June 2015 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Fw: Fw: Info
by Natalie Golovin 10 Mar '26

10 Mar '26

Mark: You and your compatriots on P2P view the world from revisionism. Go ahead and keep looking through your microscope-provided by your "teachers." Or take the time and read some very old documented evidence available at a library near you= but you may need to stay there awhile on microfiche. -----Original Message----- From: Mark Janssen Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 4:39 PM To: P2P Foundation mailing list Subject: Re: [P2P-F] Fw: Info On Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 10:32 AM, Natalie Golovin <10natalie(a)cox.net> wrote: > The European Tribes treated the Natives no worse than they treated each > other. Whoa. You should really stop talking. You have NO idea what you're talking about. How about forced acculturation, not allowing them to speak their own language (which hold the record of their own history), confined them under threat of violent force into reservations, among other things. But, really, that's probably not even the worst of it -- the worst of it is that for reasons they couldn't ever understand is why you were doing all of these cruel things when they were willing to share it it all with you. Why, when they handed out their hand to be friends, you chopped it off. Remember, they're the ones who gave us Thanksgiving which is still "celebrated" in this nation today. Read the reports made of making first contact with the Native peoples here. You really should read up before propagating the attitudes of conquest. Sorry.... marcos _______________________________________________ P2P Foundation - Mailing list http://www.p2pfoundation.net https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation

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Fwd: Why Do Banks Want Our Deposits? Hint: It’s Not to Make Loans
by Michel Bauwens 06 Oct '15

06 Oct '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ellen Brown <ellenhbrown(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 9:35 PM Subject: Why Do Banks Want Our Deposits? Hint: It’s Not to Make Loans To: michel(a)p2pfoundation.net Hi, here is my latest article, posted on Global Research -- Why Do Banks Want Our Deposits? Hint: It’s Not to Make Loans <http://wordpress.us7.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8829ce026276832f7fc66a1…> Best wishes, Ellen http://EllenBrown.com http://PublicBankingInstitute.org <http://wordpress.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8829ce026276832f7fc66a1a…> Unsubscribe <http://wordpress.us7.list-manage1.com/unsubscribe?u=8829ce026276832f7fc66a1…> michel(a)p2pfoundation.net from this list. Update your profile <http://wordpress.us7.list-manage.com/profile?u=8829ce026276832f7fc66a1a9&id…> -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [Commoning] WSF in Montreal
by Michel Bauwens 30 Jun '15

