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

CfP JoPP - Work issue
by Vasilis Kostakis 09 Jun '15

09 Jun '15

****************************************** <apologies if you receive this message more than once> CFP Journal of Peer Production: Work and peer production Editors: Phoebe Moore (Middlesex University London), Mathieu O’Neil (University of Canberra), Stefano Zacchiroli (University Paris Diderot) The rise in the usage and delivery capacity of the Internet in the 1990s has led to the development of massively distributed online projects where self-governing volunteers collaboratively produce public goods. Notable examples include Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects such as Debian and GNOME, as well as the Wikipedia encyclopedia. These distributed practices have been characterised as peer production, crowdsourcing, mass customization, social production, co-configurative work, playbour, user-generated content, wikinomics, open innovation, participatory culture, produsage, and the wisdom of the crowd, amongst other terms. In peer production, labour is communal and outputs are orientated towards the further expansion of the commons, an ecology of production that aims to defy and resist the hierarchies and rules of ownership that drive productive models within capitalism (Moore, 2011); while the commons, recursively, are the chief resource in this mode of production (Söderberg & O’Neil, 2014). Peer projects are ‘ethical’ as participation is primarily motivated by self-fulfillment and validated by a community of peers, rather than by earning wages. Their governance is ‘modular’, understood in a design sense (decomposable blocks sharing a common interface), but also in political-economy terms: participants oppose restricted ownership and control by individually socializing their works into commons. Conflicting interpretations of their societal impact have been articulated (O’Neil, 2015). Skeptics view the abjuration of exclusive property rights over the goods they produce as irrelevant, and ethical-modular projects as increasing worker exploitation: participants’ passionate labour occurs at the expense of less fortunate others, who do not have the disposable income, cultural capital, or family support to engage in unpaid labour (Moore & Taylor, 2009; Huws, 2013). In contrast, reformists, often hailing from a management perspective, suggest that the co-optation of communal labour by firms will improve business practices and society (Arvidsson, 2008; Demil et al., 2015). Finally activists celebrate the abjuration of exclusive property rights, and present ethical-modular projects as key actors in a historical process leading to the supersession of capitalism and hierarchy (Kostakis & Bauwens, 2014). This last perspective raises a central challenge, which is the avoidance of purely utopian thinking. In other words, how can commons-based peer production reach deeply into daily life? How can ‘already existing non-capitalist economic processes’ be strengthened, ‘new non-capitalist enterprises’ be built, and ‘communal subjects’ be established (Gibson-Graham, 2003: 157)? An increasingly large free public goods and services sector could well cohabit in a plural economy with employment in cooperatives, paid independent work, and the wage-earning of the commercial sector. However analysis of peer production typically eschews mundane considerations such as living wages, benefits, job security, working conditions, work-induced medical conditions, and debates on labour organization. How can peer production operate as a sustainable practice enabling people to live, if labour and work issues are not formally addressed? To advance this agenda, the tenth issue of the Journal of Peer Production, titled Peer Production and Work, calls for papers in two linked areas: *Peer production in a paid work society* Nowadays firms attempt to monetize crowdsourced labour. The paradigmatic example is Amazon’s Mechanical Turk labourers (popularly known as ‘Turkers’, ‘cloud workers’ or ‘click workers’) who accomplish micro-tasks such as tagging and labeling images, transcribing audio or video recordings, and categorizing products. This extreme modularization of work results in their status being that of independent contractors rather than employees with rights, necessitating novel means of protection and redress (Irani & Silberman, 2013). The so-called 'sharing economy' also uses peer production methods, such as the self-selection of modular and granular tasks, to extract ever-more value from the labour of volunteer ‘prosumers’ (Frayssé & O’Neil, 2015). Capitalist firms are also increasingly engaging with ethical-modular organizations, in some cases paying wages to participants. Such labour is thus both ‘alienated’, or sold, and ‘communal’, as workers freely cooperate to produce commons. Do traditional categories such as exploitation and alienation still apply? Topics may include, but are not limited to: - Peer production and the global political economy - Peer production and the rise of precarious work - Peer workers and possibilities for worker organisation - Does the autonomy of peer workers cause conflict in firms, and how is it resolved? - What strategies do firms adopt to co-opt peer production (e.g., ‘hackhathons’)? - Do tensions around property rights emerge? - Subjectivity in peer production - Peer production and intellectual property, coded work *Paid work in peer production projects* How does paid labour affect ethical P2P projects? Mansell and Berdou (2010) argue that firms supporting the work of programmers who contribute to volunteer projects, to the commons, will not affect the ‘cooperative spirit’ of projects; nor can this support prevent the results of labour from being socialized into commons. Is this always the case? Topics may include, but are not limited to: - How do peer projects deal with the presence of paid or waged labour? - Is this topic discussed within peer production projects? In what way? - What benefits do paid or waged workers enjoy in peer projects? - How does paid labour affect peer production projects? *Timeline* 300-500 word-abstract due: 30 July 2015 Notification to authors: 30 August 2015 Submission of full paper: 31 December 2015 Reviews to authors: 15 February 2016 Revised papers: 30 April 2016 Signals due: 30 May 2016 Issue release: June/July 2016 *Submission guidelines* Submission abstracts of 300-500 words are due by July 30, 2015 and should be sent to <work(a)peerproduction.net>. All peer reviewed papers will be reviewed according to Journal of Peer Production guidelines. See http://peerproduction.net/peer-review/process/ Full papers and materials are due by December 31, 2015 for review. Peer reviewed papers should be around 8,000 words; personal testimonies or ‘tales of toil’ in the Processed World tradition should be up to 4,000 words. *References* Arvidsson, A. (2008). The ethical economy of consumer coproduction. Journal of Macromarketing, 8, 326-338. Demil, B., Lecoq. X. & Warnier, E. (2015). The capabilities of bazaar governance: Investigating the advantage of business models based on open communities. Journal of Organizational Change Management, in press. Frayssé, O. & O’Neil, M. (2015) Digital labour and prosumer capitalism: The US matrix. Basingstoke: Palgrave, in press. Gibson-Graham, J.K. (2003). Enabling ethical economies: Cooperativism and class. Critical Sociology, 29, 123-164. Huws, U. (2013). The underpinnings of class in the digital age: Living, labour and value. Socialist Register, 50, 80-107. Irani, L. & Silberman, M. (2013). Turkopticon: Interrupting worker invisibility in Amazon Mechanical Turk. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Kostakis, V. & Bauwens, M. (2014) Network society and future scenarios for a collaborative economy. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Mansell, R. & Berdou, E. (2010). Political economy, the internet and FL/OSS development. In Hunsinger, J., Allen, M. & Klastrup, L. (Eds.) International handbook of Internet research (pp. 341-362). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Springer. Moore, P. (2011). Subjectivity in the ecologies of P2P Production. The Journal of Fibreculture FCJ-119. Online. Moore, P. & Taylor, P. A. (2009). Exploitation of the self in community-based software production: Workers’ freedoms or firm foundations? Capital & Class, 99-117. O’Neil, M. (2015). Labour out of control: The political economy of capitalist and ethical organizations. Organization Studies, 1-21. Söderberg, J. & O’Neil, M. (2014). 'Introduction'. Book of Peer Production (pp. 2-3). Göteborg: NSU Press. ******************************************

