thanks raffael, forwarding the demonetarization initiative to our mailing list,<br><br>Michel<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 8:22 PM, Raffael Kemenczy <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:raffael@kemenczy.at">raffael@kemenczy.at</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">Hello Michael,<br><br>I modified the wiki article on the Network of European Technocrats and created the European Organisation for Sustainability page (name was changed, I am a member). I also added reference to The Starfish and the Spider Book as the idea for the Project's name came from it.<br>
<br>As we were writing about this topic, I'd like to forward the attached e-mail to you (maybe you've already seen it, as I just saw that Franz Nahrada is also on the list). Feel free to forward this to interested parties as I am sure it intersects with the areas you are working in as well.<br>
<br><br>Kind regards,<br><br>Raffael<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Andreas Exner</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:andreas.exner@chello.at" target="_blank">andreas.exner@chello.at</a>></span><br>
Date: 11 January 2011 10:44<br>Subject: [Demonetize.it] platform - open mailing list<br><br><br>
<div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Hi everybody</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I'm very glad to make the list of people who signalled interest to work on a de-
monetarization project now open to everybody. Some requests are still open
(e.g. to Harry Cleaver, Raul Zelik, indigenous networks). Please spread the
invitation if you know people who might be interested in such an initiative.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This is the content of this mail:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1. PEOPLE</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. STATEMENT</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. WEBLOG & "NETWORKING GROUP"?</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4. MEETING, COMMUNICATION & MISSION</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5. FURTHER STEPS</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Beneath you'll find the original invititation.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1. PEOPLE</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Some very quick and rough information on the people who would like to build
a platform "demonetarization" or who signalled considerable interest in such a
project - please post your corrections if I got something wrong or if you'd like
to present yourself otherwise.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Franz Nahrada (Globally Integrated Village Environment, </span></font><a href="http://www.give.at/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.give.at/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
,
networker, commons, Vienna)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Athanasios Karathanassis (political ecology, regulation theory, Hannover,
"Naturzerst�rung und kapitalistisches Wachstum",
</span></font><a href="http://www.amazon.de/Naturzerst%C3%B6rung-kapitalistisches-%C3%96kosysteme-%C3%B6konomischer-Entwicklungen/dp/3899650182" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.amazon.de/Naturzerst%C3%B6rung-kapitalistisches-
%C3%96kosysteme-%C3%B6konomischer-Entwicklungen/dp/3899650182</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">John Holloway ("Change the World without Taking Power",
</span></font><a href="http://libcom.org/library/change-world-without-taking-power-john-holloway" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://libcom.org/library/change-world-without-taking-power-john-holloway</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
,
Puebla)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Gustavo Esteva ("Post-Development", </span></font><a href="http://gustavoesteva.com/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://gustavoesteva.com/</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
<u>)</u></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Lars Stubbe (works on social movements in Latin America, engages in an
autonomous trade union group, Kassel)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nikola Winter (works within the "Zeitgeist-Movement"; she is interested in the
project as a "private person") </span></font><a href="http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/</u></font></a></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Martin Scheuringer (editor of "Streifz�ge", </span></font><a href="http://www.streifzuege.org/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.streifzuege.org/</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
<u>)</u></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Raffael Kemenczy (works on models to organize a demonetized economy,
</span></font><a href="http://www.kemenczy.at" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>www.kemenczy.at</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
, works together with EOS</font><font face="Arial">
�</font><a href="http://www.eoslife.eu" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>www.eoslife.eu</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Alfred Fresin (works on a model to organize a demonetized economy,
"Bed�rfnisorientierte Versorgungswirtschaft",
</span></font><a href="http://stattkapitalismus.blogsport.de/2009/05/07/ergaenzung-die-bedeutung-der-stimmigen-kritik-der-marktwirtschaft-fuer-eine-alternative/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://stattkapitalismus.blogsport.de/2009/05/07/ergaenzung-die-bedeutung-
der-stimmigen-kritik-der-marktwirtschaft-fuer-eine-al</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
<u>)</u></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Genevieve Vaughan ("For-Giving. A Feminist Critique of Exchange",
</span></font><a href="http://www.for-giving.com/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.for-giving.com/</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
<u>)</u></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Werner R�tz (Attac Germany, basic income, </span></font><a href="http://www.attac.de/was-ist-attac/gruppen/?L=2&ognum=10007" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.attac.de/was-ist-
attac/gruppen/?L=2&ognum=10007</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
)</font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Friederike Habermann (People's Global Action, works on feminism, solidarity
economy, Berlin)� </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen (one of the founders of the paradigm of
"subsistence economy", feminist, part-time in Vienna)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Thorsten Endlein (works on solidarity economy, </span></font><a href="http://www.kritischeuni.de/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.kritischeuni.de/</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
<u>,
</u>Kassel)</font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Helge Buttkereit (works on social movements in Latin America,
</span></font><a href="http://www.buttkereit.info/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.buttkereit.info/</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