30 Jun '15

via alain ambrosi Dear Becky , There is certainly an interest in proposing a workshop and maybe more than one at the WSF in Montreal. The commoners' community in Montreal has been quite active in the past years organizing a series of events on the Commons since 2012 (À l'école des Communs/ School of Commons) with international guests including Michel Bauwens, David Bollier, Silke Helfrich, Lionel Maurel, Frédéric Sultan, along with activists and academics from Quebec and other Canadian provinces. You may also know that the remixthecommons project ( hosted by Communautique in Montreal) which has been one of the promoters of the commons in Quebec has participated and co-organized workshops on the commons at different WSFs (Belem (2009), Dakar (2011) Porto Alegre (2012)Tunis (2013) . Remixthecommons also co-organized the Economics of the Commons conference <http://commonsandeconomics.org> In Berlin in 2013 and documented it https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiO9RvnsUfkatF08AS-5t1PJSU35khJ3S The more recent Montreal November 2014 " Art of commoning" event has been well documented by David Bollier and others who participated in it http://www.aohmontreal.org/en/l’art-de-l’en-commun/ . This first encounter of the kind inspired a series of meetings at the international level (see the coming P2P Summer school in Ireland http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/p2p-summer-school-the-art-of-commoning-3/2015… ) Different activities have been scheduled this year by the co-organizers of the Montreal Art of Commoning, I copy you below a message) (in french) that was posted on the francophone commons list recently. As you can see we are ready to meet the Montre*al *WSF organizing committee to talk about how put the commons at he heart of the august 2016 event and we'll be in touch with Rafael Canet and the organizers. You and your colleagues are welcome to collaborate with us in preparing a proposal. All the best. Alain Ambrosi Apprenti utopiste / Utopian apprentice http://www.remixthecommons.org/ "...pourquoi ne pas penser qu'un nouveau type de révolution est en train de devenir possible...?" (Deleuze) ** Bonjour à tous et toutes! ------------------------------------------------------------ Nous assurons tranquillement les suivis de notre événement de l’automne dernier, événement qui inspire d’autres praticiens de l’en-commun ailleurs dans le monde. En effet, l’Art de l’en-commun a été retenu comme thème de la prochaine école d’été de la Fondation P2P ( http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/p2p-summer-school-the-art-of-commoning-2/2015…) , qui se tiendra dans l’écovillage de Cloughjordan en Irlande, du 25 au 27 août 2015. Cool! Ce qui s’en vient... ------------------------------------------------------------ Trois belles occasions de pratiquer l’en-commun. 1. Atelier Transformap: vers une cartographie vivante des communs ------------------------------------------------------------ « There are Plenty of Alternatives. TransforMap makes them visible. » Identifier et décrire les communs qui nous entourent, puis les mettre sur la carte! Voilà en gros le programme de ce mois de mai dédié au prototypage d’un exercice de cartographie décentralisé proposé par le collectif TransforMap ( http://discourse.transformap.co/t/transformap-a-short-description/289) , dans lequel est impliquée notre amie Silke Helfrich - et qui fonctionne par cercles ( http://blog.14mmm.org/transformap-has-a-working-structure-and-its-wild/) . Le mission du collectif est d'accompagner les communautés locales à cartographier les alternatives locales au modèle économique conventionnel. Nous avions réuni quelques acteurs des données ouvertes et de la cartographie lors de la venue de Silke en novembre dernier. Après cette rencontre, Transformap interpelle maintenant les « Commoners » de Montréal à venir se joindre à cette expérimentation (http://transformap.co) . De quoi parle-t-on au juste? D’identifier et de localiser sur une carte les initiatives de communs (ateliers ouverts, jardins partagés, repair cafés, bibliothèques communautaires, co-housing, etc.) qui misent sur la co-production, l’échange, le partage et la contribution. Pas besoin d’être féru en cartographie par ordinateur (belle occasion d’apprendre!), votre contribution pouvant prendre plusieurs formes : identification de communs, de sources de données, de contacts. On se donne rendez-vous chez ECTO (976, avenue du Mont-Royal Est, 2e étage) vendredi 8 mai, en avant-midi, pour échanger et pour voir comment nous pouvons dépenser un peu de nos heures d’engagement à rendre les alternatives repérables! La participation à distance est possible - via Skype, Hang Out. Si vous ne pouvez pas y être mais souhaitez être informé des développements, contactez Yves Otis (yves(a)percolab.com) 2. Co-organisation d’un atelier dans le cadre de de l'Assemblée mondiale du Conseil international d'éducation des adultes (10-12 juin 2015) ------------------------------------------------------------ Pour une multitude de raisons, nous avons dû reporter la tenue d’un deuxième événement sur l’art de l’en-commun, prévu en marge de l'Assemblée mondiale du Conseil international d'éducation des adultes ( http://www.waam2015.org) (http://www.waam2015.org) organisée par l'ICÉA ( http://www.icea.qc.ca) . Il serait possible de co-organiser un atelier sur l'Art de l'en-commun et l'éducation dans le cadre de cet événement, une occasion de pratiquer avec des gens d’ici et d’ailleurs, d'explorer plus avant comment faire émerger et rendre cette École des communs. Vous êtes intéressés-es? Écrivez à info(a)percolab.com ( mailto:[email protected] <info(a)percolab.com>) et on s'organise rapidement! 3. Appel à participation : « Le temps des communs », du 5 au 18 octobre 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------ Le temps des communs (http://tempsdescommuns.org) , festival francophone auto-géré et décentralisé, est une initiative du réseau francophone autour des communs. Ce dernier avait organisé un premier festival en octobre 2013, intitulé « Villes en Biens Communs ( http://villes.bienscommuns.org/tous-les-evenements) ». Cette fois, le projet vise à rassembler pendant les deux semaines du mois d'octobre une série d'activités organisées de manière locale, dans le but l’idée de toujours mieux faire connaître les communs comme levier majeur de la transition vers un monde durable. Un appel à participation ( http://tempsdescommuns.org/participer-2/comment-participer-au-temps-des-com…) est lancé, à nous d'y répondre! Et puis de votre côté? ------------------------------------------------------------ Nous aimerions bien entendre et lire vos histoires d'en-commun et les mettre en ligne sur le site d’AoH/AoC (http://www.aohmontreal.org) Et en guise de petit cadeau pour vous être rendu jusqu’ici!! ------------------------------------------------------------ Un bout de récolte : Cadrage des communs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_uiKWVUIlE&feature=youtu.be ( http://tempsdescommuns.org/participer-2/comment-participer-au-temps-des-com… ) A tout bientôt! Samantha, Alain et Yves L'Art-de l'en-commun est une initiative soutenue par percolab, une entreprise sociale au service du bien commun, et Remix Biens Communs. Liste du réseau francophone des biens communs * Archives et gestion de votre compte (désabonnement, changement d'adresse,...) https://mail.cfcloud.fr/bienscommuns.org/arc/echanges (lors de la première connexion : obtenez un mot de passe par le lien en haut à gauche de l'écran) * Moduler la réception de vos messages ou l'interrompre (hormis exceptionnellement ceux des administrateurs) https://mail.cfcloud.fr/bienscommuns.org/suboptions/echanges

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Re: [P2P-F] [tapas] FAQs about bank runs
by Michel Bauwens 30 Jun '15

