[p2p-research] Fwd: [Commoning] Vivir bien - mapping commons & solidarity economies

Sun Apr 25 12:25:52 CEST 2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Andreas Exner <andreas.exner at chello.at>
Date: Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 5:19 PM
Subject: [Commoning] Vivir bien - mapping commons & solidarity economies
To: commoning at lists.wissensallmende.de

 Hi all

The working group "Vivir bien" of the "Solidarity University" has
already developed an online-tool for mapping commons &
solidarity economy (as a commons-based way of production).

More precisely, Flo Lederman programmed a very promising
tool - it is not online yet, but you can get invited if you are
interested in co-developing the tool. And he and others
filled already about 50 entries into the database.

Below you'll find the "mission statement" and a technical
description. best, Andreas PS Silke: thank you for
your input (one would have to translate your changes into
the english version yet).

ABSTRACT:
Vivir Bien records solidarity economies and commons. The goal is building
linkages between such resources for a non-capitalist mode of living and
producing. This is necessary for an alternative to capitalism.

MISSION STATEMENT
Vivir Bien compiles initiatives and structures that are outside the scope of
profit-based capitalist logic. We call such initiatives and structures
"resources". The framework used should be as broad as possible. Vivir Bien
provides a platform for activities based on different theoretical concepts
and labels. We focus on two approaches in particular: solidarity economies
and commons.

*Solidarity economies *are characterized by self-management (without top-
down management), egalitarian cooperation (without authoritiarian
hierarchies) and a demand-driven (as opposed to profit-driven) orientation.
In an ideal situation, they contribute to the livelihood of participants.
Solidarity economies encompass self-managed enterprises, non-profit
enterprises, gift economy and organizations or initatives that foster such
approaches. Social entrepreneurship and social economy are in the middle
ground between solidarity economy, in its strictest sense, and conventional
economy.

*Commons *are resources and services that are owned collectively by a
community of users, who develop them and protect them from overuse and
privatization. Examples are: digital commons (e.g. free software, knowledge)
and natural commons (e.g. land, water). Commons also includes self- managed
means of production in a solidarity economy.

Our objective in compiling data on solidarity economy and commons is to make
"hidden economies  visible. These are the starting points for the
development of non-capitalist modes of life and production within
capitalism. To establish a real alternative based on these starting points,
solidary economy and commons must develop material linkages by means of
mutual cooperation. In order to do this, markets must undergo radical
transformation or be completely replaced without recourse to state planning.

Furthermore, it is possible to map projects of the conventional economy  
either because they display emancipatory features (e.g. feminism), or
because they serve as examples for problematic or even threatening
developments (e.g. privatization of public services or surveillance
infrastructures).

Another possible approach is to map projects in the conventional economy -
either because they display emancipatory attributes (e.g. feminism), or
because they serve as negative examples of problematical developments or
even threats (e.g. the privatization of public services, surveillance
cameras).

OPERATING MANUAL
This is a preliminary, very short introduction on how to map resources with
Vivir Bien.

*Tagging Introduction*

Such a broad definition requires a flexible approach to data acquisition.
Instead of making projects fit ready-made schemes, Vivir Bien adopts a
completely open approach. Inspired by OpenStreetMap projects, we are trying
to develop a scheme for mapping resources in an open process in parallel to
the mapping itself.

The basic procedure is simple: each resource is given a name and a list of
"key-value" pairs - so-called tags. Tag definition is completely unlimited.
Some examples are:

    * address=Leebgasse 2, Wien
    * theoretical_background=feminism,critique of value
    * interesting=yes
    * location=lonlat:48.197649,16.322294

Over time, certain conventions concerning the use of specific tags will
emerge. On the basis of these standardized tags, the computer can produce
lists or maps. The option to make use of specific set of tags, or to develop
new tags, is an in-built feature of Vivir Bien.

*Using Vivir Bien*

You can switch the language of the interface between German and English with
the small menu in the upper right-hand corner of every page. This translates
the user interface elements, but obviously not the contents of resources and
wiki pages, which are currently mostly entered in German (Because that's
where most of our community is active right now). The english-speaking
starting point for the wiki is at About Vivir Bien, giving an introduction.

There are two main "applications" on the website right now, you can switch
between them in the upper left hand corner: Resources and Wiki. The Wiki is
a quite straight-forward wiki engine -- you can edit pages, create links and
create new pages. You find a link to the wiki formatting help with a list of
the most common wiki-formats at the bottom of each page when in edit mode.

The resources app is the main project we are developing. Within the
resources app, you can switch between "List" and "Map" views on the top
menu. In the near future, it should be easily possible to define your own
lists and maps by defining a few criteria - for example, show all projects
with "activity=party" etc.., but for now these two views are hard-coded.

If you click on a resource (either in a list or on the map), you get to a
page listing its "tags" in the form of key=value pairs. You can edit the
resource, or you can also add new resources.

Unfortunately, the tags used so far are only documented in German, on the
page Tag-Proposals.

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