#commonism

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which has no intercalary cycle to keep it tied to the solar seasons. For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of self-control, self-sacrifice, and empathy for the poor and the oppressed. It's also a month of gathering communal strength, as people gather in each other's homes for the pre-dawn and sunset meals. For devout Muslims, it's a time of serious introspection and rededication, but also a time of great joy with celebratory suhur and iftar meals surrounded by friends and neighbors reminding everybody that collective joy is as important as personal sacrifice.

Adar is the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar (or the twelfth depending on which new year you count from) and it's said that once Adar begins, joy increases. This is partly due to the signs of spring coming, no doubt, but for Jews worldwide it's also very specifically about the defeat of a demagogue who spread fear and hate against a marginalized minority community, painting us as foreign interlopers who refused to assimilate, who was stopped in his tracks by one of his own targets when she stood up and spoke truth. Every year we celebrate Esther's bravery and Haman's fall from power. It's a time for imagining (and fighting for) a near future where today's targeted minorities are safe, empowered, and protected.

And finally, March. Once the first month in the Roman calendar, now the third. We know its message well here on tumblr. A time to celebrate Caesar's cronies turning on him, a reminder that even the tyrants who seem most unbeatable can fall in an instant, and that there will never be honor among oligarchs.

“Illich is best characterized as a ‘commonist.’ For Illich, the commons are not just collectively held farm lands from the distant past, but a vital dimension of the human condition, which he names ‘the vernacular.’ According to Illich, human beings spontaneously produce collective use values in their everyday lives without the need for mediating institutions. Children, for instance, learn their first language not by paying a service provider to teach it, but by naturally interacting with their caregivers. One of the most important instruments for human conduct is thus not the product of any economic exchange or coordinated production process. Language and conversation give meaning to our lives, even if they are not planned to serve any predetermined function. They just happen as a gift of life. In Illich’s philosophy, there is a realm of human relationality able to sustain the good life beyond the grasp of the market or the state.“

For the last few years, people at Loomio have been developing software tools for decision making in horizontally structured organizations. Their product has always been Open Source, but their organizational structure is Open Source as well.

Now they documented the way they collaborate in a handbook, to help other groups and organizations collaborate effectively in a decentralized, participative fashion.

Introducing the Decentralized Society Research Project

In this presentation I give a short overview of the Decentralized Society Research Project. In this 20-minute talk I explain the overall why, how and what and will touch upon some of the practicalities of moving forward.

Please do not refrain from sharing your thoughts, reflections and comments. I might not respond individually but would love to compile a FAQ or initiate some other more structured form of discussion.

During my talk I refer several times to the preceding talk, no less interesting than mine, introducing Zeitgeist’s idea of a Resource Based Economy, by Serf Doesborgh. I hope to share the video of his talk with you soon.

Both talks were part of the Ons Systeem meetup, a gathering of incorrigible progressive thinkers on culture, sustainability, economy and social innovation. Meetups are held every third Thursday of the month in Utrecht. Find them in the non-free world on facebook.com/OnsSysteem.elke.3eDonderdag/.