Network Civilization: Peer-to-Peer and the Rise of Green Capitalism December 8, 2008

Just as the three quarters of oil engineers now agree that Peak Oil is in sight within the next decade (after that, oil production can only decline), can we also posit that we may have reached a moment of Peak Hierarchy, a moment in history in which it is no longer large centralized organizations that are most efficient or productive, but rather those that are organized as distributed networks and can draw on peer producting communities?

This is the thesis explored by the P2P Foundation, a global network of researchers investigating the emergence of peer production, governance and property, showing how this new 'hyperproductive' mode of producing value is out-competing and out-collaborating traditional organizations. Such a change will have huge implications for society, business, and education. The election victory of Barack Obama, and his program of green capitalism, opens up, because it cannot succeed without huge strides in participation, the possibility of a 'high road' transition towards a peer to peer society, based on the voluntary aggregation of productive communities united around the creation of common value.

How would our society function, if GNU/Linux and Wikipedia were not just emergent, but the model of a new type of institutions residing in the core of our economy and politics?

Michel Bauwens will take us through the main concepts of P2P, such as Free Software, open source, open content, open innovation, peer production, free knowledge. As founder and president of the Foundation for P2P Alternatives, Michel is developing a conceptual framework aiming to explain these social processes and what it means for business, education and government.

As the seats are limited it is strongly advised to register at [email protected]. Please only register if you are sure to be present, otherwise other people won't be able to participate.

Organized by Waag Society, Creative Commons Nederland and Free Knowledge Institute