<u>, </u></font><font face="Arial">
works with the Hans-J�rgen Krahl Institut,
</font><a href="http://www.hjki.de/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.hjki.de/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
�that published a brochure on "Practical Socialism")</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Christian Lauk (works on political ecology, agrarian metabolism; economic
growth, </span></font><a href="http://www.social-innovation.org/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.social-innovation.org/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
, Vienna)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Andreas Exner (works on solidarity economy, economic growth; editor of
"Streifz�ge", </span></font><a href="http://www.streifzuege.org/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.streifzuege.org/</u></font></a><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial">
, </font><a href="http://www.social-innovation.org/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.social-
innovation.org/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
,</font><a href="http://krisu.noblogs.org/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://krisu.noblogs.org/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
�part-time in Vienna)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Christian Siefkes (commons, "peer economy", </span></font><a href="http://www.keimform.de/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.keimform.de/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
,
Berlin)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Stephanie Grohmann (feminist, working on queer economy, social
movements)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Stefan Meretz (commons, </span></font><a href="http://www.keimform.de/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial">
<u>http://www.keimform.de/</u></font></a><font face="Arial">
, Berlin)</font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. STATEMENT</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The preliminary "mission statement" - until now no changes to this version
were submitted - was:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"All production and all ways of life rely on unconditional giving, the</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">direct communication between producers, cooperation and the riches of the</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">earth. Yet the money economy has monopolized our social and natural world</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">for its own, self-referential and destructive purpose: profit. The dynamic</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">principle of the money economy is capital: money begetting more money. It</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">turns human beings into sellers of labour time and consumers of</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">commodities; it pits them against each other; it splits the world into</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">value and non-value, enchaining, exploiting and deforming what it</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">valorizes and destroying what it defines as worthless; it sorts people</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">according to competitiveness and subordinates 'the female' to 'the male'.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The economic and socio-ecological crisis of our times is its result.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">De-monetization, by fostering conscious self-organization of producers, is</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">the way out of it. De-monetization is the first prerequisite for a free</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">society. Yet for a de-monetized society to be free from social domination,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">a new mode of organizing production and new ways of life must be</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">developed. De-monetization is present in a broad range of debates and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">practices for another society, that is possible and necessary. This</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">initiative makes them visible, brings them together and explores their</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">differences."� </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">For the weblog and our own self-definition we would need a consensual
version. Please indicate the changes you would like to see. You can post to
the list - if someone thinks that traffic is too much, please adress it to me, I'll
collect suggestions and post them in a summary to all of you.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. WEBLOG & "NETWORKING GROUP"?</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Stefan Meretz has suggested to buy the domain "<a href="http://demonetize.it" target="_blank">demonetize.it</a>" - personally,
I think that'll be great. Please let us hear what you think about it.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We need a German section, so maybe we first try to include it in
"<a href="http://demonetize.it" target="_blank">demonetize.it</a>", as well as possible spanish versions and of course an
english one.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I would propose to introduce three broad categories on the weblog:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(a) "Understanding" (all theoretical contributions; why is a de-monetized
society necessary, why is it possible)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(b) "Doing" (how doe de-monetized social relations work? where can such
relations be found? what is their contribution to the current way of living and
producing?)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(c) "Strategy & Vision" (how can a completely or overwhelmingly de-
monetized society work? what are necessary steps in this direction? which
social movements work in this direction? where can de-monetized approaches
be found in discussions on solidarity economy, commons etc.?)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">NOTE: the people gathered together here display a wide range of theoretical
backgrounds, perspectives and even "ethical orientations". This project is
mainly or even solely about the least common denominator, it is definitely
NOT about a "maximum consensus". The denominator is (a) a de-monetized
society is necessary and possible and (b) it must be free of social
domination. All other questions will be answered in the most controversial and
heterogenous way!</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"Demonetize.it" is an intervention that aims at changing the discourse on
what direction society shall take. It is NOT about building any kind of
"consensus" tackling all sorts of questions that are left unanswered by the
demonetization and anti-domination goal. This consensus will neither be
possible nor necessary (in my view).</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">What do you think about a "networking group" or "support group" consisting of
