Asia Commons Deep Dive

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Draft list of proposed names for a regional preparatory workshop for a conference on commons-oriented economics.

Context via Proposal for a Conference on Commons-Oriented Economics

thanks for putting from 1 to 3 stars next to each name according to priority.


What Do We Need To Do

  • Agree on names / first batch of 10 by wednesday, June 3
  • send out first invitation, send 'save the date' letter, by June 6
  • ask for more recommendations
  • decide on second batch by June 13
  • we are booking 16 rooms

(Jost to check and adjust!)

QUESTIONS

- should we have a quota on women (one third) to make sure of fair representation ? yes, we should aim for 1/3/ I agree as well

- should we have a maximum on westerners, say one third (to avoid over-representation)yes, but we can try to put Jost and/or me as host off the list if we are running short as we are already 4 from CSG and hbs; I agree - hbf and CSG are in a certain way out of the normal count

The Room and Date

Venue: Office of Heinrich Böll Stiftung Bangkok Hotel: Salil Hotel, Thonglor 1, near BTS Thonlor Maximum of people is 20, to sit comfortable, including five of us staff members (5? Do you count , which means 15 people to invite.

Date: 13. and 14.10.2012 Arrival of participants during 12.10. to have a welcome dinner to together Departure on 14. or 15.10. depending on flights

Departure HAS TO BE ON october 15, you cannot get into in-depth conversation with a new group if you have only one and a half day to work!!!


The First Twelve

after vetting by MB / Heike / Silke and the skype discussion on 5/7/12

1) Roberto Verzola, Philippine economist, agri-activist, green party, studies abundance/scarcity issues and has a particular focus on both natural and digital commons;

2) Isaac Mao, sharing and digital commons activist in China, well-known internationally

3) Mr. Luo Shihong,Guizhou, around 40, speaks very good English, pretty independent NGO activist affiliated with Chengdu Shuguang Community Development Capacity Building Center which is supported by Ford Foundation, his email: gzexplor@gmail.com ; we would then have a digital and a natural resource commoner from China

4) Pablo Solon, Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, from Bangkok

5) Surat H. from Chulalongkorn University (it is extremely hard to find ppl familiar with the discourse in Thailand; Michel tries to arrange a talk with Anan G. from RCSD or with Attachak to find out for himself whether or not to involve one of them,)

6) Ms. Soma Parthasartha: New Delhi woman and commons scholar who studies women and subsistence commons because we need to strenghten female representation;

or 6a-1) Mr. Shiv Visvanathan, wrote excellent piece on known commons in Common Voices journal crucial magazine with commons insights in India Comment Silke: Is there any additional argument? 6a-2 Laurence Liang,


7) Prabir Purkayashta Prabkant ***,(has been working with us on thePeople's Science Network Forum, Statement on the commons in the Porto Alegre/Rio process

or 7a) Vinod Raina, People's Science Network Forum, International Forum Science and Democracy, co-author of our book - if Prabir cannot, we should invite Vinod or vice-versa

8-1) Nina Ramirez: Michel met her at PASS, she's a Philippino catholic social movement activist working with fishermen and created a wonderful integrated curriculum for engaged social change activists Marina and Nina are both from the Philippines and would bring in very different experiences. Comment Silke: very convincing arguments. ***

8-2) Marina Durano***, feminist economist, good brain, but not familiar with the discourse, but I am sure she can get into it fast...and we need somebody like her (will invite both, but check with Roberto)

9) Prue Taylor is indisputably a good choice, but she does not stand for an "Asian" discourse, she could be invited to any of the Deep Dives, though she belongs to the Asia Pacific Region, Comment: She would not be invited to ANY of the deep dives, simply for the ticket-price, Solon does not stand for an "Asian" discourse neither. It is also about networking. She get's *** from Silke :-) Further arguments from Silke: she is an excellent writer, intererested in joining the network, not a strong candidated for the Berlin conference, she is a lawyer and looking more into the legal side of global commons governance... SHE WILL BE INVITED IN THE FIRST ROUND

10) José Ramos is an Australian, but will be in Singapore at the time of the meeting; wrote a PhD on the nine schools of thought in the alterglobalization movement; is preparing a global documentary on commoners; is very specifically thinking about the connections between social change and p2p/commons issues; IMHO - very convincing arguments: ***

11) Ramaswamy Sudarshan, the UNDP from the BKK conference, Silke and Michel found him to be an interesting contributor, he should not go under India, but under UNDP or international organisations***

12) Hendro Sangkoyo***, School of Democratic Economics, hendro.sangkoyo@gmail.com ; he came higly recommended from Larry Lohmann who I met again in Rio recently , not much in the net on him, check this: http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/199

+ 13. WE NEED SBD: FROM BUTHAN (Happiness Index), we are looking for a younger generation researcher, Jost is checking through Hans W.