30 Jun '15

all material to support Greece through the p2p blog are very welcome, TODAY 1 http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/in-support-of-the-no-in-the-greek-referendum/… In support of the “No” in the Greek Referendum <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/in-support-of-the-no-in-the-greek-referendum/…> [image: photo of Michel Bauwens] Michel Bauwens 29th June 2015 Sunday’s referendum will mark a defining moment in Greece’s modern history and a decisive turn for Europe’s neoliberal project. The choice is very clear. Five years after the people of Greece first rose up against the anti-democratic imposition of the Troika’s austerity measures, they have finally been given the chance to decide upon their own destiny: either they will vote yes to a lifetime of austerity within the eurozone, or they will roar back at the creditors’ inhumane demands with a proud and resounding “NO!” — thereby opening the way for a thousand yeses to a new, democratic and socially just Europe, freed from the shackles of debt servitude, the noose of a deflationary single currency, and the tyranny of an unaccountable financial technocracy. Republished from *Jerome Roos* (via ZNet). *Needless to say with are fully onboard with this interpretation and the need to support the greek people against the extortionate and destructive demands of the Troika.* *Jerome Roos:* *TODAY 2 **http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/what-the-eu-has-wrought-in-greece-the-tale-of-magda/2015/06/29 <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/what-the-eu-has-wrought-in-greece-the-tale-of…>* What the EU has wrought in Greece: the tale of Magda <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/what-the-eu-has-wrought-in-greece-the-tale-of…> [image: photo of Michel Bauwens] Michel Bauwens 29th June 2015 What I do know, is that the encounter was the beginning of the end of my love affair with the European project. Because, quite simply, it is no longer my European Union. It is Amazon’s and Starbucks’. It is the politicians’ and the IMF’s. But it is not mine. If belonging to the largest and richest trading bloc in the world cannot provide dinner for a retired teacher like her, it has no reason to exist. If a European Union which produces €28,000 of annual GDP for every single one of its citizens cannot provide a safety net for her, then it is profoundly wicked. If this is not a union of partners, but a gang of big players and small players, who cut the weakest loose at the first sign of trouble, then it is nothing. Excerpted <https://keithpp.wordpress.com/2015/06/28/magdas-tale/> from *Alex Andreou*: On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 3:13 PM, "María G. Perulero" <maria(a)goteo.org> wrote: > Keep strong, George! This is so important for everyone, specially for > us, Spain! Go ahead!! > > Hugs, > > María. > > María G. Perulero > http://goteo.org/ > Financiación colectiva con ADN abierto > Crowdfunding the Commons > maria(a)goteo.org > skype: mariagperulero > twitter/identica: @perulera > > -- > > Fundación Goteo > c/ Forn de l'Olivera 22 > 07012 Palma de Mallorca > > Twitter: @goteofunding > Skype: goteofunding > > On 27/06/15 18:15, Michael Lewis wrote: > > Love your spirit George as well as the updates. All the very best in > the days ahead. Watching with keen interest. Mike > > On Jun 26, 2015, at 9:17 AM, John <restakis(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> Very helpful George, thanks. > >> > >> On 15-06-27 4:20 AM, George Papanikolaou wrote: > >>> Dear all, > >>> > >>> I suspect that some of the foreign media might organize a bank run in > the forthcoming days in Greece. The following facts will help you to resist > the propaganda of your local media: > >>> > >>> 1. Civil servants are paid every 13 and 26 of the month. Salaries are > low, for instance myself and my colleagues (professors at the university > are getting between 1200-1600 euros) and are considered well paid civil > servants. This is 2 divided doses of around 600-800 per month. We were paid > yesterday, normally, despite the propaganda that the Greek state would be > unable to pay us at the end of the month. > >>> 2. Pensioners will be paid on Monday - Tuesday. The average pension is > around 800 with a median of 450. Pensioners are always queening in the > banks during these days because they are not familiar with electronic > transactions and get cash which they spend during the month for essential > goods. Therefore if you see reproduction of pictures on Monday with people > queening this is the explanation and it is normal and expected. There might > be more than normal for obvious reasons but not what they are going to > present. These pictures have been used repeatedly by the yellow German > press in the past. > >>> 3. Only 0,4% of the Greek population has over 100.000 in the bank. > >>> 4. Greeks usually pay with cash and they have the lowest figure in > Europe in electronic transactions. For instance in my household we usually > withdraw 2/3 of the money (cash) within the first 2-3 days and we spend > them almost immediately to buy food and pay bills. > >>> 5. During the last two years there is a remarkable phenomenon: > supermarkets are empty during the whole month and crowded in weekends after > payments of pensions and salaries. People buy food and essential goods and > after two weeks they have nothing and they try to survive until the end of > the month. > >>> 6. During the past weeks every household with small deposits has > created his own "ELA" at home now. It is calculated that maybe 20-30b of > cash are now at homes, pockets and elsewhere. Officially the amount of cash > in the Greek economy i think (if I remember well) is around 45b! This is > the reason why the Germans are so angry with ELA, Dragi and ECB. > >>> 7. A bank run is part of the plan of some politicians in Europe in > order to shut down the Greek banking system. Greek banks are well > capitalized right now. The only way to shut them down is to stop ELA for > some reason. a) End of the Greek program (not an easy, controversial > decision by the ECB) b) A drop in deposits (due to a bank run) + a haircut > of the collaterals of the Greek banks in particularly Greek bonds. Both > decisions are very difficult. > >>> > >>> Conclusion: normal people have nothing particular to loose with > probable capital controls, they might for obvious reasons withdraw more of > their salaries these days but these are money that will return in the > system some days later. > >>> > >>> Now a few things about defaulting: > >>> > >>> 1. In case that IMF and ECB are not paid THIS IS NOT OFFICIALLY A > DEFAULT. Default is if Greece fails to pay PRIVATE investors. In this case > the problem arises by mid july when Greece has to pay back an old loan to > Japanese banks. > >>> > >>> Enjoy... > >>> > >>> Best regards > >>> George > >> > >> > > > > > > -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Re: [P2P-F] [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: ZNet Commentary: Jérôme Roos: Greek Referendum
by Michel Bauwens 29 Jun '15

