Peer Governance
*Part of the Triad of Commoning.
1. Patterns
As include in Free, Fair and Alive.
- Bring Diversity into Shared Purpose
- Create Semi-Permeable Membranes
- Honor Transparency in a Sphere of Trust
- Share Knowledge Generously
- Assure Consent in Decision Making
- Rely on Heterarchy
- Peer Monitor & Apply Graduated Sanctions
- Relationize Property
- Keep Commons & Commerce Distinct
- Finance Commons Provisioning / Choose Commons-Friendly Financing
2. What is it?
As we thought about how coordination works in a commons, we hesitated to use the term “governance” because it is so closely associated with the idea of collective interests overriding individual freedom.
peer governance rather than just governance. It points to an ongoing process of dialogue, coordination, and self-organization.
^ sounds quite similar to ideas in Anarchist Cybernetics.
Our analysis of Peer Governance therefore moves beyond Ostrom’s landmark design principles in several ways. First, we look at all sorts of contemporary commons — social, digital, and urban, among others — not just at natural resource-based commons. We also attempt to go beyond resource management and allocation as primarily economic matters, and instead emphasize commoning as a social system. Any assessment of governance in commons must deal squarely with the systemic threats posed by markets and state power, so we look to Peer Governance as a form of moral and political sovereignty that works in counterpoint to the market/state.
by Elinor Ostrom is helpful, but ultimately not enough. The principles do not provide sufficient guidance for people to respond flexibly to feedback
we cannot depend upon structures to do the work of culture.
how can I organize my life in such a way that I become less dependent on money? How do I decommodify daily life? Similar questions should be asked at the level of a project, initiative, infrastructure, or platform.
Commoning provided what we would now call a basic income — access to resources that ensure one’s basic survival.