+ 14. Malaysia (as currently discussed

+ 15. Myanmar

During skype discussion on 05/07/2012 decided and furhter to dos:

open questions: do we need somebody from Islamic economics? Do we need somebody from Indegenous ppls politics, such as Vicky Corpus from the Philippines? These questions and review of other ppl in the wiki but currently off the list will be reviewed through sykpe discussion after the deadline for reply from the invitees. Michel sents out the invitations asap, but before sents out request to review the listed ppl to Martin Khor, Nicola Bullard and Takayoshi. Michel will also consult Roberto over Nina and Marina. Vicky Corpus would be a good alternative if we want an IP rep, but not an economist. Reply expected from invitees 2 weeks from the day they receive the invitation letter with the following reading material attached: intro of the book by Silke and David, Gustavo Estevas contribution, Silvia Federicis and christian Siefkes.

Silke sents Crottof letter to Michel. He will put his draft invitation letter based on the Crottof letter into the wiki for editing by others. He will mention that flight costs and accomodation will be taken care of. So far we have three female participants out of 12 fixed names, this is 1/4 against the aim of 1/3.


Heike recommends for Thailand

The only other recommendation I can make is Kasian Tejapira, a political scientiest from Dhammasatra University, who is a good brain and potentially eager to read the book and get inspired BEFORE coming to such a meeting. I used to have a very good rapport with him, but it is some time back that I last worked with him. His email is: kasiantj@hotmail.com

Comments from David

I have not heard back from Jagdeesh Rao of Foundation for Ecological Security yet, where is a shame. My thought is that we should give serious consideration to inviting key institutional players in commons work -- in India and elsewhere. FES may not be as cutting-edge in its commons vision as others, but it's "footprint" in Indian public policy on commons issues is big. It's a player. For that reason, I'd like to consider FES or other important institutional players. It could help amplify our work and help us network more broadly.

Shiv Visvanathan wrote a brilliant essay on knowledge commons in Common Voices, but I would feel a bit more comfortable getting someone's endorsement or personal account of him. E.g., from Jagdeesh Rao. I will persist on that front.

If we want to explore other Indians, the Deccan Development Society in Andhra Pradesh may have someone appropriate. I can investigate if we want to make the effort. (Silke, you may recall that PV Satheesh of DDS wrote a piece on GMOs for our book. He may or may not be an appropriate person for the Deep Dive.)

Lawrence Liang of the Alternative Law Forum in India is one of the smartest, most committed commons-oriented activist/theorists I've encountered. He works with (is the boss of) Prashant Iyengar, the young Indian attorney who attended Crottorf. I would very much like to see him invited, if possible. He has a very deep, sophisticated understanding of politics, law, activism and the commons, as seen in his 2008 essay, "How Does An Asian Commons Mean?" Some amazing analysis about "piracy" from the perspective of the poorest of the poor.

Let me again endorse Soma Parthasartha of New Delhi as a good choice. I met her at the IASC conference & FES workshop in January 2011, and found her to be a very knowledgeable, cosmopolitan and politically smart feminist who appears to have personal connections with prominent Indian activists such as Vandana Shiva, Arundhati Roy and others. She also has down firsthand academic research about women commoners & Nepali forests.

Prue Taylor is a wonderful choice. because of her legal depth on common heritage of mankind issues, property law & environment, among other legal themes. She also seems eager to become more engaged with activist networks.