29 Jun '15

On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 9:02 PM, peter waterman <peterwaterman1936(a)gmail.com > wrote: > The announcement struck like a bombshell. > > Tsipras’ spectacular decision late on Friday to fly back to Athens and > put the Eurogroup’s final bailout offer to a referendum — with the > government advising voters to reject the deal — has stunned friends and > foes alike. > > Now, with depositors lining up at ATMs to withdraw cash, the Eurogroup > refusing to extend the current bailout program, the ECB capping its > emergency liquidity assistance for Greek banks, and Greece set to miss a > €1.5 billion IMF payment on Tuesday, the long-awaited endgame is finally > upon us. After five long and exhausting years, the euro crisis has exploded > into its dramatic climax. > > Those who now lambast the Greek government for its supposed “recklessness” > in calling the referendum are profoundly mistaken. Yes, as I have argued > many times before, Tsipras’ and Varoufakis’ belief that they could somehow > extract an “honorable compromise” from the creditors was always extremely > naive. But in the end it was the creditors’ utter contempt for democracy > that pushed Tsipras with his back against the wall, forcing him to sign up > to an agreement that they *knew* would split his ruling party and > government. > > Deliberately tabling one outrageous proposal after another, the creditors’ > intention was clear from the very start: they were never even remotely > interested in any positive “deal”; the only thing they would settle for was > Syriza’s complete and total surrender — ideally followed by technocratic > regime change inside Greece. Paul Krugman was therefore entirely right when he > referred > <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…> > to the creditors’ ultimatum as “an act of monstrous folly.” > > Backed into a corner by the virulent moves of the Eurogroup and the IMF, > Tsipras responded in the only sensible way: he rejected the absurd proposal > that the creditors had put on the table, took the decision to his people, > and advised them to vote against the creditors’ disastrous ultimatum. What > is surprising is not that he made this move *per se* — but that it took > him so long to do it. > > For five months, the creditors suffocated Greece, depriving it of all > liquidity in a brazen attempt to force Tsipras to sign up to humiliating > concessions that would have condemned the Greeks to years — if not decades > — of extreme austerity. For five months, they doubled down on their > cynicism and steadfastly refused to make even the most minimal concessions. > For five months, they publicly belittled and degraded the > democratically-elected representatives of millions of Greeks who had > already suffered untold hardship. > > If Tsipras had signed up to this unacceptable deal, it would not only have > meant political suicide for him and his party; it would also have spelt an > unmitigated disaster for the Greek people — not to mention the lasting > damage it would have inflicted upon the political prospects of the European > Left more generally. If there’s anything reckless about Tsipras’ approach, > it’s that he even let the creditors get this far to begin with. > > It was high time for the Big No — the resounding *OXI!* > > For *five years*, European leaders and Greek elites sacrificed this > beautiful country and its exceptional people at the altar of the financial > markets to save a handful of reckless speculators inside the European banks > and to convince international investors that the monetary union was > irreversible. For* five years*, they punished the Greeks for a > deep-rooted structural crisis they had no part in creating. For *five > years*, they kicked the can down the road, hoping that the fundamental > contradictions of financialized capitalism and the European monetary union > would somehow magically disappear if only the inevitable moment of > reckoning could be indefinitely pushed into the future. > > This approach has now been exposed as a catastrophic but utterly > predictable failure. Doubling down on their extreme positions with the > malicious intent of forcing the Greeks into a self-defeating deal or > disorderly exit, it was the creditors themselves who brought the Eurozone > to the brink. Of course they will boast that Greece has long since been > “ring-fenced” and that the fallout of a Greek default can now be contained, > but investors will draw their own conclusions when they see a full-fledged > member of the Eurozone descending into chaos. It is no surprise that the > euro is already tanking in the Asian markets. > > The gravest irony is that, all this time, there was a very straightforward > and socially acceptable way out of the deadlock. The sensible solution > would have been to write off a significant chunk of Greece’s debt. But, as > even the IMF has since officially admitted > <http://send.zcomm.org/wf/click?upn=9PHos1J7-2FD2Lw6jereECeNLGs3ocss1O2kcgD4…>, > this option was politically unpalatable to Greece’s “partners” from the > very start. In the early years, the Europeans feared that a debt write-down > would lead to the collapse of some of their biggest private banks. Now that > Greece’s debt has effectively been socialized, these same European leaders > fear an electoral backlash from their Euroskeptical taxpayers, who now > stand to bear the brunt of the impending Greek default. > > In other words, it was the very intransigence of the creditors, the utter > unwillingness to tell their own voters the truth about the Greek bailout > and their stubborn refusal to even *contemplate* a sustainable and > socially just resolution of the crisis, that led us to this dramatic > apotheosis. > > Greece and Europe now find themselves on the eve of a rancorous rupture. > At the start of a week that will undoubtedly go down in history as a > make-it-or-break-it moment for Europe’s ill-fated neoliberal project, the > skies over Greece are already darkening. A full-fledged bank run over the > weekend forced the government to keep the banks closed on Monday and to > impose an ATM withdrawal limit of 60 euros per day. The knock-on effects on > the economy and society will make it very difficult for the Greeks to vote > in peace. > > In this respect, the creditors’ intentions are once again crystal clear: > shocked and outraged by Tsipras’ unexpected move, they will do everything > within their power to obstruct the democratic process and influence the > outcome of the vote. Their goal won’t even be to keep Greece inside the > Eurozone anymore; their number one priority right now is simply to prevent > Syriza from being able to publicly claim a victory — for that would risk > emboldening other anti-austerity forces across the continent, most > significantly Podemos in Spain. They would rather see Greece go down in > flames than cut Syriza some slack. > > This is why the Eurogroup refused to extend Greece’s current bailout > program, not even for a few days: they *knew* the ECB would not be able > to maintain its emergency support of the Greek banks without such a > program, and they *knew* that without this support the Greek banks would > not be able to open on Monday. This, in turn, would force the Greeks to > vote under conditions of extreme financial uncertainty, emboldening the > terror-campaign of the neoliberal opposition and possibly skewing the vote > in favor of a fear-induced yes. > > Meanwhile, the unelected wing of the Troika technocracy has taken the > trolling to a whole new level. IMF chief Christine Lagarde argued that, > since the creditor offer expires on Tuesday, Tsipras is technically > asking his people to vote on a deal that no longer exists anyway. European > Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker added on to this by releasing a *new* > proposal that was supposedly in the works before the Greeks “unilaterally” > walked out of the negotiations. Both moves are clear attempts to > destabilize popular expectations ahead of the vote and confuse the > electorate about the clarity, legality and historic significance of the > choice that now lies ahead of them. > > Make no mistake: Sunday’s referendum will mark a defining moment in > Greece’s modern history and a decisive turn for Europe’s neoliberal > project. The choice is very clear. Five years after the people of Greece > first rose up against the anti-democratic imposition of the Troika’s > austerity measures, they have finally been given the chance to decide upon > their own destiny: either they will vote yes to a lifetime of austerity > within the eurozone, or they will roar back at the creditors’ inhumane > demands with a proud and resounding “NO!” — thereby opening the way for a > thousand yeses to a new, democratic and socially just Europe, freed from > the shackles of debt servitude, the noose of a deflationary single > currency, and the tyranny of an unaccountable financial technocracy. > brilliant, thank you so much for forwarding this Peter! -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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David Bollier on the commons economic vision and proposals of the p2p foundation
by Michel Bauwens 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

have a look at the really excellent text and commentary by david bollier http://www.bollier.org/blog/michel-bauwens-heres-what-commons-based-economy… "So what might a commons-based economy actually look like in its broadest dimensions, and how might we achieve it? My colleague Michel Bauwens of the P2P Foundation offers a remarkably thoughtful and detailed explanation in a just-released YouTube talk, produced by FutureSharp. It’s not really a video – just Michel’s voiceover and a simple schematic chart – but the 20-minute talk does a great job of sketching the big-picture strategies that must be pursued if we are going to invent a new type of post-capitalist economy. Michel focuses on the importance of three specific realms that are crucial to this new vision – ecological sustainability, open knowledge and social solidarity. Each is critical as a field of action for overturning the existing logic of market capitalism. Fortunately, there are many promising developments in each of these realms. " -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: I"m interested in republishing your 150th anniversary notes in the p2p blog
by Michel Bauwens 28 Jun '15

