Section dedicated to the p2p-oriented practices of cooperation and collaboration.

A word of caution: you have to be familiar with the limitations of the cooperative model in a capitalist society, formulated as Oppenheimer’s Law of Transformation: cooperatives are a short-term means of survival, but tend towards capitalist privatization in the longer term Oppenheimer clearly formulated the prospect that as long as the macro-economic accounting system is governed by private capital calculation, no communal settlement can survive without adapting this economic model. Our own proposal for Open Cooperatives is meant as a pragmatic antidote to this deeper tendency, it recommends making 'commons creation' a legal and structural obligation for cooperatives, so that they produce common goods even as they veer towards adaptation.

Key Articles

• Free Cooperation. Christopher Spehr.
• Wikipedia and the Politics of Mass Collaboration. Nathaniel Tkacz, The University of Melbourne, Australia . A critique of the non-political interpretations of cooperation. [1]
• An Evolutionary Theory of Resource Distribution. By Blair Fix. real-world economics review, issue no. 90 [2]

On the tension between two levels of natural selection: 1) At the group level, selfless behavior is advantageous 2) But at the individual level, selfish behavior is advantageous

Compiled by via Jennifer Sertl:

1. Synthetic Overview of Collaborative Economy http://p2p.coop/files/reports/collaborative-economy-2012.pdf by Michel Bauwens & P2P Foundation
2. Six Ways to Empower Yourself With Others http://sourcesofinsight.com/the-people-factor-six-ways-to-empower-yourself-with-others Faisal Hoque
3. Too Big To Know Where the Smartest Person in the Room is the Room http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/to-know-but-not-understand-david-weinberger-on-science-and-big-data/250820/
4. The Individuation of Ideas http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/08/the-individuation-of-ideas-jennifer-sertl/
5. Why we need each other http://soc.li/eBnY8Rj
6. Lessons from Edison & Collaborative Innovation http://www.fastcompany.com/3002977/learning-edison-sarah-miller-caldicotts-new-book-explores-collaborative-innovation
7. Future Work Skills 2020 http://www4.unescobkk.org/nespap/sites/default/files/SR-1382A%20UPRI%20future%20work%20skills_sm.pdf … via @iftf+1 virtual collaboration
8. Synthesis in Collaborative Flow http://collaborationdna.com/2012/11/09/synthesis-cdna16p/ … by @sournce pov via @collabdna
9. Interprofessional Collaborative Practice http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/ipecreport.pdf …
10. What Collaborative Leaders Knowhttp://seapointcenter.com/what-collaborative-leader-know/

Key Books

Three key books recommended by David Bollier:

• Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, "A Cooperative Species: Human Reciprocity and Its Evolution" Princeton U. Press, 2011: evolutionary science, complexity theory and high-level scientific scholarship on the topic

• Martin A. Nowak, "Super Cooperators: Altruism, Evolution and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed". Free Press, 2011: Nowak is a mathematical biologist and evolutionary scientist. Very readable book.

• Yochai Benkler, "The Penguin and the Leviathan: How Cooperation Triumphs over Self-Interest"

Benkler's popular overview of the literature on cooperation

See also:

• Richard Sennett. Together: The Rituals, Pleasures, and Politics of Cooperation. Yale University Press, 2012.
• Gintis, Herbert, Samuel Bowles, et al., Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life (MIT Press, 2005).
• Hyde, Lewis, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property (Vintage Books, 1979).
• Kropotkin, Peter, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers/ Extending Horizons Books, reprint of 1914 edition).
• Linn, Karl, Building Commons and Community (Oakland, California: New Village Press, 2007).

Key Practices

(Neo)Traditional Gifting/Sharing/Cooperative Practices:

Via Co-Creative Recipes:

1. Ayni: a term with a meaning that’s closely related to minga. It describes a system of work and family reciprocity among members
2. Bayanihan: in the Philippines,'communal unity'
3. Córima: The Rarámuri people of Mexico’s Chihuahua mountains use the word “córima” to describe an act of solidarity with someone who’s having trouble.
4. Gadugi: a term used in the Cherokee language which means “working together” or “cooperative labor” within a community
5. Gotong-Royong: in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia, Gotong-royong is a cooperation among many people to attain a shared goal with ideas of reciprocity or mutual aid.
6. Guelaguetza: a cross between a potlatch and a tequio. The term describes “a reciprocal exchange of goods and services”.
7. Harambee: a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events, e.g. playdraising or development activities. Harambee literally means “all pull together” in Swahili
8. Imece: a name given for a traditional Turkish village-scale collaboration.
9. Maloka: (or maloka in Portuguese) is an indigenous communal house found in the indigenous Amazon region of Colombia and Brazil.
10. Meitheal: the Irish word for a work team, gang, or party and denotes the co-operative labour system in Ireland where groups of neighbours help each other in turn with farming work
11. Mutirão: This is originally a Tupi term used in Brazil to describe collective mobilizations based on non-remunerated mutual help.
12. Naffīr: an Arabic word used in parts of Sudan (including Kordofan, Darfur, parts of the Nuba mountains and Kassala) to describe particular types of communal work undertakings.
13. Tequio: a very popular type of work for collective benefit in the Zapotec culture. Community members contribute materials or labor to carry out construction work for the community.

Key Videos

• Yochai Benkler on How Cooperation Triumphs over Self-Interest

Related Wiki sections

• Material on "Participation", http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Participation

• Cooperatives, http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Cooperation ; http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Cooperatives

• Material on "Facilitation", http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Facilitation

• Material on "Collective Intelligence", http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Intelligence

• The emerging Sharing Economy, http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Sharing