Introductory Letter

  • ask them to read 3 essays: 1) the introduction 2) ??? ; 3) a digital essay
  • look for Crottorf letter as example
  • ask nicola bullard, takayoshi, x? for opinion


Draft Letter

Dear _________________:


We would like to invite you to participate in a strategy retreat to discuss the liknages between the commons and the field of economics, with particular attention to the Asian context, to be held from October 13-14 at the Heinrich Boll Foundation offices in Bangkok, Thailand. The event is co-organized by HBF and the Commons Strategies Group. The event can be framed in the context of an upcoming full conference to be organized in Berlin, in May 2013, but is intended to be an autonomous discussion.


We are convening about 15 thinkers, activists and writers who have a demonstrated expertise in and commitment to the commons, and/or are committed grassroots activists that can offer experiential feedback on the emerging paradigm. We believe that it is time for some of the world’s most serious, creative and internationally minded commoners to meet each other and begin a shared dialogue about the future. Our goal is to develop more sophisticated understandings about the commons and explore new cooperative projects. We want to pull together a wide range of knowledge, creativity, contacts and resources about the commons, and identify promising avenues for future research, writing and political action. This will be a retreat, not a conference, i.e. the focus will be on the free flow of deep discussions between peers.


As you know, interest in the commons as a new paradigm of economics, culture and politics is gaining momentum in countries from India to Austria, Germany to Brazil, and Mexico to the United States and beyond. Most recently at the People's Summit in Rio+20, the commons was the defining paradigm of the popular movements. After a first International Conference on the Commons that was organized in Berlin in October-November 2010, and which brought together representatives both from the physical and digital commons, the evolution of the commons paradigm is making it possible to go to the next step and specifically examine whether and how we can transform the political economy with commons principles in mind. This will be the topic of the conference in Berlin in May 2013. Amongst the questions we would like ask is, what kind of society would emerge if land, money and labour, and other crucial commons, would no longer be considered as commodities, but as inalienable commons belonging to humanity.


The Commons Strategies Group consistS of Silke Helfrich of Germany, a commons-activist and blogger formerly associated with the Heinrich Böll Foundation; David Bollier, an American author, activist and blogger with a life-long engagement around the commons; Michel Bauwens, a researcher into the emergent practices of commons-based peer production, peer governance and peer property.


With the assistance and funding of the Heinrich Boll Foundation, both international and the Thailand Office, we will be able to cover travel expenses and lodging.


We hope you are as excited about this retreat as we are, and would appreciate any first reactions and hopes for the gathering. To accept this invitation or ask any questions about the retreat, please contact xxx

If you cannot accept this invitation now, please let us know your inclinations and give us a more definitive commitment by July 20.

Sincerely,



Silke Helfrich David Bollier Jost Pachaly Heike Loeschmann

Proposed names

Australia

  • Tasmanian founder of Nutrient Dense Project

NDS is an exemplary global cooperation from citizen scientist and farmers around agriculture

  • Jose Ramos, Peer Productions documentary, based in Singapore during that weekend ***

JR is the author of a really interesting PhD thesis on the nine worldviews underlying the alterglobalisation movement, very commons oriented, and initiator of a coop for documentary film-making. He also proposes, if possible, a filming of the event for $1,600

  • Brian Fitzgerald, Creative Commons, Australia


Bhutan

  • ask via Hans van Willewaard GNH movement

should be sbd from the Centre for Bhutan Studies; but perhaps not necessarily Dasho Karma Ura but sbd. younger / Gross National Happiness

China

  • Isaac Mao, Sharism ***

Well-known digital activist from China. Share 

   Print
  • Mr. Luo Shihong,Guizhou** , around 40, speaks very good English, pretty independent NGO activist affiliated with

Chengdu Shuguang Community Development Capacity Building Center which is supported by Ford Foundation, his email: gzexplor@gmail.com

we would then have a digital and a natural recource commoner from China

  • Yang Fuquan von der Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences - Naxi from Lijiang... he is a cultural anthropoligist; email: <yfuquan@hotmail.com

India

  • UNEP, Ramaswamy Sudarshan**, UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Center ; gave a remarkable speech in Bkk last year, I tried to find out if he is still with UNDP but could not yet find the information.
  • Jagdeesh Rao FES OR sbd. else from FES (a women?) ** ask David (I suggest a conversation with Jagdeesh --David)

FES is a prominent commons org in India

  • Soma Parthasarthy***: New Delhi woman and commons scholar who studies women and subsistence commons

because we need to strenghten female representation

  • Shiv Visvanathan***, wrote excellent piece on known commons in Common Voices journal

crucial magazine with commons insights in India

  • Lawrence Liang, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore** (or Prashant Iyengar, who attended Crottorf?)
  • Frederick Noronha, Goa, Bytes4All
  • Vinod Raina, People's Science and Democracy Forum***
  • Sunita Narain * (has a brilliant mind when it comes to thinking)

MORE WOMEN?? sbd. related to Vandana Shiva's group?? There is lots of suggestions from India, we need probably to choose?