28 Jun '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Tom Walker <lumpoflabor(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 8:05 AM Subject: Re: I"m interested in republishing your 150th anniversary notes in the p2p blog To: Michel Bauwens <michel(a)p2pfoundation.net> Hi Michel, Here are my posts and their URLs pertaining to abolition of the wages system over the last week and a half. I'm still thinking of at least one more specifically addressing accounting and social accounting. Cheers, Tom Tragedy of the Wages-Rut System http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/tragedy-of-wages-rut-system.html Evil EuRobot and Abolition Implosion of the Wages-Rut System http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/evil-eurobot-and-abolition-implosion… Cotton, Abolition and the Lash of Hunger http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/cotton-abolition-and-lash-of-hunger.… Szalámitaktika: How do you abolish the wages system by degrees? http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/szalamitaktika-how-do-you-abolish-wa… Let's talk about... abolishing the wages system http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/lets-talk-about-abolishing-wages-sys… For the Abolition of the Wages System! http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/for-abolition-of-wages-system.html Trigger Warning! The Wage Prisoner's Dilemma http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2015/06/trigger-warning-wage-prisoners-dilem… On Sat, Jun 20, 2015 at 1:57 PM, Michel Bauwens <michel(a)p2pfoundation.net> wrote: > we could also co-publish it as an ebook with the p2p foundation .. (using > our imprint ) > > Michel > > On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 10:47 PM, Tom Walker <lumpoflabor(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hi Michel, >> >> Thanks, that would be very welcome. I've recently downloaded about 400 >> pages of blog material to sort through and make something of. The focus >> will be my proposal for a labour commons unionism and labour power as a >> common pool resource. My critique of mainstream economics identifies in the >> deep currents of anti-labor and anti-commons bias. I'll let you know my >> progress as I go through the old material. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Tom >> >> On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 11:11 PM, Michel Bauwens < >> michel(a)p2pfoundation.net> wrote: >> >>> hi Tom >>> >>> thanks for letting me know when they come out, >>> >>> anything else you have written in the last 18 months that I should know >>> about ? >>> >>> Michel >>> >>> Nine days from today, June 27, 2015 will be the 150th anniversary of >>> Marx's >>> call for abolition of the wages system. >>> >>> I have argued that managing collective labor power as a common pool >>> resource, rather than selling it as an individually owned commodity is >>> the >>> key to abolition of the wages system. >>> >>> The anniversary of Marx's address to the Central Council of the >>> International Workingmen's Association is a propitious occasion for >>> talking >>> about what it might mean to abolish the wages system and how such a >>> formidable task might be accomplished. Let's talk about it. >>> >>> I will be posting at EconoSpeak on the topic in the days leading up to >>> the >>> June 27 anniversary. >>> >>> -- >>> Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: >>> http://commonstransition.org >>> >>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - >>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net >>> >>> <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: >>> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens >>> >>> #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Cheers, >> >> Tom Walker (Sandwichman) >> > > > > -- > Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: > http://commonstransition.org > > P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net > > <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: > http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens > > #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/ > -- Cheers, Tom Walker (Sandwichman) -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: Film Made: Peace Economy
by Michel Bauwens 27 Jun '15

27 Jun '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Bob Reuschlein <bobreuschlein(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 7:29 PM Subject: Film Made: Peace Economy To: Link to send or tweet to others by: https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/film-made-peace-economy/ *Film Made: Peace Economy* By Dr. Robert Reuschlein *Overview* The Peace Studies Professor’s idea of a movie about Dr. Reuschlein being the next step was worth some thought. Perhaps he did not know there already is a movie about Dr. Reuschlein’s Peace Economics, made in 2010 by Film Studies emeritus Jackson Tiffany of the University of Wisconsin Madison. This is a great film to help people break out of the two dimensional thinking of 1) politics and 2) money about military spending and begin thinking through the 3) third dimension of the economic usefulness of military spending. The 4th dimension would be the whole empire concept and the 5th dimension would be the long term 54 year cycle. In short term thinking America, the last two dimensions are a hard sell. In fact, military spending does not create consumer products of any kind, making it a black hole of lost manufacturing and construction in the economy, leading to profound consequences other scholars have failed to analyze in any depth at all. This amazing new perspective is studied in eight key dimensions explaining the rise and fall of empires. This film completely changes the way we should look at the economy since World War II, especially the Great Recession and subsequent events. This 40 minute film is available from the realeconomy.com website for a $20 check, postpaid, including all shipping and taxes. *Beginnings* Every Monday at noon peace activists in Madison Wisconsin meet at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Doty Street. This is a good location one block away from the State Capitol and between the City and County buildings. One day I was downtown and decided to pass out some of my own flyers and ended up in a conversation with a bearded grey haired fellow with a hat that I had seen before at the Friends Meeting House. He had enjoyed one of my lectures a couple of years before on the “Twelve Stages of Empire” at the downtown public library. He had asked for a copy of the tape of that lecture and I had not gotten around to giving him that. This time he had an offer for me. He offered to make a ten minute video about my ideas, something he had done for other organizations. I agreed saying it needs to be fifteen or twenty minutes to get the material across well. He agreed to that. Little did I know I was going to be working with a retired Film Studies Professor from the University of Wisconsin. *Tapings* I called him later and agreed to come over to his house with eight of my best charts to begin taping. He started realizing the magnitude of the issues of Peace Economics, and agreed to more and more inclusions. He nixed one of my charts that he thought would be too hard to explain, but accepted the rest. We soon realized it was going to take longer and ended up with a forty minute dvd. Since most of the material had been accumulated over three decades, I agreed to a summary taping that would explain the twenty-first century part of the story, as the taping was completed in the summer of 2010. Jackson then added titles and other polish to the film. *Distribution* Jackson had a good idea who could produce the film economically. I could have a dvd in a packet with a dust cover for about 1000 for $1000. That made it very economical, but I wanted more. I decided to double the cost and include a 24 page booklet. The booklet has all the seven charts of material of the dvd on sixteen pages. Another eight pages of important ideas left out of the original film were added. This gave a cliff notes version of the ideas for easy review and to show others individual points. The structure was such that a chart could be on the left hand side of the fold and an explanation of the chart on the right hand side of the fold. Had I consumer tested this more, I would not have started with World War Two. Even though I refute the idea that the war pulled us out of the Depression, the conventional wisdom propaganda is too hard to overcome for some. I should have started with the next two charts instead, then eased into WWII later on. The 2011 dvd has never taken off like the paperback Peace Economics of 1986. Distribution of the dvd is only about 200 so far compared to the 3000 of the paperback. It is much easier to get a book into a book store than a dvd. But the newer work has much more new material than the original. It seems people want more words and less numbers and charts. *Actual copy of 24 page booklet enclosed with each video:* https://www.academia.edu/4108656/BOOKLET_for_Peace_Economics_11_charts_24p.… Dr. Peace, Dr. Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Madison, Wisconsin CONTACT: bobreuschlein(a)gmail.com INFO: www.realeconomy.com MESSAGE: 608-230-6640 (*Real Economy* and/or *Peace Economics* free ebook for the press) Archive of this two year long press release campaign at: https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/film-made-peace-economy/ -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [sustainablemoney] Call for papers - Monetary Institutionalisms in the French-Speaking World
by Michel Bauwens 27 Jun '15

