The last decades have witnessed the rise of a collaborative economy that disrupts the capitalist mode of production. The collaborative economy introduces the peer-to-peer production, which is based on distributed or common property infrastructures (natural resources, technology, knowledge, capital, culture), self-managed by their user communities in accordance with collectively established rules or norms (Ostrom 1990). Commons-based peer production is particularly facilitated by the architectural design of the Internet and free/open source software/hardware that support the creation of alternative entrepreneurial models operating in terms of decentralization, democratic self-governance and distribution of value (Benkler 2006, Scholz 2016, Kostakis & Bauwens 2014).
The project aims to investigate the emergence of the collaborative economy in Ireland through the illustration of a case study: that of the intentional community who founded the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, where a number of citizens, social entrepreneurs, scientists and activists have come together to create an alternative paradigm of economy based on community living, digital platforms and self-governance.
Duration: 16 January-18 April 2018
Contact: gabriela.avram@ul.ie
Participants:
Supported by COST action CA16121 Sharing and Caring via a Short Term Scientific Mission.