Indonesia

Hendro Sangkoyo***, School of Democratic Economics, hendro.sangkoyo@gmail.com ; he came higly recommended from Larry Lohmann who I met again in Rio recently , not much in the net on him, check this: http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/199


New Zealand

Malaysia

  • write to Martin Khor or Joma Kwame Sundaram, for advice on right Malaysian
  • Balai Pillai, check him out

Myanmar

Mister Win Myo Thu, EcoDev, works among others on collective forestry, winmyothu@gmail.com

Miss Pyi Pyi Thant, hbs alumni, lives and works in Bangkok, did economics of sustainability, she is young and a good brain with local experience we can also check via Nwet Kay Khine, also hbs Alumni and our local affiliate in Yangon to the Bangkok office to suggest names.

I have asked Nwet Kay Khine today, she will come up with suggestions in the following days.

Philippines

  1. Roberto Verzola: works specifically around the Commons, and the abundance/scarcity/sufficiency angle***
  2. Nina Ramirez: phillipino social-christian activist, works with local communities and created integrated education for grassroots leaders*
  3. Nicolas Perlas: theory of 3 forces*
  • Marina Durano**,marina.durano@gmail.com ; Development Alternatives with Women for a new Era; a feminist economist who could bring in the link to care economy and its potential to be organised through commons based approaches instead of market based pricing as it starts being the case here in Germany, just contacted her through facebook to find out about her whereabouts... in 2008 I worked with her as course leader for the Asia Summer school in Manila on Engendering Macroeconomics, she previously worked with UNIFEM, but returned to Miriam College in Summer 2008, here a link to her CV: http://www.wide-network.ch/en/activities/wide_conference_2009/speakers/speakers_day_3.php

She has a feminist approach but is not necesarily familiar with commons based economics, she chould quicky learn this though

Singapore

  1. Michael Heng, michael.heng@energycorp-global.com ("Sustainability consulting and value integrator for renewal energy". [1]
  • Chandran Nair, Singapore, anti-consumption economy in Asia

Thailand

  • Prof. Surat Hongla?? Chulalongkorn Uni.**/**, Jost should have the address through Pui or Wanan> Surat Horachaikul: surat.h@chula.ac.th or surat247@hotmail.com
  • michel MEET WITH Prof. Anan Ganjanapan**, Regional Center for Sustainable Development, Sopida had given you this contact some time ago for your CNX contacts, his address: anan.g@cmu.ac.th
  • Nicolas Mendoza, Colombian, based in Chiang Mai, undertakes research on Buddhist Eonomics from commons perspective for Hong Kong uni***
  • Richard Hames, Asian Foresight Institute ***
  • Pablo Solon***/*** Why the Green Economy is a wrong path to restore the equilibrium with nature and what alternatives do we have?: ex-UN-Embassador of Bolivia and now (again) working within civil society. Executive director of Focus on the Global South in Bangkok; contact: <pablosolon@gmail.com> ; bridges commons and Mother Earth debate *** (For Jost: see my text on the debate with Steiner in Rio where Pablo challenged him strongly on boell.de in the Rio plus 20 section)

Vietnam

so clearly IP representative from the region...

Miscellaneous

  • Asia Commons conference participants?

I suggest: Takayoshi Kusago, Kansai University, Japan - I am not sure ...

  • Liz Alden Wily, Kenya ? ** yes, would be great, depends on where she currently is ... might be also interesting for the European deep dive
  • check Right Livelihood Award winners, we have Sulak Sivaraksa in Thailand, but he might be too old, not sure, Pracha
  • Charles Eisenstein, USA

Organizers and assistants

Assistant for logistics is Pui from the hbs offic in Bangkok: Suthisa.Pee-artit@th.boell.org

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