27 Jun '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Leander Bindewald <leander(a)criterical.net> Date: Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 5:04 AM Subject: [sustainablemoney] Call for papers - Monetary Institutionalisms in the French-Speaking World To: sustainablemoney(a)community-currency.info Forwarding this exciting call for papers: Dear colleagues, Respond by replying above this line or visit http://ccresearch.community-currency.info/conversations/255 *Did you know…* ... members of this list can now find all conversations archived online - www.ccresearch.community-currency.info +1 this post <http://ccresearch.community-currency.info/conversation_posts/556f79e2333035…> Forwarding this exciting call for papers: Dear colleagues, We organize an international conference on *1-2-3 June, 2016*: *"Monetary Institutionalisms in the French-Speaking World: Past Record, Future Prospects and International Perspectives »*in Lyons (France) Please find the contents of the call attached and on the conference website as well: http://imf2016.sciencesconf.org/?lang=en <http://imf2016.sciencesconf.org/> The deadline for abstracts (through the conference website) is: 17 October, 2015 Sincerely, Pierre Alary, Jérôme Blanc, Ludovic Desmedt, Bruno Théret Too many emails? Mute this conversation <http://ccresearch.community-currency.info/conversations/255/mute>, switch to a digest <http://ccresearch.community-currency.info/groups/sustainablemoney>, or turn off email notifications completely <http://ccresearch.community-currency.info/groups/sustainablemoney> -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [NetworkedLabour] The making of an Atlantic ruling class, 1984 and now
by Michel Bauwens 27 Jun '15

