Culture Dose | What to Read, Watch and Listen to Now
Occupy didn’t altogether fail. It succeeded by unleashing the forces of commonality; igniting a path forward. “Commoning” is as old as cave paintings yet as new as Fashion X Now. So this week, we dive deeper into Commoning. We hear from the people, read their ideas, and engage in activists’ spaces to reclaim what is ours.
The whole fight over global warming is to make the atmosphere a public not a private sphere.
from Commoning, Reclaiming What Is Ours
Read: The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking by David Bollier
The world we have inherited is no longer working; that doesn’t mean we throw up our hands in despair. For many profound social transformations are now underway. To navigate the transitions ahead while building a new world, this guide offers a portrait of the system-change activism that is creating an economics of sufficiency, a politics of fairness, and a culture of belonging
The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking explains the transformational power of social collaboration by showcasing dozens of pathbreaking projects, books, websites, and activist initiatives. Commoners seek to prioritize people’s needs over market extraction, steward the Earth, (re)localize the economy, and build new institutions of empowerment.
The emerging “Commonsverse” can be seen in (re)localized food systems and community land trusts…in racial empowerment through collective action and mutual aid…and in free and open-source software, peer production, and platform cooperatives.
A place to see how you can be a part of the change.
Watch: Commons: Reclaiming What is Ours
Nine years in the making, Commons filmed 49 communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa and south Asia. It reveals commons-based inspiration flowing through people –especially young people–telling them not to settle for less than what they know is possible.
The Commons is a documentary film about communities re-asserting sustainable futures using consensus, equity and shared resources – ancient Commons principles. The film shows how activists are re-establishing communities by controlling their own commons. These include maker spaces, land trusts, cooperatives and local food production and distribution. It also means shared housing, free education, community centers. Together they steward and share these resources.
In many forms, it shows us a vision of an amazing future for humanity – surrounded by the life of the planet.
Listen: Frontiers of Commoning
In this episode of David Bollier’s podcast, Frontiers of Commoning, he is joined by Allana Irving of Open Collective. They have a lively convo about a commons-enabling infrastructure that helps “hack organizational structures with our values”. If you’re looking for an understanding of the processes and benefits of distributed research, listen in.
KL Dunn
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