Michel Bauwens/Testimonials

The following is a record of some of the reactions we received from people attending our P2P Seminars.

English

Seminar Reactions

Austria

- Franz Nahrada - Global Villages

Michel Bauwens is a thorough researcher who makes it easy for his public to comprehend the deep changes in todays economy. With a passion and diligence comparable to Adam Smith, he looks at the traits of the upcoming most powerful mode of production that humankind has ever invented, the one that is truly setting free the full potential of individuals and collectives through self-detemination, autonomy and infinite networking. His speeches and even more his in-depth seminars are mind - openers and lead to activate the sense for a whole range of opportunities in todays seemingly saturated world of business.

Belgium

- by a creative professional from the These Days advertising company:

URL = http://blog.thesedays.com/blog/2006/09/28/these-days-peer-to-peer-seminar-a-recap/

Denmark

- Thomas Ermacora, webentrepreneur & futurist:

"Michael Bauwens belongs to this new generation of progressive, involved and hyperconnected intellectuals who develops a deep and continuous analysis of the social web phenomena, particularly how P2P impacts people and society at large, and what potential for positive change this sharing sphere comprises. Not only that, his foundation is a gem - a platform for interactive reformation. "

- Damien Mulley, on the Reboot 9 intervention:

"Michel Bauwens’ talk was great. He’s a good speaker and his topic was very engaging. I hope the presentation is available somewhere. It’s one of those kind of talks where you get excited that maybe we can change the world and make it better." (http://www.mulley.net/2007/06/03/a-reboot-review-reboot-90-in-denmark/)

France

- Francois Rey - Open Xchange

For long I had this feeling that behind P2P there was a lot more to discover, that it wasn’t just about file sharing. Michel was the first person to give me a better understanding of what it is that makes P2P such an important aspect in our evolution. His work has given me a greater context in which to insert my own research.

Netherlands

- Prof. Rik Maes, from the University of Amsterdam

Read the more extensive evaluation here: Some remarks regarding the contributions of Michel Bauwensto the activities of the University of Amsterdam

- Thomas Thijssen, Via Nova Academy

Michel Bauwens fully understands the signs of our time and the emergence of a society where peer production and peer governance present new opportunities for individuals and groups to create value together. He is able to place these new developments in both a historical context and a future oriented context. For international leaders it is a must to understand the consequences of the P2P-movement.

- Albert Boswijk, Center for the Experience Economy

Mr. Bauwens has presented for our institute several times in an international context. He is a very good speaker and has deep knowledge of the subject he is covering. He is inspired our public several times and we higly recommend him.

- Kim Veltman - Virtual Maastricht McLuhan Institute

There are too many prophets of glory and prophets of doom. Michel Bauwens is different. In a world of technophiles and techo-evangelists, of computer salesmen and technology buffs, Michel Bauwens introduces new ways of thinking about the extraordinary developments that are occurring. In a world where there are 1000 mobile phones being sold every minute, where there are 1.13 billion Internet users, Michel Bauwens looks at facts and also provokes us to think afresh. He is a good speaker. He is very much worth listening to, not because he has all the answers but because he offers new questions.

- George Dafermos - Researcher TU Delft

Michel Bauwens's analysis of the emerging peer-to-peer landscape is by far the most inspiring and acute I have ever come into contact with. His prescient - yet firmly based on empirical facts - observations elucidate the dynamics underlying the peer-to-peer paradigm and explicate its significance for both economic and social actors. In explaining the new forms of collaboration, production, and distribution made possible by and atop the technical infrastructure of peer-to-peer, Bauwens skillfully and convincingly demonstrates how peer-to-peer translates into a new form of human association which will catalyse new structures in our economies and societies.

Thailand

- From Thailand, Hans van Willenswaard - Editor 'Business & Society', Bangkok.

Michel Bauwens is able to describe in a concise way what others can hardly grasp because it is so groundbreaking but subtle: fundamental changes in the business sector are emerging and will replace the present system as it becomes redundant. Michel presents his case not as an academic but from the point of view of a business leader with alerting experiences he took to his heart. It made him search for the principles of conventional thinking and the new paradigms we need to become sustainable.

