[P2P-F] [commoning] The Co-operative University

Dante-Gabryell Monson dante.monson at gmail.com
Wed Dec 18 15:10:13 CET 2013


*Silke says : "Perhaps sbd want's to start collecting these experiences (
EDUCATION AS COMMONING ) on the P2P website?"*

Sounds good. I'm in.

Also, personally, I would DIFFERENTIATE between *"learning as commons"* ,
and "education" as commons...   ;)

I imagine there are already all kinds of content and categories related to
these topics - so I guess it can help to have a clear vision of what it is
we may be expressing.

On this thread, imho, no general consensus - just overlaps in a diversity
of approaches.

As I understand it, some focusing on reproducing the university , but in a
cooperative structure ( with some social media blend ), and focused on the
teachers, who would become the owners of the structure ?

An alternative that seems to be more in the direction you seem to suggest
Silke, though I feel you may be using a midway approach, is one not only
that is learner centered, but learner controlled.

Basing ourselves on a Contribution Economy approach,
See ladder of participation :

http://p2pfoundation.net/Ladder_of_Participation

As for editing the p2pfoundation wiki,
I try not to mess too much with the p2pfoundation site, sometimes just
adding or correcting, rather sending info to others ( often Michel ) to add
to it.

If others create the structure / how it is categorized, or pages, I can add
links where it seems appropriate.


[image: File:Ladder-example.png]

On Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 1:47 PM, Silke Helfrich <silke.helfrich at gmx.de>wrote:

