Info, news & debate
Philosophy
A governance commons to support the commons economy? Conversation with Dr Sonia Bussu
Liberal democracy supports capitalism. What kind of governance system would support the commons economy? Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Stroud Commons in conversation with Sonia Bussu, Associate Professor in Public Policy at the University of Birmingham and project lead for INSPIRE (looking at democratic innovations and their limitations.
Ancient settlements show that commoning is ‘natural’ for humans, not selfishness and competition
When I’ve had conversations about the commons with right-leaning people (and sometimes cynical people on the left too), a typical response might be something along the lines of: ‘don’t waste your time trying to build a more democratic, sustainable or peaceful society. It won’t work, because humans are inherently selfish, greedy and competitive’.
What makes the commons movement different? (A: it’s much more difficult to co-opt.)
The commons is a movement to create a different world, not just the same system with a few tweaks to make it more bearable. If successful, obviously there will be entities out there that will try to undermine it, buy it and ultimately, to crush it. But there are aspects to the commons model that will, I think, make it more resistant to this than existing models.
A ‘Transcender Manifesto’ for a world beyond capitalism. A seed.
Dil Green is a founder member of Mutual Credit Services, who are working with Stroud Commons to design models for the commons economy for various sectors of the economy. This article first appeared on his blog 5 years ago, but it’s so relevant to the current commons movement, that we’re re-posting it here.
Ancient wisdom to face challenging times
Beautiful article by El Habib Ben Amara on how development is desertifying ancient ksars (fortified oases) in north Africa, and what we can do about it.
Decentralising power: the why, what, how and who of growing the commons economy
Why we need to replace capitalism with a commons economy; who will do it and how.
An authoritarian world government is not going to save us
A growing question for environmentalists is the extent to which the existential threat we face means that countries and populations should be forced to reduce consumption, and hence whether an authoritarian politics is the best way to face the future.
Conversation with Jem Bendell, part 2: how should we respond to the collapse of capitalism?
This is the second part of a conversation between Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Jem Bendell, professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, and author of the now famous 2018 Deep Adaptation paper that claimed that we’re on an inevitable path to civilisational collapse.
Conversation with Jem Bendell, part 1: is industrial capitalism coming to an end?
This is the first part of a conversation between Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Jem Bendell, professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, and author of the now famous 2018 Deep Adaptation paper that claimed that we’re on an inevitable path to civilisational collapse.
If our civilisation were collapsing, would we even know? Review of Jem Bendell’s ‘Breaking Together’
In Breaking Together Bendell argues that the collapse of industrial consumer societies is not just “inevitable” but is in fact already underway.
Surviving the Future 2023: deep dive for anyone concerned about what’s coming
In these tumultuous times, it’s good to pull back and think together — to share conversation — curated by experts and in the company of some of the most compelling people who have been thinking about these issues for a long time.
Review of ‘Change: How to Make Big Things Happen’ by Damon Centola
Although the ‘viral’ approach (large networks, weak ties between people) can work for small packets of information, when it comes to behaviour change, it doesn’t seem to work well, and can actually be counter-productive.
George Monbiot and friends are wrong: techno-utopianism won’t save us
George Monbiot has joined a campaign called ‘Reboot Food’, working with techno-utopians who would like to see governments remove support for organic food and deregulate the GM industry, as well as producing bacteria-based food in giant factories (‘precision-fermentation’), and getting rid of smallholdings.
How much trouble are humans really in, and what can we do about it?
I’m inviting you to come on a journey with me. In an attempt to answer the question above, I’m going to research and write a series of blog articles (including interviews with key people), from which I’ll produce a book, and re-structure the Lowimpact website, including our message.
Can governments solve the climate problem?
Short answer: no, because governments are fixated on maximising GDP growth, which is the root cause of the climate crisis, and which far outweighs any (rare) beneficial legislation that they might introduce.
Is it time to rethink the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals?
Time to rethink the UN’s ‘Sustainable Development Goals’: the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘progress’ based on eternal GDP growth are flawed.
How the state favours big business and causes inflation with ‘Quantitative Sleazing’
A new essay on the economics of the pandemic suggests that the recent inflation is a sign that that failure is accelerating towards us. It’s an important reminder for us to ask ourselves how ready we are to both cope and help others in a crumbling economy.
How not to build a movement, as demonstrated by Chris Saltmarsh
We thought you might like this extraordinary defence of Deep Adaptation by Matthew Slater. Last year, he and Extinction Rebellion co-founder Skeena Rathor, authored a chapter in Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos; last month it was reviewed by newcomer Chris Saltmarsh, the champion of Jeremy Corbyn’s Green New Deal proposals and author of ‘Burnt’.
Toward co-operative commonwealth: transition in a perilous century
A while ago, we interviewed Pat Conaty, author, academic and stalwart of system change activism. We talked about how to grow the ‘co-operative commonwealth’ and about what constitutes the ‘commons’ in the 21st century. Pat is now part of the Synergia Institute, who have put together a MOOC for those of you involved with social and environmental change, and frustrated at the lack of real change we can see around us.
Review of ‘Going to Seed’, new book by Simon Fairlie
This is a review of Simon Fairlie’s new book, Going to Seed, out on Feb 10th – his ‘counterculture memoir’ – although at times I’ll unapologetically veer into (hopefully relevant) political rambling.