New section on community-centered approaches, both physical and virtual, with special attention towards strategies for resilient communities.

Key Quotes

The historical pivot for the P2P Mode of Production

"We’re seeing something that is historically shocking—the reduction to zero of the cost of an especially valuable part of capital, which materializes directly knowledge (free software, free designs, etc.). And above all we see, almost day by day, how the optimum size of production, sector by sector, approaches or reaches the community dimension.

The possibility for the real community, the one based on interpersonal relationships and affections, to be an efficient productive unit is something radically new, and its potential to empower is far from having been developed. This means that we are lucky enough to live in a historical moment when it would seem that the whole history of technology, with all its social and political challenges, has coalesced to put us within reach of the possibility of developing ourselves in a new way and contributing autonomy to our community.

Today we have an opportunity that previous generations did not: to transform production into something done, and enjoyed, among peers. We can make work a time that is not walled off from life itself, which capitalism revealingly calls “time off.” That’s the ultimate meaning of producing in common today. That’s the immediate course of every emancipatory action. The starting point."

- David de Ugarte [1]

Issues encountered by decentralized governance

"Hierarchy: From domination hierarchy, where power is clear but oppressive, to shadow hierarchy, where power is invisible and potentially manipulative.

Communication: From aggressive communication and direct confrontation to passive-aggressiveness and conflict avoidance.

Boundaries: From explicit but rigid to flexible but ambiguous boundaries leading to collaboration chaos, role confusion and lack of individual accountability.

Decision Making: From autocratic decision-making that may be efficient but authoritarian, to participative decision making, where the desire for unanimous agreement can lead to decision paralysis.

Competition: From the shadows of competition, where predatory practices lead to burn out, extraction and negative externalities, to the shadows of collaboration, where competition becomes implicit and groupthink limits the diversity of perspectives.

Responsibilities: From clear but rigid roles that may stifle autonomy & creativity to the dilution of responsibility, where individual contributions become less visible resulting in a lack of clear direction and diffuse personal accountability."

- Timothee Bres [2]

The Directory