> Dear all,
> just a short note:
>
> Once the new university-like "institution" I was talking about is running
> ("classes" start by early January 2014, and I hope official recognition is
> underway) I'll post some more information via this list.
>
> There is a huge need to show that also our educational systems can be
> remodeled as commons; and the good thing is, this is nothing new at all, we
> can learn from practices worldwide.
>
> May be at some point we should think about putting all this experience
> together and discussing it in depth!
> For me -for instance - the zapatistas approach is extremely inspiring (but
> different from what we also need to do here in Germany); or the campesino a
> campesino programms all over the world - so how to get this into higher
> education in countries like mine?
> Perhaps sbd want's to start collecting these experiences (EDUCATION AS
> COMMONING) on the P2P website?
>
> Very best
> Silke
>
>
> Am 18.12.2013 06:54, schrieb davste at spektral.at:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I just get home from big student protests after the new austrian
>> government abrogated the 'ministry of science and research". It's now
>> part of the 'ministry for economy'.
>>
>> I am also quite interested in the free university projects going on. My
>> overall interest is in co-operative learning not only within the
>> academic sphere but outside of the university, also
>> academic-and-non-academic learning together.
>>
>> Since we are trying out a kind of 'free and open university' project in
>> Graz I am facing many questions.
>> There're concerning:
>> * learning from (urban) commons projects.
>> * How can we use the city as resource? How can we participate in urban
>> development to create a city for our needs? (Since german commons
>> summerschool with silke I am thinking of how to 'activate' people in
>> participating in urban development. This can also be seen as a kind of
>> strategy against enclosure of urban commons)
>> * the integration of people of different social groups (e.g. academic
>> and non-academic, from different cultures/countries) and of different
>> age for learning practices, also research and working on solutions in
>> one's everyday life.
>>
>> Our project in Graz is (right now) in the very beginning and we are
>> still searching for people who have knowledge and experience about
>> education. So far we are trying out different things: skill sharing,
>> using online courses, reading circles and practical stuff. Our first
>> trial is concerning gardening. Ecology and biology is too theoretical,
>> so we wanna use the community gardens in Graz. We are trying to include
>> very different groups and people of different age (starting with
>> kindergarden, also people in retirement).
>>
>> Best
>> David
>>
>> Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>     Interesting Silke.
>>
>>     Feels already closer to a "Cooperative of Learners" :)
>>
>>     Is it a face to face real world living space you imagine ?
>>
>>     I am interested in projects that could happen in Germany.
>>
>>     How big would you imagine to start off ?
>>
>>     Can it build on something existing ?
>>     Some existing faculties ? Possibly a continuation of a program, to
>>     start with ?
>>     If so, which ones would be interested , as to help learned to bring
>>     research and projects further into life, beyond conventional Phd's ?
>>       And feeding a commons ?
>>
>>     Could it be in collaboration with existing "Open Universities", or
>>     platforms such as Gaia University ? http://www.gaiauniversity.org/
>>
>>     Somehow, what you suggest, with support to the learners / students
>>     costs, reminds me also of the Steiner backed Youth Initiative
>>     Program http://yip.se/
>>     ( if not already in touch, I ll gladly support with networking )
>>
>>     I somehow imagine it like small co-living / co-learning spaces,
>>     which could be networked within one same area.
>>
>>     I also remember vaguely ( do not remember the references )
>>     some project in Berlin which focused on networking various places (
>>     including work spaces ? ) open to sharing learning ?
>>
>>     ///
>>
>>     Is there any convergence space online where it is already possible
>>     to stay updated in relation to the vision you express ?
>>     If not in the short term, for whenever there is a more specific
>>     definition of such vision ?
>>
>>     Just stumbled on this mail and links , which are likely common
>>     knowledge to most people on this list ? :
>>
>>     https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/op-n-m/NaFQsXmBU4k
>>
>>     Note : or instead of an opposition between a limited capitalist
>>     market Vs commons,
>>     are we rather talking about *non-monopolistic commons based markets *?
>>
>>     *Markets in the form of available information with a variety of
>>     criteria* - not only based on price in terms of monopolist tokens ?
>>
>>
>>     http://p2pfoundation.net/Logic_of_the_Market_versus_
>> the_Logic_of_the_Commons
>>
>>     http://commonsblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/the-commons-
>> year-one-of-the-global-commons-movement/
>>
>>     also reminds me of Festivalism
>>     http://p2pfoundation.net/Festivalism
>>     http://business.nmsu.edu/~dboje/papers/Festivalism_at_Work.html
>>
>>     also see Kevin Carson's :
>>     http://homebrewindustrialrevolution.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/
>> contents/
>>
>>
>>       The Table
>>
>>
>>         The Logic of the Market versus the Logic of the Commons
>>
>>         *Market*        *Commons*
>>     *Focus*
>>
>>     What can I sell?Exchange value
>>
>>
>>
>>     What do we need?Use value
>>
>>     *Core beliefs*      Scarcity        Plenty
>>         Homo oeconomicus        Homo cooperans
>>         It's about resources (allocation)/./    It's about us.
>>     *Governance*        Market-State    Polycentric / Peer-to-Peer
>> Governance
>>
>>     Decision making     hierarchical    horizontal
>>     Command (Power, Law, Violence)      Consensus, Free Cooperation,
>>     self-organization
>>     *Social relationships*      Centralization of power (monopoly)
>>
>>
>>     Decentralization of power(autonomy)
>>
>>         Property        Possession
>>     Access to rival resources   Limited by boundaries & rules defined by
>>     owner       Limited by boundaries & rules defined by usergroups
>>     Access to nonrival resources        Made scarce (to ensure
>> profitability)
>>     Open access (to ensure social equity)
>>     Use rights  Granted by owner        Co-decided by user groups
>>     *Dominant strategy* Out-compete     Out-cooperate
>>     *Results*
>>
>>     For the resources
>>
>>     ErosionEnclosure
>>
>>
>>
>>     Conservation Reproduction & Multiplication
>>
>>     For the people      Exlusion & Participation        Inclusion &
>> Emancipation
>>
>>       * Source: The Commons: Year One of the Global Commons Movement by
>>
>>         Silke Helfrich (29. Januar 2011)
>>         <http://commonsblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/the-commons-
>> year-one-of-the-global-commons-movement/>
>>
>>
>>     http://business.nmsu.edu/~dboje/papers/Festivalism_at_Work.html
>>
>>     **
>>
>>     *Table One: Spectacle and Festival*
>>
>>     *Spectacle*
>>
>>         **
>>
>>     *Festival*
>>
>>      1. Work
>>      2. Work or play time
>>      3. Imposed patterns of behavior
>>      4. Dead time
>>      5. Religions of consumption
>>      6. Pseudo desires
>>      7. Pseudo needs
>>      8. Loss of Self
>>      9. Colonized spaces
>>     10. Spectator
>>     11. Functionary
>>     12. Survival of the Fittest/Richest
