Michel Bauwens

Michel Bauwens is a theorist, writer and a founder of the P2P (Peer-to-Peer) Foundation. Follow Michel on Twitter: @MBauwens

Cooperativism in the digital era, or how to form a global counter-economy

Can we transform the renting economy of Uber and AirBnB into a genuine sharing one? Platform cooperatives must become open and commons-oriented.

By Michel Bauwens and Vasilis Kostakis

/ 6 Mar 2017

From the communism of capital to capital for the commons

A paradox: the more “communist” the sharing license used in the digital commons (no restrictions on sharing), the more capitalist the practice (multinationals can use it for free).

By Michel Bauwens and Vasilis Kostakis

/ 20 Jan 2017

Representation is no longer enough - A Q&A with Michel Bauwens

A Q&A with Michel Bauwens, as part of our focus on Platform Co-ops and the forthcoming open2017 conference.openDemocracy offers you a 10% partner discount to the event here→

By Michel Bauwens and Oliver Sylvester-Bradley

/ 13 Jan 2017

A new post-capitalist ecosystem of value creation

How to build the world we want within the world we want to transcend.

By Michel Bauwens and Vasilis Kostakis

/ 7 Jan 2017

If we can have p2p economics, why not p2p spirituality?

No more gurus: the emergence of peer production opens the way to a commons of spiritual knowledge from which all humanity can draw.

By Michel Bauwens

/ 28 Jul 2014

Is there any value in New Age thinking?

Defining 'New Age' is difficult - the term has been appropriated by all kinds of cults. In my view, the New Age movement was a reaction against the mistakes of western civilisation: an heir to utopian socialism.

By Michel Bauwens

/ 7 Oct 2013

The $100 bn Facebook question: will capitalism survive ‘value abundance’?

Open-source software, shared innovation and crowd-sourced manufacturing threaten capitalism as we know it.

By Michel Bauwens

/ 5 Mar 2012