27 Jun '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Örsan Şenalp <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 6:00 AM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] The making of an Atlantic ruling class, 1984 and now To: "networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org" <networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org > All chapters of The making of an Atlantic ruling class in HTML form reproduced on Libcom: https://libcom.org/library/making-atlantic-ruling-class-kees-van-der-pijl Like to post the first part of the first chapter of Kees van der Pijl's book below, since I believe it bears a major importance which stems from the clear adaptation of Marx' method and understanding of capitalist class formation, its unity in fractional diversity, at the international / Atlantic level, in the text. It prepares a perfect ground to develop a perspective imo. for developing inclusive version for informational capital and its sub-fractions, vis a vis functionally networked -by capital- labour classes. The original edition of the book was published in 1984. Suggest also to read the preface to the new edition: Class formation on an Atlantic scale 1. Determinants of class formation The concrete process of class formation in the North Atlantic area can be broken down into several separate dynamics of class conflict, each of which may be situated on a distinct level of analysis. In terms of the method offered by Marx in Capital, the industrial bourgeoisie primarily constitutes itself as a class in struggle with the working class and landed interests, but the actual process of its formation must be adduced at successive levels of decreasing abstraction. (1) In the labour process, industrial capital faces the task of subordinating living labour-power to the requirements of the valorization of capital. Here, different modalities of the exploitation relation yield corresponding varieties of the capital-labour relationship in class terms: Absolute surplus-value production, in which the rate of exploitation varies with the length of the working day and the flat speed of work, tends to produce a rigid polarization of the employed and the employers. Relative surplus-value production, on the other hand, which is obtained by reducing the reproduction costs of labour-power in relation to aggregate capital outlay, fosters flexibility in the relations between capitalists and workers on account of an apparently common interest in rising productivity. This illusion of an identity of interests is part of the shift from the formal to the real subordination of labour to capital. The absolute (in the sense of general and abstract) unity of the bourgeoisie vis-à-vis the working class therefore dissolves into concrete differentiations as soon as the real relation with the workers is taken into consideration. Lenin referred to this differentiation in his 1910 pamphlet, Differences in the European Labour Movement. On the side of the bourgeoisie, he distinguished between the method of 'liberalism' (in the sense of flexibility) and the method of force; on the side of the working class these are matched by reformism and anarcho-syndicalism, respectively. These different modes of reproduction of the basic class antagonism, based on absolute or relative surplus-value production, were pertinent at various points in the overall process of Atlantic class formation. In continental Europe, the low living standards at the turn of the century helped to preordain the incapacity of the European bourgeoisie to maintain a flexible format of labour relations in the 1930s. Since in the Old World the prospect of mass consumption of durable manufactures did not exist, 'Fordism' in all its aspects (productivity, social wage, further subordination of labour) was not feasible and the rate of exploitation could only be sustained by gearing to absolute surplus-value production. Hence, whereas the crisis of the 1930s in the United States saw 'liberalism' (in Lenin's sense) survive through the generalization of Fordism in the New Deal and its insertion into a strategy of internationalization, in continental Europe authoritarianism and Fascism prevailed. The distinctions between absolute and relative surplus-value production, and between fractions of the bourgeoisie grouped around a concept of force and those advocating concessions, are crucial to understanding what happened in Europe at this juncture, and in fact have been chosen as a point of departure by several influential Marxist analyses of the nature of bourgeois class support for Hitler's rise to power in Germany. These determinants of bourgeois class formation on the level of the labour process, however fundamental, are not sufficient to analyse the various ideological tendencies within the bourgeoisie. Although labour-process differentiations may help to elucidate the broad differences between, for example, the New Deal and German National Socialism, they fail to account for such trajectories as the French Popular Front, where a united working-class movement, partly of Fordist inspiration, was able to ward off the threat of Fascism but failed to realize a positive programme comparable to the New Deal. (2) To arrive at a more complete picture, we have to proceed to the next level of abstraction: that of circulation relations between various categories of capitalists, or fractions of social capital. Such fractions are bank, commercial, or industrial capital. In France at the time of the Popular Front, the working class joined forces with the liberal wing of the bourgeoisie, but within the capitalist class, this 'productive' alliance did not succeed in subordinating the interests of the financial world. Since it could not move forward to full-fledged Fordism, which would have included the partial expropriation (or as Keynes called it, 'euthanasia') of the rentier segment in the capitalist class, Leon Blum's Lilliput New Deal was doomed to be rolled back as a consequence of the dynamics of circulation relations. (3) A further dimension of the concrete fractionation of the bourgeoisie resides in the profit-distribution process, which, in the spirit of Volume Three of Capital, should be theorized as the third level of the determination of class formation. In the overall distribution of metamorphosed surplus-value between capitals, fractions of capital, landed interests and even a segment of the working class (those paid out of the mass of surplus-value without contributing to it directly), specific class fractions crystallize, enter into alliances, and press their particular strategic concepts. Moreover, the hegemony of particular fractions in this profit-distribution pattern may help to explain a specific political climate: e.g. the prevalence of laissez- faire concepts in the United States during the late 1950s when the profit- distribution process was temporarily skewed towards the financial and rentier sphere; or the Keynesian activism of the Kennedy Administration during a subsequent period as the resurgence of industrial capital. Of course the three levels of abstraction on which class formation may be theorized as taking place, i.e., the labour process, circulation relations, and the profit-distribution process, are in reality only moments of a dynamic totality. This totality also encompasses sedimented layers of older social relations, forms of ethnic and sexual oppression, as well as the survival of elements of pre-capitalist modes of production. And although it is the accumulation of capital which primarily articulates and incessantly revolutionizes it, the concrete social formation derives its external appearance in large part from these autochtonous characteristics. Thus the internationalization of capital, and concomitantly of class formation, in the North Atlantic area included the mobilization of the legacies of anti-semitism, Anglo-Saxon chauvinism and national messianism. At the same time the actual structures of absolute and relative surplus-value production tended to be built upon pre-existing racial, sexual and national differentiations amongst the workers. In this fashion the modern world struggles between the imperialist states, and their subsequent alliances against socialism, have absorbed the 'dead weight' of the past. Yet despite the multi-layered complexity of the political alliances involved, a characteristic inner logic can be observed in the class strategies evolved by the Atlantic bourgeoisies. Time and again, an offensive, 'liberal-flexible' way of dealing with the working class or other challenges has alternated with a defensive 'method of force'. These strategic options have loosely corresponded with, respectively, relative and absolute surplus-value extraction, and have been linked up internationally (in the sense of functioning as determinants of class formation) through specific patterns of circulation relations in which particular fractions of capital and their ideal-typical concepts were prominent. The money-capital and the productive-capital concepts constitute such functional ideal-types, and we shall therefore briefly review the distinctions from which they may be theoretically reconstructed. Capital fractions in Marxist theory The notion of fractions of total capital (i.e., units other than individual capitals related to particular functions in the reproduction of capital) provides an important clue to differentiations within the bourgeoisie which are ideologically pertinent. The concept was developed by Marx in Volumes Two and Three of Capital. The basic functional differentiation of capital is presented in Volume Two. Discussing the forms that capital assumes in the course of its reproduction cycle, Marx distinguishes between productive capital and the two forms belonging to the stage of circulation, money capital and commodity capital, in the sense of capital in money and commodity form respectively. Apart from the three functional forms, we therefore have the distinction between the stage of