the people in this list, that would appear like a "steering group" or an "editorial
staff" on the weblog (with similar functions concerning contributions to the
weblog and further activities"? This group could be expanded as soon as
further people join.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4. MEETING, COMMUNICATION AND MISSION</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Friederike Habermann proposed a meeting in Berlin, during, before or after the
"Postwachstumskongress" (De-Growth-Congress) of Attac Germany, at the
end of May. Please tell us if you would like to come.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Concerning people not able to come to Berlin, we have to decide how to
organize our communication: open Email-list? Google-Email-list?</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Of course, skype is always possible to supplement communication via Email.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5. FURTHER STEPS</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">After the launch of a weblog and a consensual version of our "mission
statement", I would propose to distribute the access data for the weblog to
everybody so that we can fill in relevant information (papers, people, projects).</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The meeting in Berlin could be used to propose and discuss further steps.
Making a volume "Demonetize.it - A new paradigm of society" (or something
similar - both in English and German, i.e. two separate and parallel
publications) could be one activity. In preparing such a volume, theoretical
questions and empirical experiences could already be brought into discussion
within this group (not in the view of reaching "consensus", but in the view of
making argumentations clear and differences as well as synergies
unambigous). Another one could be to make a congress in autumn 2012.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">cheers, Andreas</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">PS: </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Original Invitation:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Hi all</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I am writing in English, since several english-speaking people are in the</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">mail adress, which includes a broad range of people that might be</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">interested in one way or the other in a "de-monetization" approach. If</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">anyone does not want to be part of this discussion, please give me a sign.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(I masked your adresses in order to limit unwanted email traffic.)</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Franz Nahrada had the idea to start a network on the issue of</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"de-monetization". Athanasios Karathanassis (who is working</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">on economic growth in a regulation theoretical framework), from</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">the Critical University Hannover is also very interested to explore</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">the potentials of such an initiative.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">In brief, I outline a possible view on the topic:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1. The exacerbating economic and socio-ecological crisis makes viable</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">alternatives urgent</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2. Capital growth is not an option, but a threat. State intervention is at</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">best a necessary component on a way to overcome the state as a mode of</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">social domination.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3. Social movements gain momentum and put forward a range of alternatives,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">including most prominently Solidarity Economy, Commons, Basic Income,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">De-Growth. Some of those approaches or the "sub-concepts" contained</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">therein are rather academic discussions or theoretical concepts, some of</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">them are utopian in character, others are firmly based on real-life</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">experience and organically related to social struggles.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4. Yet these proposals and conceptualizations are ambigous in so far as</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">they mix up categorically different principles of social regulation and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">ways of life: market and non-market, state and non-state. So within</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Solidarity Economy, there is a current strongly opposed to value and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">money; within the Commons as well; within the discourse on Basic Income,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">there is a current that sees money transfer as a mere stepping stone for</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">de-monetized production; and within the De-Growth debate, voices raise</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">concern whether the money relation is compatible with such a perspective. </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5. Proposals (and practices) that rely on a further development of the</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">money economy and state support will encounter serious limits and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">exacerbate the crisis, since capital, market relations and the state are</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">tightly interlinked and actually just different aspects of a society based</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">on capital, patriarchy and other forms of social domination.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">6. In each of the above mentioned proposals (and practices), a social and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">theoretical current is present, that aims at a de-monetized mode of</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">production. Yet this current is hardly visible since it is intermingled</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">with a broad range of theoretical debate and activism that just aims at</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">prolonging value and the commodity form, exchange of equivalents, money -</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">and in the end, maybe unintended yet necessarily so: capital, the state</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">and androcentrism.