[P2P-F] how should we think about markets ?

[Michel Bauwens]

Answered this in an email to someone who believes markets themselves are
the key issue, and therefore need to be abolished completely:

"First of all, we distinguish markets from capitalism, and we see markets
as having both disadvantages and advantages, as have the 3 other main modes
of allocation, for example as described in the Structure of World History
by Kojin Karatani, and Alan Page Fiske's 'Structure of Social Life'.

We see that different historical periods have different configurations and
'dominations' of one mode above the others .... Capitalism, because of its
extractivism and externalities is now hugely problematic, but it is hard to
see how to eliminate markets completely without totalitarian coercion.

Thus  it makes more sense in our view to focus on 2 interlocking strategies

1) the first is to re-embed markets in reciprocity mechanisms and as
supporting the commons, and in fact we see this emerging and discuss this
in our manuscript; we believe change does not descend ex nihilo from people
who look at the system from outside and describe how they believe the world
should work, but from actual praxis, and it is this praxis we examine. And
what we see is commons-based productive communities aiming to re-discpline
markets to their needs

2) second, we believe the role of the market will likely drastically
diminish, on the condition we can export the current coordination
mechanisms for immaterial work, which can already largely operate outside
the market (free software , open design), to actual physical production,
which will require both the development of open and contributory
accounting, of other stigmergic mechanisms, but also shared and open supply
chains; this will give the material basis of gradually increasing the
mutual coordination of production outside of market mechanisms.

While the first is well underway, the second has hardly started, and so, in
this transition period, the focus will be in our opinion on expanding the
commons, and re-embedding markets under reciprocity mechanims, ie.
de-capitalizing the markets if you like, but while this proceeds, the
conditions for the second strategy gradually improves."

-- 
Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org


P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

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