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Join us for the P2P Summer School and explore the Art of Commoning
by Kevin Flanagan 08 Jun '15

08 Jun '15

The Art of Commoning *"What becomes possible when we harness our collective capacity in service of the commons?"* [image: commoning] *25 - 27 August 2015* | WeCreate <http://wecreate.ie/>, Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary, Ireland *Standard Fee*: €380*/ early bird by June 30th: €340 *Low Income Fee*: €340*/ early bird by June 30th: €310 * Depending on registrations there will be a limited amount of bursary options available. *Pay via Paypal* <http://cultivate.ie/community-resilience/1246-p2p-summer-school#Paypal> Contact Form <http://cultivate.ie/component/contact/contact/88888956-staff/3>. PDF Brochure <http://cultivate.ie/images/ArtOfCommoning.pdf> http://cultivate.ie/community-resilience/1246-p2p-summer-school <http://cultivate.ie/images/ArtOfCommoning.pdf> *Overview* Many roads lead to the commons: the collaborative economy, open culture, technology and knowledge sharing, shared meaning-making, protecting biodiversity, seed saving, our natural resources, and more. As “commoners” we practice engaging with others to create impact that lasts longer and is more sustainable than anything we can accomplish on our own. Together we maintain and govern the infrastructures that beneﬁt the public as a whole and beyond. We invite you to join us in shared inquiry for a 3-day gathering in beautiful rural Ireland. *The core of our inquiry centres on the following questions:* • What becomes possible when we harness our collective capacity in service of the commons? • How can the commons, peer-to-peer and participatory approaches support the transition to a more sustainable way of life? • Can we create livelihoods through co-operatives that enrich and sustain the commons? • How can a commons-based collaborative economy strengthen the resilience of our communities? *What should you expect?* The Summer School will be grounded in the actual practice of collaboration and ﬁnding synergies. Some theoretical input, both on P2P and Art of Hosting, will also be offered - mostly in short modules. New developments in P2P will be shared by Michel Bauwens and Kevin Flanagan, Art of Hosting models and practices by Davie Philip and Ria Baeck. The overall aim is to balance and integrate concrete learning outcomes for all. Coming from P2P, explorations are likely to cover topics such as new forms of cooperative enterprise, P2P money, crowdfunding, open value accounting, P2P legal developments, etc. Coming from AoH, you will learn how to better design conversations that invite full participation and engagement. This event builds on the experience of the Art of Hosting event ( http://bollier.org/blog/art-commoning) held in autumn 2014 in Montréal and the Open Everything Collaborative Economy Convergence held in Ireland in September 2014. Who is this for? If you are a citizen, student, entrepreneur, cultural worker, adult educator, facilitator of change, coach or working with your local community and wanting to develop collaborative and participatory practices to empower social change and steward resources, then this Summer School is for you. No matter your level of experience, or area of interest and activity, you are sure to take home many new insights and practices for your own commons project whatever it is about! Not to mention new friends and transformative experiences. Extended 5-day If 3 days seem too short for such an adventure you are welcome to come a day early (Monday Aug. 24). The Ecovillage (see below), Ireland and all these inspiring participants offer much to discover and learn from. You can also stay a day longer (Friday Aug. 28). We know from experience that these gatherings start with connecting and bringing our questions to life while the gatherings afterward give space for further synergies to emerge and make for a smoother transition for your own next steps. Of course you can also enjoy some leisure time and explore the countryside! *Unique Setting for the Summer School* The summer school will be held in the new WeCreate Workspace in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, winner of Ireland's national Green Community award and also the UN backed International Award for Liveable Communities. In this setting, you will be able to see many commons initiatives and key sustainable community systems in working practice and hear the stories of people seeking to play their part in the transition to a low carbon society. Cloughjordan is a vibrant, rural village where progressive projects have been successfully integrated into a traditional local community. The Ecovillage offers a rich environment for learning about the mainstreaming of sustainability and progressing a commons approach. Of course the ecovillage also has its challenges, and contributing to its ever-developing life will provide another opportunity for learning unexpected things by doing. The blending of people with different skills and backgrounds, from within the peer-to-peer, commons and sustainability movements and the community of practitioners of the Art of Hosting offers unprecedented opportunities for learning and the emergence of novel synergies. Sharing our practices, knowledge and experiences within the setting of the emerging ecosystem of innovation that is the Cloughjordan Ecovillage will offer many great beneﬁts for individuals, communities and beyond. Food and Accommodation Accommodation is available in Djangos Hostel <http://www.djangoshostel.com/> (+353 87 256 9348), locally in the Ecovillage. B&B options are also available, contact philippa@ cultivate.ie for a list. Lunch is included in the fee and dinner is available in a number of venues within walking distance of the venue. *Participation Fee* There are only 40 places available for this event and full participation in the 3 days is required. We know that participants for this gathering come from different economic backgrounds and we have different rates to reﬂect this diversity; also because we need to create a balance where those who can afford it pay the higher rates so that others with less ﬁnancial possibilities can participate. There is an early bird rate for bookings made before June 30th and we need 15 participants to have registered and paid before this date to make this event work! If you wish to attend please register right away. *Organisers* This gathering is co-organised and co-created by the following groups who are deeply engaged in service to the commons: *The Peer-to-Peer Foundation (P2PF)* are a global network of activists and researchers dedicated to advocacy and research of peer to peer dynamics in society. The Peer to Peer Foundation explore P2P in its broadest sense. The Collaborative Economy, the Sharing Economy, Free Libre Open Source Software, Creative Commons, Open Design, Maker Spaces, Coworking, FabLabs, Crowdfunding, all represent the seeds of a new paradigm and a transformative vision for the future where participation, collaboration and cooperation are at the heart of our economy and society. The P2PF maintain a comprehensive directory of P2P projects and practices at http://p2pfoundation.net *Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter (AoH)* is an integral set of practices that elicits the collective wisdom and capacity of groups to self-organise in creative, constructive, humane ways. The ability to convene and connect people, locally and globally, empowers communities to self-organise around their interests, to share experiences and produce valuable knowledge resources and commons at scales previously only possible through hierarchical and capital-intensive, command-and-control economies. It is also a fast-growing, self-organised globe-spanning network that hosts conversations in all parts of society that lead to novel insights and wiser actions. http://www.artofhosting.org *Cultivate Living and Learning* is managed by the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative, which designs and facilitates learning journeys, hosts training in community resilience and offers courses in Permaculture and innovation. A current focus of Cultivate is catalysing community ownership in Ireland through cooperatives. http://www.cultivate.ie *WeCreate Workspace* is based in the Community Enterprise Centre of the Ecovillage and features a FabLab makerspace and coworking area supporting a focus on community resilience and sustainability through the lens of fabrication and technology. http://www.wecreate.ie Cloughjordan Ecovillage is an award-winning sustainable community now featuring fifty-five households, three NGO’s, and over ten businesses, including a CSA community farm farm, community woodlands, research gardens, an award winning bakery and an eco-hostel. http://www.thevillage.ie *More Information* Contact Davie Philip davie@ cultivate.ie <davie(a)cultivate.ie> or Kevin Flanagan kevin@ p2pfoundation.net <kevin(a)p2pfoundation.net> -- For P2P Foundation related messages please contact me at kevin(a)p2pfoundation.net http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/ https://twitter.com/flgnk Skype: kev.flanagan Phone: +353 87 743 5660