Reactions on the Writings

- George Dafermos, at http://radio.weblogs.com/0117128/

"Michel Bauwens is the author of the most visionary piece on peer-to-peer I've ever read, published his much-awaited new essay on P2P, entitled P2P and Human Evolution: p2p as the premise of a new mode of civilization. As expected, his excellent and path-breaking treatise is all-encompassing, critically exploring P2P in all its possible manifestations and linkages, that is, with respect to its political, social, economic, spiritual, cultural, and technological implications. It is at the intersections of all these spheres and their interactions that P2P holds the potential to emerge as the basis of the new civilisation premised on self-realisation, autonomy, creation, eros, and sharing. It's either that or a return to barbarism, writes Bauwens. Read on and marvel at the mental syntheses that this essay invokes."

- Peer to Peer weblog / Unmediated at http://p2p.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000653037158/ "Michel Bauwens has written a phenomenal essay entitled P2P and Human Evolution: Placing Peer to Peer Theory in an Integral Framework. It's long and much of it goes far over my head, but reads like a P2P manifesto" Bauwens even concludes by calling it a guide to an active participation in the transformation of our world, into something better, more participative, more free, more creative. Really quite fascinating."

- Integral Foresight Institute, Chris Stewart

"What Michael Bauwens has achieved in a very short space fullfills the same function as the Communist Manifesto once did: a call for a worldwide movement for social and political change, firmly rooted in the objective and subjective changes of contempary society, and articulated as a practical and insightful model of human value and power relations that is ahead of its time. If we listen more carefully to Bauwens than we ever did Marx, however, it just might lead to a smooth evolution for humanity rather than revolution, or at worst, destruction. Bauwens has traced out real contours of hope for Western civilization. His presentation of a P2P perspective includes a clear theory of human power and value relations, a practical appreciation of its relationship to the current orthodoxy, and an inspiring vision for viable, sustainable, and desirable futures. Just as Bauwens notes the limited social acceptance of Marx at the time of his writing, it may well be that in years to come Bauwens’s articulate and deeply considered insights will not only be as profoundly influential and valuable but, crucially, a lot more workable."

- P2P and Integral Theory – Generation Sit weblog

"I rarely encounter essays addressing Integral Theory in the context of emerging technology. But if there's one thing out there worth reading, this essay is one of them -- P2P and Human Evolution: Placing Peer to Peer Theory in an Integral Framework (via IntegralWorld). This very long essay describes P2P in detail, covering the interior and exterior aspects, and its incompatibilities with Spiral Dynamics and Integral Theory. There are a lot of heady stuff for me to digest in this essay. And I'm still not done reading it."

- John Heron, Participatory Spirituality pioneer, author of Sacred Science

"What I appreciate is your clarity with regard to the following: your basic definition of p2p; the way you trace this definition, and any compromises and departures from it, within its many manifestations; and toward the end of your account, forms co-existence and of possible political strategies. All of this is very valuable food for thought and action. You make a most effective and persuasive case for the widespread significance of the p2p phenomenon, in diverse fields, and with due regard for the underlying epistemological shifts involved. This work is indeed a major achievement of scholarship, insight, moral vision and political imagination."

- Larry Penslinger, author of The Moon at Hoa Binh

“I have been reading your essay. The information in book form is far easier to approach than the online newsletter, of course. This is truly a great introduction to this field of thought. A major accomplishment, even in its present "a work in progress" stage. Thank you very much for making this available. One of the very useful aspects of P2P&HE, I find, is contextualization of the notes with their many website referrals. This allows me to follow out the ideas in a coherent fashion. A significant body of this material has been available only in French, which I do not read, and much of it remains untranslated. However, much information is now available in Englishon the net concerning what remains untranslated, and P2P&HE is an excellent guide."

- Brian Martin, University of Wollongong, Australia

“It's excellent! You've presented P2P in a logical way that clarifies how it relates to other modes of production, both meshing with and transforming them. I really appreciate your careful thinking."

- Victor Lewis-Hansom, by email:

"At first skim reading, I think that the spark you have created in our historical times, will be historically significant and remembered. Thank you for putting so much of yourself into your essay."

- Darren Sharp, by email

"Just read your outstanding 'P2P and Human Evolution: Peer to Peer as the premise of a new mode of civilization.' I've got to say, I was blown away by your bold synthesis of such complex material."