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">7. It seems thus to be a promising step forward in the direction of real</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">alternatives to make categorical differences clear and a matter of serious</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">discussion: Should we aim to promote a conscious way of organizing social</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">production, i.e. abolish/transcend the commodity form, money and capital?</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Or should we just try to "reform" capital?</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">8. As a first step, a weblog should be launched that serves as a platform</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">to (a) present the issue, indicate relevant links to papers, researchers,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">ideas, activists and practical projects, (b) gain support and enable</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">networking, (c) sort out different approaches and perspectives within a</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">de-monetization paradigm. Languages should be German and English (maybe
a</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">set up of two sister weblogs might be an option).</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">9. The initiative should aim at organizing a congress, maybe, for</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">practical reasons, in a German-speaking country (depending on resources).</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Time frame: 2012, autumn.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">10. Publications should be prepared, maybe as a volume of selected papers</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">on the issue</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">11. The overall aim is (a) to make de-monetization visible as a clear and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">strong paradigm that transcends the current society, (b) to link de-</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">monetization perspectives present in different alternative practices and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">debates, (c) to initiate and/or foster a discourse on de-monetization both</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">on an academic and a social movement level. The core task should be very</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">narrowly defined: against social domination, value and its different forms</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(money, capital etc.). Yet from this core, a broad variety of discussions</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">might (a) reach out to approaches that rather try to limit the money</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">relation or push for a selective de-commodification and (b) engage with</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">those related approaches in a serious and critical discussion.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I would like to put forward the following short "mission statement" as a</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">first proposal for a working consensus in view of the above-mentioned</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">weblog, which should be as narrow as necessary and as broad as possible,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">being understandable to lay persons (I don't think my proposal is</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">convincing, but it might serve as a starting point for further</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">discussion):</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"All production and all ways of life rely on unconditional giving, the</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">direct communication between producers, cooperation and the riches of the</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">earth. Yet the money economy has monopolized our social and natural world</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">for its own, self-referential and destructive purpose: profit. The dynamic</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">principle of the money economy is capital: money begetting more money. It</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">turns human beings into sellers of labour time and consumers of</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">commodities; it pits them against each other; it splits the world into</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">value and non-value, enchaining, exploiting and deforming what it</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">valorizes and destroying what it defines as worthless; it sorts people</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">according to competitiveness and subordinates 'the female' to 'the male'.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The economic and socio-ecological crisis of our times is its result.</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">De-monetization, by fostering conscious self-organization of producers, is</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">the way out of it. De-monetization is the first prerequisite for a free</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">society. Yet for a de-monetized society to be free from social domination,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">a new mode of organizing production and new ways of life must be</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">developed. De-monetization is present in a broad range of debates and</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">practices for another society, that is possible and necessary. This</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">initiative makes them visible, brings them together and explores their</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">differences."� </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Please let me know what your ideas are on such an initiative, if you have</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">time and if you are interested. I will collect your responses and make an</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">updated and transparent email list including those that signalled interest</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">in further developing the idea.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I wish you all the best and a Happy New Year 2011,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Andreas</span></font></div>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net">http://p2pfoundation.net</a>� - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br>Connect: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.ning.com">http://p2pfoundation.ning.com</a>; Discuss: <a href="http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org">http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org</a><br>
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<br>Think tank: <a href="http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI">http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI</a><br><br><br><br><br>