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what global citizens think about companies
by Michel Bauwens 07 Jun '15

07 Jun '15

From: Swart, Gemma <Gemma.Swart(a)ituc-csi.org> Date: Thu, Jun 4, 2015 at 12:24 PM Subject: ITUC Media Release: G7 warned global companies hit by trust deficit To: "Swart, Gemma" <Gemma.Swart(a)ituc-csi.org> *G7 warned global companies hit by trust deficit* Brussels, 4 June 2015 (ITUC OnLine): Just one in five of people in western economies like France, Germany, the UK and the USA agree that corporations can be trusted with their global workforce, according to a new poll commissioned by International Trade Union Confederation. The public opinion poll released on the eve of the G7 summit in Germany comes amid growing political concern that multinational companies and international organizations like FIFA are ignoring agreements and breaking the rules. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation, said the G7 could play a critical role in strengthening the rule of law. “G7 nations have laws that guarantee fundamental rights for workers in their own countries. They can guarantee equal treatment for workers in other countries where companies based in G7 countries operate, by extending the same rule of law beyond their boundaries,” With the rise of global supply chains, accounting for three quarters of of global trade, large corporations are employing workers around the globe in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Turkey – but often indirectly through a chain of contractors. “Citizens have made a plea to G7 leaders not to trust corporations to look after the world’s workforce. They don’t trust them to pay them a decent wage, they don’t trust them to respect their rights and they don’t trust them to take safety seriously,” said Sharan Burrow. The ITUC poll on trust in companies and supply chains found: - 55 % of respondents in France, Germany, the UK and the USA believe most global companies can’t be trusted to look after their workers and tougher laws are needed; - 80 % of respondent in Indonesia, the Philippines and Turkey believe that most employers prioritise profits over safety of their workers; - More than three quarters (78%) of people Indonesia, the Philippines and Turkey believe that business should pay all their workers a decent minimum wage - no matter where they are. - “The vast majority believing these corporations can’t be trusted to look after their workers because they will prioritise profits over the interests of people, including the safety of their employees. This breakdown in trust places the onus back on governments to cooperate to hold these global giants to account for their workers,” said John Evans, General Secretary Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD. ENDS For more information contact Gemma Swart gemma.swart(a)ituc-csi.org +44 7944 99 07 63 TNS Opinion carried out the fieldwork for the public opinion poll between 23 – 29th April 2015. For a copy of the 2015 ITUC Frontlines Poll Trust in companies and supply chains go to: http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-frontlines-poll-trust-in To read the summary statement to the G7: English: http://www.ituc-csi.org/the-exploitative-model-of-supply?lang=en German: http://www.ituc-csi.org/dem-ausbeuterischen?lang=de *The ITUC represents 176 million workers in 162 countries and territories and has 328 national affiliates.* *Follow us on the web: *http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI *For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 02 04 <%2B32%202%C2%A0224%C2%A002%2004>* -- 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] Marcel vd Linden: The Crisis of World Labour
by Michel Bauwens 06 Jun '15

