[p2p-research] P2P Foundation and Las Indias

Sun Nov 21 13:42:55 CET 2010

this process is exactly what I was referring to in my email just send,

so give me time until December, and I will digest this proposal and respond
to it,

but indeed, this is the way to go in my opinion,

I'm also copying Franco Iacomella, a young argentinian who has expressed
interest in working together on the creation of the p2p phyle,

Michel

2010/11/21 Sociedad Cooperativa de las Indias Electrónicas <
info at lasindias.coop>

> Dear Michel,
>
> (más abajo en español)
>
> For us it is more than good news: we believe is the first step of something
> really deep and transformative.
>
> Over the years the phyle model has gained richness, complexity and
> subtlety. Economically it is, increasingly, an onion structure where each
> level of community identity and personal commitment has been developing its
> own space through the relationships between affiliated enterprises,
> cooperatives and community in the strict sense. Politically, this nebula
> appears as a web of foundations, publishers, and nonprofit associations.
>
> There is no recipe but a decade of experience to share with the network of
> "p2p foundation" in order to make your own theoretical digestion about it.
>
> Discussing over the weekend from your message, think we ought to give us an
> agenda for discussion and work.
>
> First we are committed to developing a series of papers
>
> 1. How is it organized the economic structure of our phyle?
>
> 2. How do we ensure the hegemony of the deliberative process on the logic
> of the economic structure?
>
> 3. The role of foundations (public infrastructure of knowledge and
> transnational initiatives)
>
> 4. Publishing model
>
> 5. The Indiano view on the global economic framework of "decomposition"
> (what we call "the futures to come)
>
> After sharing this context p2pf and las Indias could address an agenda of
> cooperation with the objective of:
>
> 1. Creating tools to extend the deliberative space, translating and
> distributing monthly to the different languages an abstract of the major
> debates in each network.
>
> 2. Building a transnational network and multi-language publications in the
> public domain in both paper and electronic formats.
>
> 3. Organizing a system of workshops and consulting with the goal of
> providing the knowledge tools to build the economic structure necessary to
> become phyle.
>
> The starting point of this agenda could be in March-April 2011, when the
> "Third Transnational Meeting on Economic Democracy" will be celebrated.
>
> Obviously the optimum physical place to keep this meeting should be chosen
> according to:
>
> * The physical location of those who wish to participate (with the aim of
> reducing total travel costs)
> * The costs of infrastructure and hotels (with the aim of reducing costs of
> accommodation)
> * The availability of a physical space for discussion given free to the
> event or at least at low cost.
>
> If you agree, we will begin preparing the papers this week to explain to
> your network the economic structure of las Indias.
>
> And if you find the proposed agenda interesting and affordable, we can all
> start working on the horizon on March 21.
>
> A big hug
>
> Natalia
>
>
> Querido Michel,
>
> Para nosotros es más que una buena noticia: creemos que es el primer paso
> de algo realmente más profundo y transformador.
>
> Con los años el modelo de la phyle ha ganado riqueza, complejidad y
> sutileza. Economicamente es, cada día más, una estructura cebolla donde cada
> nivel de identidad comunitaria y compromiso personal ha ido desarrollando su
> propio espacio a través de las relaciones entre empresas participadas,
> cooperativas  y comunidad en el sentido estricto. Políticamente esta
> nebulosa aparece como un tejido de fundaciones, editoriales y asociaciones
> sin ánimo de lucro.
>
> No hay una receta sino una década de experiencia que transmitir para que la
> red de la «p2p foundation» pueda hacer su propia digestión teórica sobre
> ello.
>
> Reflexionando a lo largo del fin de semana a partir de tu mensaje, pensamos
> que deberíamos darnos una agenda de discusión y trabajo.
>
> En primer lugar nos comprometemos a elaborar una serie de papeles breves
> explicando de manera sencilla:
>
> 1. ¿Cómo es organizada la estructura económica de la phyle indiana?
>
> 2. Cómo se asegura la hegemonía del proceso deliberativo sobre la lógica de
> la estructura económica?
>
> 3. El papel de las fundaciones (infraestructuras públicas de conocimiento e
> iniciativas transnacionales)
>
> 4. Modelo editorial
>
> 5. La mirada indiana sobre el marco socioeconómico global la
> «descomposición» (lo que llamamos «los futuros que vienen»)
>
> Tras compartir este contexto la p2pf y las Indias podríamos abordar
> conjuntamente una agenda de colaboración basada en:
>
> 1. Crear herramientas para ampliar el espacio deliberativo traduciendo y
> distribuyendo mensualmente a las diferentes lenguas los principales debates
> en cada red.
>
> 2. Contruir una red transnacional y multilingue de publicaciones bajo
> dominio público tanto en papel como en formato electrónico.
>
> 3. Organizar un sistema de talleres y consultoría con el objetivo de
> aportar las herramientas para que distintos grupos interesados puedan
> construir la estructura económica necesaria para devenir phyle.
>
> El punto de arranque de esta agenda podría situarse en marzo-abril de 2011,
> en el «III Encuentro Transnacional sobre Democracia Económica».
>
> Obviamente el lugar físico óptimo para mantener este encuentro deberá ser
> elegido en función de:
>
> * El lugar físico de los que deseen participar (con el objetivo de reducir
> costes totales de viaje)
> * La infraestructura y costes de hoteles (con el objetivo de reducir costes
> de alojamiento)
> * La disponibilidad de un espacio físico para la discusión cedido
> gratuitamente para el evento o al  menos a bajo coste.
>
> Si estás de acuerdo, comenzaremos esta semana preparando los papeles que
> expliquen a vuestra red la estructura económica de la phyle indiana.
>
> Y si la agenda propuesta os parece interesante y abordable,  podemos
> empezar a trabajar sobre el horizonte del 21 de marzo.
>
> Un gran abrazo
>
> Natalia
>
> El 19/11/10 15:59, Michel Bauwens escribió:
>
>> Dear friends,
>> below is an important message, which I have not cleared with
>> lasindias.net <http://lasindias.net>, but reflects my understanding of
>>
>> our talks in Madrid, of the importance of their contribution, and on a
>> further cooperation,
>> I'm publishing this on the 24th on the blog,
>> Michel Bauwens
>> The next “five year plan” of the P2P Foundation: constructing livelihood
>> through phyles <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=11782>
>> photo of Michel Bauwens
>> Michel Bauwens
>> 24th November 2010
>>
>> *Towards a strategic relationship between the P2P Foundation and Las
>> Indias*
>>
>> Regular readers of our blog will have noticed that I have paid
>> substantial attention to my discovery of the Spanish-language network
>> developed by lasindias.net <http://lasindias.net>, which I hadn’t
>>
>> previously encountered.
>> Las Indias, is a cooperative, a neomedieval ‘neo-Venetian’ guild
>> structure that was rooted in cyberpunk literature and is devoted to the
>> globalization of small entrepreneurs. As a entrepreneurial but fraternal
>> structure, it fully engages not only in providing its members with a
>> current livelihood, but with full future security. Las Indias fully
>> adopts and practices the open ethos, uses decision-making through
>> deliberation, and is committed to splitting into autonomous units,
>> whenever the Dunbar limit is reached.
>>
>> Recently, I covered the three books, recently translated, in which David
>> de Ugarte and others from lasindias.net <http://lasindias.net>, offer
>>
>> their take on the history of economic forms (Phyles: Economic Democracy
>> of the Network Age); a history of governance forms (From Nations to
>> Networks), and a history of civil society itself (The Power of
>> Networks). There are well-thought out interpretations of where we are
>> going and how networks are changing the fundamental nature of our social
>> organization.
>>
>> The key insight for me is their argument for the creation of phyles.
>> Indeed, it was a missing piece of the puzzle in my own peer to peer
>> theory. We have been able to describe the emergence of peer production,
>> governance, and property; we have been able to describe the emergence of
>> open business models, mostly noticing how companies are adapting to
>> communities. But at the same time, we also know that there is not a
>> clear choice available for peer producers who want to go their own way.
>> We have successfully democratized the means of creating value, but have
>> not been able to democratize the means of realizing that value. Creating
>> livelihood independently of the capital players that profit from our
>> social cooperation and obtain asymmetrical hyper-competitivity through
>> our contributions, remains an arduous task. Localization through global
>> open design communities is still mostly an effort to avoid the
>> dislocation of the global meltdown, it’s a strategy of resilience, not
>> yet of thrivability; and the nation state is increasingly failing us,
>> with what remains of the welfare state under a violent assault of
>> extreme neoliberalism. We create increasing surplus value, but we don’t
>> capture it, this is the crux of the matter.
>>
>> Las Indias on the other hand, asks the right question, and in my
>> opinion, gives the right answer.
>>
>> *The question is: what do distributed networks really bring to the
