One of my unfinished projects has been a mapping of “alternative” ways
of using our energies than that of the mad economic system which has had the
globe in thrall (and peril) for at least the post-war period……
The project started with a short essay in 2001 (updated in Notes
for the Perplexed) and moved into higher gear with the opening last autumn
of a website Mapping the
Common Ground which acts as a library of useful material for those keen to
effect social change. Ways
of Seeing…..the Global Crisis
was my round-up of the reading I had been doing in recent years – with my
common complaint being the failure of writers to give credit to others and
indeed to make any attempt to do what Google Scholar exhorts us to do – “stand
on the shoulders of giants”.
So I was delighted, this morning, to come across an encouraging American
initiative The Next System whose
opening video may be a bit crass but which makes amends with its initial report
– The
Next System Report – political possibilities for the 21st Century
which contains extensive references to writing I had not so far encountered and
to good community practice in various parts of the world. This led me to new writers such as Pat
Devine and Andrew
Cumbers (celebrating public
ownership); and such gems as -
- the manual Take
Back the Economy;
- the book Capitalism 3.0 by Peter
Barnes
- We
are Everywhere – a celebration of community enterprise
- An article on Democratising
Finance by Fred Block
- The full
bibliography of Danny Dorling’s glorious Injustice book
And that was just a couple of days after I had downloaded a lot of
material relating to “the commons” which delicately tiptoes round the topic of
“common ownership” – see this excellent overview The
Commons as a new/old paradigm for governance – with a second
section here
I was alerted to that by a fascinating article in Open Democracy Planning
a Commons-based Future for Ecuador which is part of a wider effort that
country has been making – set out in a document National
Plan for Good Living which must be one of the first efforts this century to
have a National Plan!
Other finds are -
- Celebrating
the Commons – from On the Commons
website
- The
evolution of social enterprise – a very friendly overview of various
landmarks in the important history of this “movement” (rather US-centric)
- Commons
Transition – the book from a site “of practical experiences and policy proposals
aimed toward achieving a more humane and environmentally grounded mode of
societal organization. Basing a civil society on the Commons (including the
collaborative stewardship of our shared resources) would enable a more
egalitarian, just, and environmentally stable society.
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