06 Jun '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: peter waterman <peterwaterman1936(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Jun 6, 2015 at 9:09 PM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Marcel vd Linden: The Crisis of World Labour To: Debate is a listserve that attempts to promote information and analyses of interest to the independent left in South and Southern Africa < debate-list(a)fahamu.org>, WSFDiscuss List < WorldSocialForum-Discuss(a)openspaceforum.net>, " CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES(a)jiscmail.ac.uk" < CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES(a)jiscmail.ac.uk>, "< networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>" <networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org>, Asbjørn Wahl <Asbjorn.Wahl(a)velferdsstaten.no>, Dan Gallin <gli(a)iprolink.ch>, Kim Scipes <kimscipes(a)earthlink.net>, Dave Hollis < david.hollis(a)netzwerkit.de>, Marsha Niemeijer <marshapn(a)gmail.com> *Peter sez...* *There is so much I appreciate and agree with, and so little that I do not, that I will have to take detailed issue with this important essay elsewhere. For my own recent take on the international union organisations and labour internationalism, however, see https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=IronCage4IFace221114.rtf <https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=IronCage4IFace221114.rtf>.* *Now read on...* [image: Solidarity] Published on *Solidarity* (https://solidarity-us.org/site) Against the Current <https://solidarity-us.org/site/epublish/1> > May/June 2015, No. 176 <https://solidarity-us.org/site/epublish/1/132> > The Crisis of World Labor <https://solidarity-us.org/site/node/4424> > The Crisis of World Labor ------------------------------ The Crisis of World Labor — Marcel van der Linden BOTH THE SIZE and composition of the world working class have changed dramatically over the past four decades. But these massive shifts are not reflected in the strength of workers’ organizations. In what was traditionally called the global South, capital accumulation has resulted in the fast growth of the number of wage-earners in industry, building, services, and transport. A recent International Labor Organization (ILO) study revealed that in the period 1980-2005, the labor force in the Middle East and North Africa region had grown by 149%. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean it had roughly doubled, in South Asia it had increased by 73%, and in East and South East Asia by 60%. (Kapsos 2007) Simultaneously, enormous shifts are taking place within separate regions. An historic migration from the countryside to swelling megacities is under way. In 2000, the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security estimated that there were 113 million migrant workers in the country. Ten years later that number had more than doubled to 240 million, including 150 million working outside their home areas. Of those 150 million about 72% were employed in manufacturing, construction, food and beverage, wholesale and retail industries, and hospitality. (CLB 2012: 4) In India, internal labor migration has exploded since the 1990s, the temporary and seasonal migration rate being highest in poor regions like Nagaland and Madya Pradesh. (Bhagat/Mohanty 2009) Such shifts are often accompanied by an intensification of social struggles. In Indonesia, the Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia (Indonesian Trade Union Confederation) organized a national strike on 3 October 2012, and a second one — demanding a 50% increase of the minimum wage — on October 31 and November 1, 2013. These were not truly general strikes, but they nevertheless were joined by many hundreds of thousands of workers, especially in the Jakarta region. (International Viewpoint, 4 November 2013) In India, on 20 and 21 February 2013, over 100 million workers across the country struck for a list of demands including a living wage indexed to inflation, universal food security, and equal pay for equal work. (International Viewpoint, 2 March 2013) In China, the labor shortages that began to emerge from 2004, led to a rapid growth of workers’ protests, which have “not only increased in number but have shifted focus from a reactive response to labour rights violations towards more proactive demands for higher wages and improved working conditions.” (CLB 2012: 5) The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences reported that there were more than 60,000 so-called ‘mass incidents’ (popular protests) in 2006 and over 80,000 in 2007. Since then, official figures have no longer been published but experts believe that in recent years the number has further increased. (CLB 2012: 9) Following the beginning of the economic crisis more than thirty national strikes occurred in Greece, while Spain and Portugal saw several general strikes, including bi- and multi-national ones. The dramatic overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt in 2011 could not have happened without the labor movement’s strong support.(Beinin 2011) And in South Africa massive and often violent strikes follow one another rapidly. There is, however, a fundamental problem. The militancy of the workers has not yet been consolidated in strong organizations. In fact, “old-style” labor is in decline, and fundamental changes will be necessary before a vibrant transnational union movement can be built. The State of the Unions The surest sign of organized working-class formation is the development of trade unions and similar interest groups. Independent mass trade unions had their origin in the 19th century, and exist today in large parts of the world — although there are also major regions where they have almost no influence. The most striking example of a fast-growing capitalist economy without independent trade unions is the People’s Republic of China. It hosts the world’s largest workers’ organization, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) with 230 million members. This is not an independent union, but rather a transmission belt for the Chinese Communist Party. Most of the numerous labour conflicts in the People’s Republic take place not with the support of, but despite the ACFTU. (Bai 2012) The China Labour Bulletin calls the ACFTU “something of a lost cause at present. In general, it lacks the tools and the strategies needed for a timely and effective response to workers’ initiatives and is out of touch with the realities of labour relations in China today.” (CLB 2014: 38) In countries with independent workers’ organizations union density (union members as percentage of the total labor force) generally has been declining. Table 1 reconstructs the trends in 13 countries for the period 1920-2010. In 11 cases the high point lies in the past (between 1950 and 1990), although the situation is relatively stable in Canada and Norway. In nine cases we can observe a clear downward trend. The table might give the impression that the situation is more promising in India or Indonesia. But remembering that union density is calculated for the formal economy, which in the case of India for example covers about 8% of the labor force, a union density of 41% thus boils down to 3.2% of the total work force. On a global scale union density is almost insignificant. Independent trade unions organize only a small percentage of their target group worldwide, and the majority of them live in the relatively wealthy North Atlantic region. By far the most important global umbrella organization is the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), founded in 2006 as a merger of two older organizations, the secular reform-oriented International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Christian World Confederation of Labor (WCL). In 2014 the ITUC estimated that about 200 million workers worldwide belong to trade unions, and that 176 million of these are organized in the ITUC,(1) <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#N1> while the total number of workers is roughly 2.9 billion (1.2 billion of them in the informal economy). Therefore, global union density currently amounts to no more than 7%! (ITUC 2014: 8) Quite a few factors contribute to this weakness. First, the composition of the working class is changing. Unions find it difficult to organize employees in the service or financial sector. The rapidly growing informal economy is complicating things further, since workers change jobs frequently, and have to earn their income under often very precarious conditions. Another important factor is what labor economist Richard Freeman has called the “labor supply shock” that has manifested itself since the early 1990s. Through the entry of Chinese, Indian, Russian and other workers into the global economy, there has been an effective doubling of the number of workers producing for international markets over the past two decades. A decline in the global capital/labor ratio shifts the balance of power in markets away from wages paid to workers and toward capital, as more workers compete for working with that capital. [...] Even considering the high savings rate in the new entrants — the World Bank estimates that China has a savings rate of 40% of GDP — it will take 30 or so years for the world to re-attain the capital/labor ratio among the countries that had previously made up the global economy. Having twice as many workers and nearly the same amount of capital places great pressure on labor markets throughout the world. This pressure will affect workers in the developing countries who had traditionally participated in the global economy, as well as workers in advanced countries. (Freeman 2010) Secondly, significant economic shifts have taken place. The growth of foreign direct investment in the core countries and the semi-periphery of the world economy has been impressive, and transnational corporations and multi-state trading blocs (EU, NAFTA, Mercosur, etc.) have multiplied. Brazil, India and especially China are important new players who change the rules of the game. This is accompanied by new supranational institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, established in 1995. Thirdly, the old-style unions have to face more and more competition from alternative structures. In Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines or South Korea new, often militant, workers’ movements (social movement unions) have emerged. (Scipes 2014) New forms of rank-and-file trade unionism outside the established channels appeared since the 1970s, with international connections at the shop-floor level “bypassing altogether the secretariats, which they see as too often beholden to the bureaucracies of their various national affiliates.” (Herod 1997: 184) A well-known example is the Transnational Information Exchange (TIE), a center in which a substantial number of research and activist labor groups exchange information on TNCs. Another example is the “counter foreign policy” existing since the early 1980s in the AFL-CIO. (Spalding 1992) I should also mention the increasing number of activities carried out by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that should in theory be the responsibility of the international trade union movement, such as the struggle to regulate and abolish child labor. The ineffectiveness of old-style unions is underlined by the growing tendency on the part of Global Unions (formerly called international trade secretariats) to engage in the direct recruitment of members in the periphery. Think, for example, of the activities of the Union Network International (the Global Union for the service sector) relating to IT specialists in India. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 8-9 September 2001) The Fate of Workers’ Parties Another expression of class formation is political in nature. Labor, Social Democratic, and Communist parties are generally considered to be political representatives of the working class. The oldest parties, the Social Democratic and Labor parties, electorally are not doing very well. Most reached their apex between 1940 and 1989; Switzerland was earlier (1930s), while Portugal was later (early 21st century). The only exception (until recently) is the Brazilian Partido dos Trabalhadores.