- Tony Mobily, editor in chief of Free Software Magazine

“I think your paper is fantastic." (email, 3/2006)

French-Language

Seminar Reactions

From Denmark, by Thomas Ermacora, webentrepreneur & futurist:

"Michael Bauwens fait partie de cette nouvelle caste d'intellectuels du web social qui comprennent à la fois comment vulgariser la connaissance complexe des differents types d'interactions qu'il engendre et catégoriser leurs effets pour une lecture plus lucide des tendances lourdes de la transformation de la société à travers la toile. " (Thomas Ermacora, webentrepreneur & futuriste)

Reactions on the Writings

- Yves Simon at http://www.social-computing.com/showitem.php?ID=137 "Michel Bauwens est un personnage connu du monde de la nouvelle économie. Il a rendu public une dernière mouture de son essai courant mars 2005 : P2P and Human Evolution : Peer to peer as the premise of a new mode of civilization Un article dans la revue belge Imagine Magazine présente les conclusions de cette étude. Michel Bauwens estime que les technologies peer to peer ne sont que les prémisses de la constitution d'une nouvelle civilisation de pairs qui doit bouleverser les modèles établis. Je cite ci-après qq passages remarquables de l'interview conduit par David Leloup :

"Il s’agit donc d’une grande transformation culturelle qui conduit à un paradigme participatif.

Le P2P est d’abord un concept descriptif. Il permet d’analyser des nouvelles formes d’organisation. Là où le concept de peer-to-peer devient encore plus puissant, c’est quand il passe du statut d’outil descriptif à une utilisation normative. Comment le monde changerait-il, comment ma vie et mon éthique changent-elles, quand je commence à exiger des relations de pairs dans la totalité de mes actes ? Le peer-to-peer acquiert alors une véritable puissance révolutionnaire. C’est par exemple ce que le mouvement féministe a voulu et en partie réalisé : un refus d’accepter encore plus longtemps l’inégalité avec les hommes. Il y a aujourd’hui un véritable exode vers les interstices du système : non seulement il y a les «downshifters» comme moi-même, mais également des pans entiers de la jeunesse qui refusent la féodalité intrinsèque de la structure des entreprises.

Le peer-to-peer est en effet la structure même du troisième capitalisme : le capitalisme cognitif, qui remplace le capitalisme industriel lui-même ayant remplacé le capitalisme marchand.

...liée à la notion de «noosphère» de Teilhard de Chardin, c’est-à-dire la sphère spécifiquement culturelle, humaine. Le peer-to-peer permet une interconnexion de tous les cerveaux au niveau planétaire, et permet donc une action globale afin de répondre aux énormes défis écologiques et autres. Avant l’avènement d’Internet, ce genre de coordination globale était exclusivement réservée aux grandes multinationales.

le P2P permet de créer un contre-pouvoir qui combine l’échange égalitaire et la création d’une nouvelle sphère cognitive commune – ce que Lawrence Lessig appelle les «Creative Commons».

- Marc Dangeard in http://casailor.blogspot.com/2005/04/p2p-et-societe.html

"Je viens de lire l'essai de Michel Bauwens sur le Peer-to-Peer, et c’est extremement interessant. Ca se lit vite, et ca en vaut l'effort: http://noosphere.cc/P2P2bi.htm La conclusion est qu’il y a dans l’avenement du peer to peer une vraie opportunite de changer le systeme dans lequel nous vivons.

En relation avec cette analyse sur l’evolution des modes de communication vers un modele peer to peer, et sur les modeles de societe qui peuvent en decouler, je suis convaincu que la facon dont on peut ameliorer les choses en matiere de business, d’enrichissement spirituel de l’individu au sein d’une entreprise, et de repartission des richesses en general est de passer par la creation d'entreprises qui seront construites sur des modeles nouveaux, ou les employes pourront participer activement et volontairement aux process et ou la distribution du revenu se fera de facon plus large, un peu sur le modele des stocks options qui sont distribuees aujourd'hui dans les start-ups de la Silicon Valley (mais avec un twist). Rien de radical, pas de revolution, plutot une evolution des modes de fonctionnement existants mais pour des resultats qui seront eux radicalement differents; l'entreprise de demain dont je parle dans un post precedent."