to respond to 'Gaia on the move," says Isabel Carlisle, founder and director of the Bioregional Learning Centre (BLC) in Devon, England. Carlisle describes the importance of building local ecological expertise, participation, and institutions to build community resilience in the years ahead, especially because centralized nation-states will not be able to do the job. The BLC is part of a growing worldwide interest in 'bioregioning' -- activism, projects, and philosophical shifts to build a new type of socio-ecological economy. More on the commons at www.Bollier.org.

    54 min
  4. Rabble Evan Henshaw-Plath: How Network Protocols Enable Digital Commons & Open Marrkets

    AUG 1

    Rabble Evan Henshaw-Plath: How Network Protocols Enable Digital Commons & Open Marrkets

    Evan Henshaw-Plath, better known as Rabble, is a pioneering programmer for social media platforms and decentralized technologies. Here, Rabble explains how network protocols are critical infrastructure for enabling -- or impeding -- commons and open markets, not to mention privacy, free speech, and community control. Their ambition is a future in which everyone has "access to authentic, private online communities built on care, connection, and sustainable relationships.” [More on commons at www.Bollier.org.]

    58 min
  5. Gustavo Salas of Cecosesola: Prioritizing Commoning in a World of Capitalist Markets

    JUL 1

    Gustavo Salas of Cecosesola: Prioritizing Commoning in a World of Capitalist Markets

    Gustavo Salas describes the remarkable culture of commoning at Cecosesola, a federation of 30 rural and urban cooperatives in Venezuela that serves hundreds of thousands of people with fresh produce, healthcare, funerary services, and many other goods and services. Cecosesola's priority is to create spaces of trust, togetherness, and self-improvement for its 1,300 associates while meeting the everyday needs of low-income families. Market prices and norms are secondary. For its work in escaping the transactional, capitalist-driven mindset and pioneering forms of provisioning that are fair, personally enriching, and much more affordable, Cecosesola won the Right Livelihood Award in 2022.

    33 min
  6. Jack Kloppenburg on Sharing Seeds in a World of Proprietary Agriculture

    JUN 1

    Jack Kloppenburg on Sharing Seeds in a World of Proprietary Agriculture

    Jack Kloppenburg has been a leading figure in the fight to protect seed-sharing commons over the past forty years. It's a struggle that began in the 1980s as large ag-biotech companies have sought to make seeds privately owned and proprietary using all sorts of legal, technological, and market restrictions. Kloppenburg has been a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison since 1985 and a founder of the Open Source Seed Initiative. OSSI leads a movement of farmers, breeders, gardeners, and small seed companies dedicated to building a culture of openly shareable seeds and breeding innovation.

    45 min
  7. Tom Llewellyn on the Many, Innovative Spheres of Organized Sharing

    MAY 1

    Tom Llewellyn on the Many, Innovative Spheres of Organized Sharing

    Tom Llewellyn, Executive Director of Shareable, describes the countless varieties of organized sharing that it supports through its journalism, organizing, and partnerships. In recent years, Shareable has helped amplify the work of mutual aid networks, expand the Libraries of Things concept, championed new forms of urban commoning, and develop new infrastructures of sharing. Its work on creative, bottom-up collaborations also showcases dozens of vanguard ideas, such as peer-to-peer lending, DIY bike lanes in cities, emergency battery networks for neighborhoods, and "Permablitz" conversions of suburban backyards into micro-farms for vegetables.

    38 min
  8. Commoning within Arts Collectives, Episode #61

    APR 1

    Commoning within Arts Collectives, Episode #61

    What are some of the distinctive ways that precarious arts collectives share resources, support each other, and make art? This episode hears from artists' collectives in three countries to learn how they organize their commoning practices. The three collectives are the "-" (dash) collective in Iran (with an artist who goes by the pseudonym "M" for political reasons); Papaya Kuir, a lesbo-transfeminist collective for Latin American migrants in the Netherlands (with Mexican-born Alejandra Maria Ortiz); and Indonesian artists who practice 'nongkrong' (Angga Cipta, aka "ACip," on left in photo, and MG Pringgotono, founder of Serrum and Gudskul, on right). More on commons at www.Bollier.org.

    53 min
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About

A monthly conversation with creative activists pioneering new forms of commoning.

Information

  • Creator
    The Schumacher Center for a New Economics, David Bollier
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    68
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2020-2025. Licensed under Creative Commons 4.0 BY-SA license.
  • Show Website
    Frontiers of Commoning, with David Bollier

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