(2) <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#N2> More important is though, that this family of parties is struggling with a fundamental identity problem. Social Democratic and Labor policies have since the 1930s-40s been based on two pillars: social Keynesianism and a specific “red” party subculture with its own sports associations, women’s clubs, organizations for nature lovers, consumer cooperatives, newspapers, theatre groups, and the like. The sociocultural and economic reversal since the 1960s-70s toppled both “pillars.” The parties’ subcultural networks fell to pieces and social Keynesianism became less feasible. A great many challenges had to be met more or less simultaneously. Traditional centralism had to be reconciled with basic democratic movements and feminism with the conventional androcentric culture. Moreover, the environmental movement needed to be taken seriously without abandoning the pursuit of economic growth (the condition for social redistribution in a capitalist context). Generalized confusion resulted in a tremendous increase of floating voters; ageing and decreasing membership numbers; and the virtual disappearance of active proletarian members. Paradoxically, this loss of identity explains the explosive growth of the umbrella organization, the Socialist International. Since the 1970s the number of countries with SI members has more than doubled. This is especially remarkable since the membership of the SI was rather stable during the preceding decades. In the years 1951-1976 the number of affiliated parties had always fluctuated between 34 (at the foundation in Frankfurt) and 39. (van der Linden 2006) Most of the parties which joined the SI after 1976 did not fit the organization´s old profile. Before the mid-1970s nobody would have considered ex-guerilla movements like the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), or the autocratic Democratic Action in Venezuela as Social Democratic parties. Such organisations could find a home within the SI because its profile was fading. This dilution became official when the SI adopted a new “Declaration of Principles” at the 18th Congress in Stockholm in 1989, which acknowledges the existence of “differences” in members´ “cultures and ideologies” but emphasizes at the same time that the SI´s core values (peace, freedom, justice and solidarity) “originate in the labour movement, popular liberation movements, cultural traditions of mutual assistance, and communal solidarity in many parts of the world.” ( www.socialistinternational.org/4Principles) In short, the Socialist International could grow so dramatically only because the classical Social Democratic parties were in a deep identity crisis. Communist parties are the second major political form. The large majority of them were born or grew significantly in three waves: during the five years from mid-1918 to 1923, in the aftermath of the October Revolution; in the 1930s, as a response to the economic depression; and immediately after the Second World War. Some parties still have a rather solid, be it often small, base, such as the ones in Portugal, Spain, and Greece. These parties all developed under right-wing dictatorships and are characterized by their intransigence . Similarly, the influential South African Communist Party still has a significant influence on the politics of the African National Congress. But for most parties the high point was in the 1940s. Now, in quite a few countries the parties have been dissolved after electoral decline, splits or financial bankruptcy. This has for example been the case in Britain (dissolved 1991), Italy (disbanded 1991), Finland (bankrupt 1992), Brazil (internal coup and split, 1992). Other parties have gone through mergers, e.g. in Mexico (founding of the Unified Socialist Party, 1981), Denmark (formation of the Red-Green Alliance in 1989) and in the Netherlands (founding of the Green Left Party in 1989). Even the CPI-M (the Communist Party of India Marxist) in West-Bengal, which got a majority of the votes in a whole series of elections (1971, 1980, 1989-2004) has now been reduced to a minor player (two out of 42 seats!) because of its violent neoliberal policies. Causes of Trade Unionism’s Weakness My hypothesis is that both old-style trade-unionism and old-style workers’ parties as described above can no longer cope with the challenges offered by the contemporary world. Globalization and neoliberal challenges require new policies and practices that they apparently cannot offer. Hence their crisis. Here, I will only try to substantiate this critique for the unions, not for the parties (this I’ve partly done in van der Linden 2003: 95-116). (3) <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#N3> I see at least two major difficulties. For a start, the historical trajectory of trade unions is, like that of other organizations, to a significant extent shaped by their founding moment. As Arthur Stinchcombe observed half a century ago: “The organizational inventions that can be made at a particular time in history depend on the social technology available at the time. Organizations which have purposes that can be efficiently reached with the socially possible organizational forms tend to be founded during the period in which they become possible. Then, both because they can function effectively with these organizational forms, and because these forms tend to become institutionalized, the basic structure of the organization tends to remain relatively stable.” (Stinchcombe 1965: 153; also Scoville 1973: 74) Early trade unions in Europe and North America were mostly the creations of highly skilled male white workers, who had only one boss at the same time, were relatively powerful on the shop floor, and attempted to establish collective bargaining. This proved to be an exceptionally successful model that later on also inspired other sections of the working classes (women, Blacks, low-skilled). It became the norm for trade unions across the globe. But the specific historic context in which this model had been constructed was forgotten, so that “a naïve belief in the universal applicability of some form of collective bargaining’”(Sturmthal 1973: 5) became more or less universal. Adolf Sturmthal (1973: 9) listed a series of conditions for “a genuine collective bargaining system,” including “a legal and political system permitting the existence and functioning of reasonably free labor organizations” and the requirement that “unions be more or less stable, reasonably well organized, and fairly evenly matched with the employers in bargaining strength.” However: “Effective unions have rarely if ever been organized by ‘non-committed’ workers, i.e. casual workers who change jobs frequently, return periodically to their native village, and have no specific industrial skill, even of a very simple kind. Yet even fully committed industrial workers with little or no skill are capable of engaging in effective collective bargaining only under certain conditions which are rarely found. In most (though by no means all) newly industrializing countries, large excess supplies of common labor are available for nonagricultural work. Not only are unskilled workers rarely capable of forming unions of their own under such conditions; if they succeed in doing so, their unions have little or no bargaining power.” (Sturmthal 1973: 10) This is probably the crux of the matter. In the advanced capitalist countries, standard employment relations that had become dominant in the 1940s-70s are gradually broken down, while casual and informal labor was always the norm in Africa, Asia and Latin America. (van der Linden 2014; Breman/van der Linden 2014) Another difficulty is that old-style trade unions, having also become more or less ingrained with the nation-states where they originated, find it very difficult to cope with the transnationalization of capital. Globalization has stimulated new forms of cross-border organizing that challenge traditional organizational models. Already in the mid-1960s the growing influence of TNCs stimulated the setting up of World Corporation Councils, notably in the chemical and automobile industries. Although many trade union militants had high expectations of these new bodies, their effectiveness has been rather less than anticipated, owing to the conflicting interests of employees in different countries. (Tudyka 1986; Bendiner 1987; Olle/Schoeller 1987) The formation of trading blocs implied a certain equalization of legal and political parameters, so that the building of transnational trade union structures within each bloc was an obvious step. This collaboration is usually not evolving primarily at the top level of national trade-union confederations, but at the sub-national or branch level. In many cases, institutions other than trade unions (such as religious and human rights organizations) are also partners in projects of this kind. Examples include the 1980s Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladores, the Comité Frontizero de Obreras, and La Mujer Obrera. (Armbruster 1995: 80-2; Borgers 1996: 81-5; Carr 1999) Equally worthy of note in this context is the Council of Ford Workers, founded by the United Auto Workers (Bina/Davis 1993: 165-6). Joint actions against TNCs by trade unions representing particular occupations in different countries (e.g. coal miners, electrical workers) have become much more frequent over the past two decades as well. (Herod 1995: 342; Armbruster 1995) When the French car-maker Renault announced the closure of its Belgian factory in February 1997, solidarity strikes and demonstrations were organized in France, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia, giving birth to the new term “Euro-strike.” (Imig/Tarrow 2001) While trade unions support such actions, they frequently do not play a leading role in them. According to Stinchcombe (1965: 154), “an examination of the history of almost any type of organization shows that there are great spurts of foundation of organizations of the type, followed by periods of relatively slower growth, perhaps to be followed by new spurts, generally of a fundamentally different kind of organization in the same field.” It might well be, that the great spurt of old-style unions has by now almost exhausted itself and that a next spurt with a new type of unionism is “in the air.”(4) <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#N4> Prospects for Revitalized Transnational Unionism What are the challenges that a renewed trade unionism will have to face? First, it will have to develop a clear vision of where to go. Revitalization requires convincing policy proposals expressing solidarity between different segments of the working class within and between countries and continents. Second, there is the changing composition of the world working class. Until now workers’ organizations of OECD countries have dominated the International Trade Union Confederation. But their share in the world labor force is shrinking. More and more wage-earners live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. And an increasing proportion of these workers is female (Table 2). More than 40% of the world working class (1.2 of 2.9 billion employees) is active in the informal economy, and they have virtually no presence in the old-style union movements. New forms of trade unionism will have to target this changing working class. The first-phase demarcation of the working classes was extremely narrow and eurocentric, and needs to be revised and expanded. (Antunes 2013: 80-95) There can be no doubt that the newly defined target group should no longer be dominated by white male workers in the North Atlantic region, but by women and people of color, many in forms of hidden wage-labor, precarious jobs, or debt bondage. Trade unions in the periphery and semi-periphery are sometimes abandoning the old demarcations, and have begun to recruit all kinds of “non-traditional” workers. A broadened definition of the target group will necessarily lead to a drastic change of unions’ operational systems, in order to assist these workers to further their interests effectively. This also implies ending the strong emphasis on collective bargaining strategies.