circulation and the stage of production, a distinction which is equally important for all further specification and concretization. The stage, or sphere, of circulation comprises capital in money and commodity form; the stage or sphere of production, productive capital. The criterion for this bifurcation is the fact that whereas all forms of capital represent modes of appropriation of surplus-value, only the productive form is engaged in its creation through the subsumption of living labour-power. As will be demonstrated below, this distinction is particularly important when it comes to reconstructing the ideological propensities of the functionaries of productive capital. This also goes for another distinction Marx deploys in Volumes Two and Three the one between capital engaged in the production of means of production and capital engaged in the production of consumer goods: Departments I and II. Since Fordism in the era of Atlantic integration rested on the dynamic articulation of relative surplus-value production in the consumer-durables sector and a concomitant reorientation of key 'Department I’ industries towards supplying this sector with semi-finished products (notably steel), the departmental division is relevant in this light as well. For the moment, however, we shall proceed from the money- commodity-productive triad. In Volume Three, Marx again considers the basic differentiation into functional forms of capital. This time the level of abstraction has been reached where 'the embodiments of capital. . . stepwise approximate the form in which they operate at the surface of society, in the action of the different capitals upon each other, competition; and in everyday consciousness of the agents of production'.4 Accordingly, the three functions analysed in Volume Two are raised to a more concrete level. Beginning with the functional form of commodity capital, Marx writes that 'to the degree that this function of capital operative in the circulation process is autonomized into a special function of a special capital at all, and crystallizes as a function assigned by the division of labour to a particular kind of capitalist, commodity capital becomes commodity-dealing capital or commercial capital'. The commodities in which commercial capital deals are use- values or money, but money only to the degree it is used for the exchange of goods. Commercial capital therefore can be sub-divided again into commodity-dealing and money-dealing capital. The crucial element in the definition of both is the separation from the production process. In practical terms, because of its institutional form as bank capital, money-dealing capital may be difficult to isolate from its counterpart, interest-bearing capital (credit), which is also handled by banks. Although different national banking systems sometimes, and to various extents, reflect the functional differentiation (say, in commercial and investment banking), some forms of credit are by themselves hybrid in this respect, like commercial credit. In the distinction between money markets and capital markets, the two functions are separated however. The notion of fictitious capital transcends the distinction between money- dealing capital and interest-bearing capital. Fictitious capital is considered by Marx as the comprehensive counterpart of all real economic activity under capitalist conditions. As such, it brings a unity to these activities which turns it into the nearest equivalent of total social capital. “To the degree that it appears on the market”, Marx writes, 'money capital is not represented by single capitalists, by the owner of this or that particle of capital present in the market, but it appears as a concentrated, organized mass, which, entirely unlike real production, is subject to the control of bankers representing social capital'. As an aggregate fraction, therefore, bankers, and their quasi- banker counterparts inside integrated companies, in a sense represent a single collective capitalist due to their joint control of fictitious capital. In capitalist reality, this social dimension remains a form, behind which the competition among private capitals proceeds unabated. Yet, the special position of bank capital in this respect is brought out by its twofold presence in the political economy: as a sector among others, and as part of the overarching economic state apparatus. Summarizing the main distinctions introduced so far (circulation/ production, real and fictitious capital, as well as the three functional forms of capital and their concrete embodiments), we arrive at the following figure. FIGURE ONE Apart from landed property, which represents a relation of distribution rather than one of production, these are the fractions of social capital analysed by Marx in Capital. Hilferding's concept of ' finance capital' was developed to capture the twin phenomena of the institutional interpenetration of bank and industrial capital, and of the relative separation of a distinct oligarchical fraction of finance capitalists from the 'simple' bankers and industrialists. Widely popularized by Lenin's adoption of the concept in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, the reality it conveys about the new empirical structure of capital does not obliterate the need for distinguishing the functional, 'original' fractions. For even in a situation where the financial oligarchy is no longer effectively challenged by a sub- ordinate, 'non-monopolistic' bourgeoisie, certain conflicts within the capitalist class remain traceable to the different fractions persisting in the context of an apparent fusion. 7 The conflicts of interest and allegiance which lead to class formation cannot be reduced to their functional determinants. In order to be effective, fractional interests have to be transcended by a formula of reconciliation or compromise on which a temporary truce may be built allowing the ruling classes to stay in power, or rather, allowing the basic social conditions of the mode of production to be preserved and, if possible, reinforced. The economic interest associated with a dominant fraction of capital requires a complementary formula of reconciliation of that interest with that of other fractions in order to be an effective vector of class formation. By itself, the political impact of a single fraction remains within the confines of pressure-group politics, or what Domhoff calls the 'special-interest process'. In his study of the fractionation of the Dutch bourgeoisie in the inter-war years, Ries Bode introduces the category of comprehensive concepts of control to capture the transcendent formulation of class interest aggregating such special interests and subordinating others.8 A concept of control represents a bid for hegemony: a project for the conduct of public affairs and social control that aspires to be a legitimate approximation of the general interest in the eyes of the ruling class and, at the same time, the majority of the population, for at least a specific period. It evolves through a series of compromises in which the fractional, 'special' interests are arbitrated and synthesized. The objectivity, and the potential 'general' relevance of a concept of control, reside in the timeliness of the main elements in its programme, combining momentarily feasible and desired - if hardly ever mutually compatible - strategies of labour relations, competition, and domestic and international politics. The compromises underlying the feasibility of these various strategies are reached (in the sense of a subjective elaboration of an objective process) by concrete compensations for the special interests involved through the profit-distribution process, complemented by symbolic rewards. Comprehensive concepts of control develop in the course of capital accumulation and class struggle as they evolve over the decades. They can be defined from certain ideal-types related to the functional perspective of specific capital fractions. As indicated above, the process of class formation develops as a concrete totality through pre-existing and simultaneously reproduced cultural and political patterns. Besides representing particular functions in the circuit of capital, concepts of control therefore are also reflections in social consciousness of the circumstances in which these functions passed through a mutation in terms of these contingent, extra-economic patterns. The historical setting may help to explain why other capitalists, or other classes, subscribe to the concept of control developed from a 'special interest' vantage-point which strictly speaking is not their own. For instance, one need not develop a cosmopolitan outlook from being engaged, as an industrial entrepreneur, in producing textiles. Yet, the fact that this industry's original prominence coincided with the heyday of international free trade makes it plausible that the textile capitalists of the day developed a set of equations in their world outlook which by and large corresponded to the liberal-internationalist ideology espoused by hegemonic commercial capital. At the same time, the stability of 'textile liberalism' could not be expected to be the same as that of the mainstream liberalism of the commercial capitalists. In the 1930s, for instance, the impact of the world economic crisis undermined the community of interests and outlook between the two fractions, as the textile industrialists adjusted or even led the way to protectionism. In the postwar situation, however, the readiness of the European natural textile producers to accept American tutelage because of the liberal- internationalist arrangements in the economic field which were part of the Pax Americana, showed that, as soon as circumstances allowed it, their original preference for free trade, which had been reproduced through family, company, regional and political traditions, was promptly reactivated. _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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