>> table, that is new and unique, and points the way forward?*
>>
>> The answer: it is a new form of human socialization around the creation
>> of common value. Distributed networks do not just change localism and
>> the nation-state, but create the possibility of creating transnational
>> value networks, used by communities in order to sustain their common
>> work. In other words, we are not just talking about entrepreneurs and
>> businesses adapting to co-production and communities, BUT, we are
>> talking about communities creating their own mission-oriented business
>> forms, in which the market activity is subsumed to the common value.
>> This creates sustainability and livelihoods for the individuals
>> involved; subsumes the profit maximization of the marketplace to higher
>> ethical values which constrain it to the value commons; and captures the
>> surplus value directly for the peer producers.
>>
>> There are a lot of exciting things to say about the internal
>> organization of the Las Indias phyle, which is a combination of elements
>> of cooperatives, decision through deliberation, the gradation of
>> knowledge skills taken from the guild system, etc … The reality is that,
>> in a world where precarity is the norm for many peer producers, the
>> phyle is a efficacious solidarity mechanism. Next to liberty and
>> equality, it brings the missing fraternity to the table of social
>> practice, in a new transnational format that transcends the limitations
>> of the nation-state, and is rooted in a true human community.
>> Therefore, it is now clear to me that the central task of the P2P
>> Foundation, after five years of creating a global knowledge commons in
>> conditions of precarity, is, for the next five years, to focus on the
>> sustainability of the common work, by creating appropriate livelihoods,
>> through the creation of a phyle.
>>
>> The way I see it, we are going through a major cultural, political,
>> economic transition; nothing less than a revolution and phase
>> transition; the P2P Foundation wants to position itself as one of the
>> trusted players that can offer guidance and learning in this
>> transformation, on both individual and collective levels. The knowledge
>> commons will continue to evolve and improve, but an added layer of
>> activity will offer useful services that can generate income.
>>
>> My visit last month, where I spent two days socializing with lasindias
>> in Madrid, showed that we are operating on the same wavelength, and that
>> there is strong mutual sympathy. Therefore, there is a priori agreement,
>> which still needs to be worked out in detail, to form a strategic
>> relationship. Lasindias will help us create a phyle, and we will help to
>> spread the key insight of phyles in the English-speaking world, while
>> creating first-class educational material to go through the transition
>> period unscathed, coming out with the thrivability associated with
>> providing useful services to society.
>>
>> How exactly the P2P Foundation phyle will look, is still an open
>> question, as I do have anxieties and reservations about the full
>> communal level that is at the heart of Las Indias. Las Indias has a very
>> strong ‘social market’ orientation, rather than our own commons’
>> orientation. So there are differences, and their will remain a diversity
>> in our cooperation. The way I envision it, is the following: the peer to
>> peer revolution is a deep cultural, political, economic and social
>> transformation, which will require a very broad ‘church’ of interlinked
>> social movements. Within this broad movement, it is a very good thing
>> that there is a very committed core, that lives their values to the
>> fullest, and serves an inspiration and an example for others.
>>
>> In terms of P2P Theory as a guide to transformation, a very important
>> missing piece of the puzzle has now been added. In the context of a
>> failing nation-state, destructive globalized capitalism, there does
>> exist a social form that is both local and global in form, and can
>> provide security for its peer producing members.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>>
>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
>> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
>>
>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
>> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>>
>> Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> --
> Sociedad Cooperativa de las Indias Electrónicas
> Grupo Cooperativo de las Indias
> Barco, 37 - 28004 Madrid
> Florencio Escardó, 1486 - 11700 Montevideo
> http://lasindias.coop
> http://lasindias.info
>

-- 
P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org

Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
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