(Hensman 2001) It’s quite possible that mutualist arrangements should be given priority in many cases, that is organizational forms focusing on mutual insurance against sickness, disability, and unemployment that were so prominent in 18th- and 19th-century European and North American labor movements. (van der Linden 2008: 109-31) Much can probably be learned from the “occupational unionism” that preceded the industrial unionism of the 20th century. (Cobble/Vosko 2000) Jeffrey Harrod sees “the beginnings of collective organisations aimed at materially improving conditions but not based directly on work and production factors.” He mentions, for example, “extra-economic” networks of unemployed Japanese youths whose social activity is centered on internet cafes; and Indian groups of casual workers pressuring the state for greater protection. (Harrod 2014: 13-14) Some old-style unions already try to open up to such developments, albeit hesitantly. In Italy, the trade-union confederations CGIL and CISL have created special structures for the representation of “atypical” workers; and the Austrian employees’ union GPA now also enrolls “dependent self-employed workers.” (Cella 2012: 180) A final necessary change concerns organizational structures and cultures. First, the dual structure of the international trade union movement — collaboration of national confederations plus Global Unions — is a problematic relic of the past and likely to be discarded. Probably the best option would be a new unitary structure facilitating the inclusion of the “new” target groups in the international trade secretariats. Second, the somewhat autocratic approach prevailing in the present-day international trade union movement will need to be replaced by a democratic approach, and greater participation of the rank-and-file workers. The possibilities offered by the internet are a positive contribution to a renewed structure of this kind. (Lee 1997) Third and most importantly, new methods of collective action, especially across borders, have to be deployed. While lobbying governments and transnational organizations has to date been the principal activity of the international trade union movement (with the notable exception of the anti-apartheid campaign of the 1980s), and efforts are made to cultivate the good will of states (Greenfield 1989), effective action requires much greater effort in active measures such as boycotts, strikes, and so on, which in turn demands a substantial strengthening of the internal structures. As Dimitris Stevis (1998: 66) has rightly observed, international labor organizations are “not simply sleeping giants, but fundamentally weak intersocietal federations.” The question is whether the existing international trade union movement can meet these challenges. It is likely that a new spurt in union development will be a difficult process, interspersed with failed experiments and moments of deep crisis. Organizational structures and patterns of behavior that have existed for over a century are not easily changed. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that new structures and patterns will be shaped through reforms from above, through the central leadership. If there is one thing that history has taught us, it is that trade union structures almost never develop smoothly by means of piecemeal engineering. They are generally the outcome of conflicts and risky experiments. Pressure from below through competitive networks, alternative action models, etc. will be a highly important factor in deciding that outcome. What forms those pressures will take, and whether they will be sufficient to bring about major changes, no one can say yet with any certainty. Notes 1. This calculation is probably misleading. A significant, but unknown, part of the union membership consists of pensioners. back to text <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#R1> 2. The PT’s success could be a statistical artifact. Between 2000 and 2009 there have been two elections for the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. In 2002 the PT achieved its highest result ever (18.4%), but the average for the decennium was lowered by the bad result of 2006 (15.0%). While PT won 16.9% of the vote in 2010, in the 2014 election their vote for the Chamber of Deputies fell to 14.0%. back to text <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#R2> 3. The chances that successful new workers’ parties will be established soon seem rather slim. Eric Hobsbawm once famously pointed out, that workers’ parties with a mass following emerged mainly in one specific historical period, namely between the 1880s and the 1930s. “These parties, or their lineal successors, are still in being and often influential, but where they did not already exist, or the influence of socialists/communists was significant in labor movements before World War II, hardly any such parties have emerged out of the working classes since then, notably in the so-called `Third World.’” (Hobsbawm 1984: 60) The most important exception to this rule was the founding of the Workers’ Party in Brazil in 1980, which gained a significant following. It is not possible to exclude the possibility that the Brazilian experience will be repeated in other places, but at the moment there are no grounds for assuming that this will happen. For now it seems that trade unions will have to rely entirely on their own strength. back to text <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#R3> 4. Perhaps we could consider this whole process as an example of “the handicap of a headstart” or of uneven and combined development. See van der Linden 2007. back to text <https://solidarity-us.org/site/print/4424#R4> Bibliography Antunes, Ricardo (2013) The Meanings of Work. Essay on the Affirmation and Negation of Work (Leiden: Brill). Armbruster, Ralph (1995) ‘Cross-National Labor Organizing Strategies,’ Critical Sociology, 21/2: 75-89. Bai Ruixue (2012) ‘The Role of the All China Federation of Trade Unions: Implications for Workers Today,’ in: Au Loong Yu et al., China’s Rise: Strength and Fragility (London: Merlin Press). 199-224. Beinin, Joel (2011) ‘Workers and Egypt’s January 25 Revolution,’ International Labor and Working Class History, no. 80: 189-96. Bendiner, Burton (1987) International Labour Affairs: The World Trade Unions and the Multinational Companies (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Bhagat, R.B. and S. Mohanty (2009) ‘Emerging Pattern of Urbanization and the Contribution of Migration in Urban Growth in India,’ Asian Population Studies, 5/1: 5-20. Bina, Cyrus and Chuck Davis (1993) ‘Transnational Capital, the Global Labor Process, and the International Labor Movement,’ in: BerchBerberoglu (ed.), The Labor Process and Control of Labor: The Changing Nature of Work Relations in the Late Twentieth Century (Westport, CT and London: Praeger): 152-70. Borgers, Frank (1996) ‘The Challenges of Economic Globalization for U.S. Labor,’ Critical Sociology, 22/2: 67-88. Breman, Jan and Marcel van der Linden (2014) ‘Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level,’ Development and Change, 45/5 (September 2014), 920-940. Carr, Barry (1999) ‘Globalization from Below: Labour Internationalism under NAFTA,” International Social Science Journal, 51/159: 49-59. Cella, Gian Primo (2012) ‘The Representation of Non-standard Workers. Theory and Culture of Collective Bargaining,’ Transfer. European Review of Labour and Research, 18/2: 171-84. Chen, Feng and Mengxiao Tang (2013) ‘Labor Conflicts in China: Typologies and Their Implications,’ Asian Survey, 53/3 (May-June): 559-83. CLB (2012) A Decade of Change. The Workers’ Movement in China 2000-2010. China Labour Bulletin Research Report, March. CLB (2014) Searching for the Union. The Workers’ Movement in China 2011-13. China Labour Bulletin Research Report, February. Cobble, Dorothy Sue and Leah F. Vosko (2000) ‘Historical Perspectives on Representing Nonstandard Workers’, in: Françoise Carré et al. (eds), Nonstandard Work. The Nature and Challenges of Changing Employment Arrangements (Ithaca, NY: ILR Press): 291-312. Freeman, Richard (2010) ‘What Really Ails Europe (and America): The Doubling of the Global Labor Force,’ The Globalist, March 5. Greenfield, Gerard (1998) ‘The ICFTU and the Politics of Compromise,’ in: Ellen Meiksins Wood, Peter Meiksins, and Michael Yates (eds), Rising from the Ashes? Labor in the Age of ‘Global’ Capitalism (New York: Monthly Review Press): 180-9. Harrod, Jeffrey (2014) ‘Patterns of Power Relations: Sabotage, Organisation, Conformity and Adjustment,’ Global Labour Journal, 5/2: 134-52. Hensman, Rohini (2001) ‘Organizing Against the Odds: Women in India´s Informal Sector,’ Socialist Register 2001: 249-57. Herod, Andrew (1995) ‘The Practice of International Labor Solidarity and the Geography of the Global Economy,’ Economic Geography, 71/4: 341-63. Herod, Andrew (1997) ‘Labor as an Agent of Globalization and as a Global Agent,’ in: Kevin R. Cox (ed.), Spaces of Globalization: Reasserting the Power of the Local (New York: The Guilford Press): 167-200. Hobsbawm, Eric J. (1984) Worlds of Labour. Further Studies in the History of Labour (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson). Imig, Doug and Sidney Tarrow (eds) (2001), Contentious Europeans. Protest and Politics in an Emerging Polity (Boulder, CO: Rowman& Littlefield). ITUC (2014) Building Workers’ Power. Congress Statement (Berlin: International Trade Union Confederation). Kapsos, Steven (2007) World and Regional Trends in Labour Force Participation: Methodologies and Key Results (Geneva: International LabourOrganisation). Lee, Eric (1997) The Labour Movement and the Internet: The New Internationalism (London and Chicago: Pluto Press). Olle, Werner and Wolfgang Schoeller (1987) ‘World Market Competition and Restrictions upon International Trade Union Policies,” in: Rosalind E. Boyd, Robin Cohen, and Peter C.W. Gutkind (eds), International Labour and the Third World (Aldershot: Avebury): 26-47. Scipes, Kim (2014) ‘Building Global Labor Solidarity Today: Learning from the KMU of the Philippines,” Class, Race and Corporate Power, 3/1, Article 4 (http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol3/iss1/4) Scoville, James G. (1973) ‘Some Determinants of the Structure of Labor Movements,’ in: Adolf Sturmthal and James G. Scoville (eds), The International Labor Movement in Transition (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press): 58-78. Socialist International Information, I/27-28 (7 July 1951): 36-7. Spalding, Hobart A. (1992) ‘The Two Latin American Foreign Policies of the U.S. Labor Movement: The AFL-CIO Top Brass vs. Rank-and-File,’ Science and Society, 56/4: 421-39. Stevis, Dimitris (1998) ‘International Labor Organizations, 1864-1997: The Weight of History and the Challenges of the Present,’ Journal of World-Systems Research, 4/1: 52-75. Stinchcombe, Arthur (1965) ‘Social Structure and Organizations,’ in: James G. March (ed.), Handbook of Organizations (Chicago: Rand McNally): 142-193. Sturmthal, Adolf (1973) ‘Industrial Relations Strategies,” in: Adolf Sturmthal and James G. Scoville (eds), The International Labor Movement in Transition (Urbana, IL, and London: University of Illinois Press): 1-33. Tudyka, Kurt P. (1986) ‘Die Weltkonzernräte in der Krise,” WSI-Mitteilungen, 39/4: 324-29. van der Linden, Marcel (2003) Transnational Labour History. Explorations (Aldershot: Ashgate). van der Linden, Marcel (2006) ‘A Case of Lost Identity? A Long View on Social Democracy Worldwide,’ in: John Callaghan and IllariaFavretto (eds), Transitions in Social Democracy. Cultural and Ideological Problems of the Golden Age (Manchester: Manchester University Press): 35-41. van der Linden, Marcel (2007) ‘The “Law” of Uneven and Combined Development: Some Underdeveloped Thoughts,’ Historical Materialism, 15/1: 145-165. van der Linden, Marcel (2008), Workers of the World. Essays toward a Global Labor History (Leiden: Brill). van der Linden, Marcel (2014) ‘San Precario: A New Inspiration for Labor Historians,’ Labor: Studies in Working-class History of the Americas, 10/1: 9-21. May-June 2015, ATC 176 ------------------------------ *Source URL:* https://solidarity-us.org/site/node/4424 1. 2014. From Coldwar Communism to the Global Justice Movement: Itinerary of a Long-Distance Internationalist. <http://snuproject.wordpress.com/2015/01/02/1987-e-reader-ed-by-peter-waterm…>http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/from_coldwar_communism _to_the_global_emancipatory_movement/ <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/from_coldwar_communism_to_the_global_emanci…> (Free). 2. 2014. Interface Journal Special (Co-Editor), December 2014. 'Social Movement Internationalisms'. (Free). <http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/> * <http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/>* 3. 2014. 'The Networked Internationalism of Labour's Others', in Jai Sen (ed), Peter Waterman (co-ed), The Movement of Movements: <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/the_movements_of_movements/>Struggles for Other Worlds (Part I). <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/the_movements_of_movements/> (10 Euros). 4. 2012. EBook: Recovering Internationalism <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/recovering_internationalism/>. [A compilation of papers from the new millenium. Now free in two download formats] 5. 2013. EBook (co-editor), February 2013: World Social Forum: Critical Explorations http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/ 6. 2012. Interface Journal Special (co-editor), November 2012: *For the Global Emancipation of Labour <http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/>* 7. 2005-? <http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interf…> Ongoing. Blog: http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman.???. Needed: a Global Labour Charter Movement (2005-Now!) <http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interf…> 8. 2011. Under, Against, Beyond: Labour and Social Movements Confront a Globalised, Informatised Capitalism <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/under-against-beyond/>(2011) (c. 1,000 pages of Working Papers, free, from the 1980's-90's). _______________________________________________ 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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Fwd: open ag video series
by Michel Bauwens 06 Jun '15

