Assembly of the Commons

Discussion

Michel Bauwens:

The Assembly of the Commons is a part of a double proposal by the P2P Foundation, to recreate civic power around the commons.

The Assembly of the Commons is a local or affinity-based association of citizens and commoners, bringing together all those who contribute and maintain common goods, material or immaterial. It is based on social charter outlining the shared values.

• it is a forum to exchange experiences and aims to bring together commoners and bring commonality into diversity

• it is an organisational entity that can organize events around Commons topics, such as a CommonsFest

• it gives voice to the (re-emerging) field of the commons

• through its social charter, it can support those social and political forces that bring forward an agenda for the commons ; it can promote and engage in public-commons partnerships

• the commons reflects the social condition of networked workers that co-create common goods through their mutual engagement ; as such it has the potential to replace or augment 'labor' as the common glue for emancipatory forces in society

• it aims to make common goods more inclusionary

• the Assembly promotes the creation of an ethical economy that can create livelihoods around the commons and of partner state approaches that allow for the creation of civic and technical infrastructes that enable and empower social autonomy and the further creation of the common good and common goods in society at large

• it is fraternally connected to the Chamber of the Commons, the sister assembly of ethical entities that create livelihoods for commoners and contributors to common goods

• it can be connected to other Assemblies to operate at a larger scale and form regional, national, transnational federations of such assemblies

• the Assembly is not linked to any particular political grouping but supports, pluralistically, all forces that favour the further strengthening of the commons

• the Assembly us run democratically

More Information

• Chamber of the Commons

At the global level:

• Phyles

• United Transnational Republics