>>
>>
>>
>>      1. Play
>>      2. Work and play
>>      3. Freely constructed behavior
>>      4. Live time
>>      5. Self
>>      6. Transparent desires
>>      7. Transparent needs
>>      8. Self-Management
>>      9. Free spaces
>>     10. Participant/Co-designer
>>     11. Self-Managed
>>     12. Coevolution and Co-survival
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Business_Models
>>
>>     http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Economics#Towards_an_
>> Ethical_Economy:
>>
>>
>>             Towards an Ethical Economy
>>             <http://p2pfoundation.net/Ethical_Economy>:
>>
>>       * *The Ethical Economy <http://p2pfoundation.net/Ethical_Economy>.
>>
>>         Rebuilding Value After the Crisis. By Adam Arvidsson
>>         <http://p2pfoundation.net/Adam_Arvidsson> and Nicolai Peitersen.
>>         Columbia University Press, 2013*
>>
>>      1. Reciprocity. An Economics of Social Relations
>>         <http://p2pfoundation.net/Economics_of_Social_Relations>.
>>         Serge-Christophe Kolm. Cambridge University Press, 2008*[24]
>>         <http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1174852/?
>> site_locale=en_GB>*
>>      2. Macrojustice. The Political Economy of Fairness
>>         <http://p2pfoundation.net/Political_Economy_of_Fairness>. By
>>
>>         Serge-Christophe Kolm. Cambridge University Press, 2005 [25]
>>         <http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1171540/?
>> site_locale=en_GB>
>>      3. Herman Daly. For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward
>>
>>         Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future
>>         <http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&
>> tag=p2pfoundation-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=
>> http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0807047058%
>> 2Fref%3Dpd_sim_b_2%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8%26v%3Dglance%26n%3D283155>.
>>         Beacon Press, 1994
>>      4. Natural Capitalism
>>         <http://p2pfoundation.net/Natural_Capitalism>: Creating the Next
>>
>>         Industrial Revolution – Paul Hawken
>>
>>
>>             On Monetary Economics and Transformation:
>>
>>      1. *The Future of Money <http://p2pfoundation.net/Future_of_Money>.
>>
>>         Creating New Wealth, Work, and a Wiser World. Bernard Lietaer
>>         <http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Economics?title=
>> Bernard_Lietaer&action=edit&redlink=1>.
>>         Random House* free pdf
>>         <http://www.techrules.com/clients/aeatonline/docs/
>> Bernard%20Lietaer%20-%20The%20future%20of%20money.pdf>
>>      2. Local Money <http://p2pfoundation.net/Local_Money>: How To Make
>>
>>         It Happen In Your Community – Peter North
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 7:58 PM, Silke Helfrich
>>     <silke.helfrich at gmx.de <mailto:silke.helfrich at gmx.de>> wrote:
>>
>>         Dear John
>>
>>         I very much agree with you and am therefor happy to participate
>>         in a new attempt to open a University in Germany which is based
>>         on exactly the ideas you mention:
>>
>>         Students won't only pay (hopefully money the get as a gift from
>>         somewhere/ that is what we try to organize - there has to be
>>         gift-money in education), they also will receive the money, that
>>         is they will - as a students organization - manage the fees  by
>>         themselves which to some extend will be the most important
>>         infrastructure of the University. (I say "to some extend"
>>         because there are still some rules to fit into the current
>>         system to get the title of a University) .
>>
>>         The concept is so consequent to say: "and if the students don't
>>         need the University anymore, the University should close". As
>>         you said: education is relational.
>>
>>         Very best
>>         Silke
>>
>>
>>         Am 16.12.2013 15:22, schrieb John:
>>
>>             Dear Folks,
>>
>>             There is nothing inherently wrong with paying someone for a
>>             service they
>>             provide to you. Indeed, one of the absurdities of the present
>>             educational set up is precisely that students have so little
>>             say in the
>>             educational services they pay for. There was a time when some
>>             universities were operated as student-run educational
>>             co-operatives in
>>             which students subjected the professors that they were going
>>             to hire to
>>             scrupulous cross examination before approving their positions
>> as
>>             educational service providers to the student body. This was
>>             the case at
>>             the University of Bologna until quite recently.
>>
>>             So, one angle of approach is for students to have far more
>>             control over
>>             the selection of faculty, over the design and evaluation of
>>             courses, and
>>             of the running of the university itself – in partnership
>>             with the
>>             teachers themselves and other community stakeholders.
>>
>>             Education is a classic /relational good/, that is, a good
>>             that is
>>
>>             co-produced by the provider and the recipient of the service
>>             /together/.  Education doesn't happen unless /both/ parties
>>             are fully
>>
>>             engaged in the exchange of knowledge relations, and it is
>>             optimally
>>             produced when the educational relationship is one of
>>             reciprocity and
>>             equality. This is the reason why authentic education is not
>>             a commodity
>>             – it is an exchange of human relations and revolves around
>>             the question
>>             of the nature of knowledge production.
>>
>>             The creation of equality, of reciprocal educational
>>             relationships, and
>>             the provision of control rights to students is the heart of
>> how
>>             educational institutions need to be reformed. Unless this
>>             happens,
>>             everything else is a sideshow and a distraction.
>>
>>             John
>>
>>             On 13-12-16 4:49 AM, Joss Winn wrote:
>>
>>                 On 16/12/2013 09:13, "mp"<mp at aktivix.org
>>                 <mailto:mp at aktivix.org>>  wrote:
>>
>>                     On 15/12/13 19:03,anna at shsh.co.uk
>>                     <mailto:anna at shsh.co.uk>  wrote:
>>
>>
>>                         I certainly don't want to criticise the idea of
>>                         a cooperative
>>                         university and all the work you are doing at the
>>                         SSC. However the
>>                         fundamental distinction between students and
>>                         teachers is that the
>>                         former have to pay and the latter get paid.
>>
>>                     Is that what they call capitalism? Social relations
>>                     revolving around a
>>                     commodity form, in this case "education" as the
>>                     commodity? Giving
>>                     structure to a hierarchy, where there are experts
>>                     (controlling the means
>>                     of (knowledge) production) and followers (consuming
>>                     the produced
>>                     knowledge commodities, if they can afford it)?
>>
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
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