06 Jun '15

Subject: open ag video series To: Michel Bauwens <michel(a)p2pfoundation.net>, Michel Bauwens < michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> http://openagriculture.weebly.com/archived-presentations.html -- 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: Care to Eat ??
by Michel Bauwens 01 Jun '15

01 Jun '15

Dear Kevin, thanks for helping to diffuse this, eventually via the p2p blog ? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Marilyn Mehlmann <marilyn(a)globalactionplan.com> Date: Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 8:21 PM Subject: Care to Eat ?? To: Friends of Global Action Plan 3 <mmehlmann(a)gmail.com> Dear friends, Would you CARE TO EAT? That’s a question many of you have heard in my kitchen! You may have seen that, on the request of member organizations last year, we’ve been busy developing a program focused on FOOD: food and health, food waste, and food, climate & environment. What we found is actually shocking, and underlines the need for a GAP-type program in this area. Our ambition is that GAP member organizations will be able to offer communities a Food-Wise Community program, to begin changing the whole picture of how food is supplied, used and disposed of. In the meantime we propose a book: Care to Eat: Re-establishing healthy food habits We’re well on the way, but short of funds for publishing. So for the first time, we're trying crowd-funding. Exciting! Especially as the appeal is now OPEN, here <http://startsomegood.com/care2eat>! How can you help? · We need money to finish and publish the book – any amount is welcome. · Circulate this appeal widely, and post on social media: use #care2eat · Join the Care to Eat group on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/groups/1476942359263160/?fref=ts>, add your own comments · If you have connections with professional chefs who might be supportive, please put us in touch HERE’S THE LINK AGAIN: <http://startsomegood.com/care2eat> read it, do it, be part of it! NOTE that you will pay nothing now: the amount you pledge is taken from your account only when it's sure that we will receive a minimum to enable us to publish the book - the so-called 'tipping point'. The ‘rewards’ listed are not the only ones: we have a number of extra books and other expressions of appreciation, especially for the early birds. Do let us know if you have any questions or comments. Many thanks in advance! Marilyn* Contributions pledged within the next week are especially welcome, as experience shows that potential contributors are motivated when they see the progress already made. This is the address of our project on StartSomeGood… <http://startsomegood.com/care2eat> M* Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. – Kurt Vonnegut ************************************************* Marilyn Mehlmann <http://marilynmehlmann.net/> Head of development and training Global Action Plan (GAP) International <http://www.globalactionplan.com/> secretariat(a)globalactionplan.com *Learning for Change now out as iBook! <https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/learning-for-change/id611746319?ls=1>* twitter @GAPmarilyn <http://twitter.com/#%21/GAPMarilyn> ************************************************* -- 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: [c&f] Vidéo de la conférence de Fred Turner à Paris le 18 décembre 2014 (interprète : Laurent Vannini)
by Michel Bauwens 01 Jun '15

01 Jun '15

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Hervé Le Crosnier <herve(a)cfeditions.com> Date: 2015-06-02 0:10 GMT+07:00 Subject: [c&f] Vidéo de la conférence de Fred Turner à Paris le 18 décembre 2014 (interprète : Laurent Vannini) To: "cetf(a)cfeditions.com" <cetf(a)cfeditions.com> Bonjour, Laurent Vannini, le traducteur du livre de Fred Turner "Aux sources de l'utopie numérique" a réalisé une version doublée en français de la vidéo issue de la conférence donnée le 18 décembre 2014 à l'EHESS. Cette vidéo doublée a été mise en ligne par l'EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) : http://www.canal-u.tv/video/ehess/vf_aux_sources_de_l_utopie_numerique_de_l… La venue à Paris de Fred Turner, organisée par Olivier Alexandre (EHESS) et Larissa Dryansky (INHA), a été l'occasion de deux conférences et de nombreux articles de presse et interventions dans les médias (liste ci-dessous). La conférence de l'EHESS, introduite par Olivier Alexandre, Dominique Cardon et Monique Dagnaud, a été l'occasion pour Fred Turner de revenir sur l'histoire de la cyberculture. Il nous a présenté ce soir là l'histoire d'une partie de la contre-culture (ceux qu'il appelle les néo-communalistes) et sa rencontre avec l'informatique. On retrouvera par ailleurs Fred Turner interviewé chez lui à Stanford dans l'émission de BFMTV "Tech & Co" consacrée à "L'écosystème des start-up dans la Silicon Valley" http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qq4ne_le-bonus-tech-co-l-ecosysteme-des-… (l'émission vaut le coup de regarder en entier. L'interview de Fred Turner est de 2'56 à 4'36) Je pense que vous aurez compris que le livre de Fred Turner est une référence indispensable pour comprendre l'émergence du numérique... Il devrait figurer dans toutes les bonnes bibliothèques, et s'il n'est pas près de chez vous, n'hésitez pas à en parler à votre bibliothécaire favori. Sincèrement, Hervé Le Crosnier Références : ------------ Présentation du livre "Aux sources de l'utopie numérique" : http://cfeditions.com/Turner ----- Des médias de masse à la révolution numérique La Vie des Idées, 13 mars 2015, Entretien avec Fred Turner par Olivier Alexandre (Entretien traduit par Laurent Vannini, traducteur du livre Aux sources de l'utopie numérique. Olivier Alexandre a été la cheville ouvrière de l'invitation de Fred Turner à Paris en décembre dernier) http://www.laviedesidees.fr/Des-medias-de-masse-a-la-revolution-numerique.h… ----- Fred Turner, l’utopie numérique : De l’antifascisme à la cyberculture en passant par la contre-culture http://www.culturemobile.net/visions/fred-turner-utopie-numerique Interview de Fred Turner par Ariel Kyrou (avec une vidéo sous-titrée + article d'Ariel Kyrou + version audio de l'interview complète + transcription pdf : du très bon travail éditorial). ----- Fred Turner: «Pour lutter contre le nazisme, ils ont voulu produire un homme total, rationnel». Libération, 27 février 2015, interview par Marie Lechner http://www.liberation.fr/culture/2015/02/27/pour-lutter-contre-le-nazisme-i… ----- Le multimédia, un instrument politique «made in USA». Médiapart, 05 janvier 2015. Interview par Joseph Confavreux (avec d'excellentes illustrations) http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/culture-idees/050115/le-multimedia-un-instr… ----- L’antipolitique, péché originel de la Silicon Valley, Le Monde, 19 février 2015. Interview de Fred Turner par Marc-Olivier Bherer http://lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2015/02/19/l-antipolitique-peche-originel-… ----- Du Bauhaus à la Silicon Valley : une archéologie des médias France Culture, 27 décembre 2014. Excellente interview audio par Sylvain Bourmeau (traduite en simultané par Xavier Combes) http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-la-suite-dans-les-idees-du-bauhaus-a-l… ----- La France, nouvel éden des déçus de la Silicon Valley Le Temps (Genève). Article de réflexion très intéressant par Monique Dagnaud sur le discours de Fred Turner à Paris... et ses mythes. http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/ad502018-c8c5-11e4-959d-74804f4bcbe7/La_Fra… ----- Fred Turner : Google, Uber et l’idéologie de la Silicon Valley en treize mots Rue89, 21 décembre 2014. Interview par Xavier de La Porte http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2014/12/21/fred-turner-google-uber-lideologie-si… ----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liste d'information de C&F éditions Pour s'abonner : http://mail.cfcloud.fr/cfeditions/subscribe/cetf Pour se désabonner, envoyer un mail à sympa(a)cfeditions.com avec comme sujet et comme message le texte suivant : unsubscribe cetf Pour accéder aux archives : https://mail.cfcloud.fr/cfeditions/arc/cetf -- 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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Worker Co-ops for Young People: Create Your Own Work
by Kevin Flanagan 01 Jun '15

01 Jun '15

Worker Co-ops for Young People: Create Your Own Work 4 – 5 July, 10am – 4pm Chapel in the Garden, Bridport. Dorset UK £75 This interactive workshop facilitated by Rhiannon Colvin and Constance Laisné will empower young people (18-29 year olds - but flexible!) to take control of their future by learning how to set up co-operative businesses. With high youth unemployment, unpaid internships and exploitative labour market, co-ops enable youth to create their own work. Work that allows them to generate a fair income, do what they love and have a positive social impact. Rhiannon founded AltGen when she got tired of applying for endless unpaid internships and decided young people could create something better if they started working together. She also believes in empowering people through education. Constance is passionate about encouraging collaborative forms of creative work. For her, joining AltGen was a means of moving towards this aim within an organisation that shares her values and ethics. AltGen.org.uk @AltGen101 All the Best, Jonny Gordon-Farleigh Editor STIR Magazine www.stirtoaction.com Buy our Winter Issue 2015 m: 07967781905 t: @stirtoaction -- Please direct P2P Foundation related mail to kevin(a)p2pfoundation.net

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