6.30pm: drinks at 18 Well Walk, Hampstead, NW3 1LD Gaia House
7.30pm – 9pm: talk and discussion at The Friends Meeting House, 120 Heath Street, Hampstead NW3 1DR
Tickets: £5 standard. £4 concession.
Join us for an evening with American author, activist and commons expert David Bollier, for the UK launch of his latest book Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons, co-authored with German activist Silke Helfrich. The book is an ambitious attempt to build a deeper understanding of the commons as a living social organism.
Around the world, commons are (re)emerging as a paradigm and set of practices that emphasise collective stewardship of shared wealth and the interconnectedness that makes life on Earth possible.
Commons take many forms, ranging from community land trusts for eco-friendly farming and “platform cooperatives” as alternatives to Uber and Airbnb, to indigenous governance systems and open-source design and manufacturing. These and countless other commons point to post-capitalist possibilities that will be essential as current market/state systems spiral into deeper dysfunction.
Drawing on his new book, David will describe how the commons invites us to enter into new sorts of relationships than those recognized by standard economics. Instead of seeing people as isolated individuals transacting in the market, commoners recognize that people are in fact “nested-I’s” interdependent on the living world and each other. When structured through commons, social collaboration can be highly generative, fair, and inclusive – the seed-form for a new society. Climate activist Bill McKibben has hailed Free, Fair and Aliveas “a truly exciting glimpse into what the world after this one might look like.”
David’s talk will be followed with a Question and Answer session. Copies of Free, Fair and Alivewill be available to purchase.
About David
David Bollier is an author, activist, blogger and consultant who has devoted himself to exploring the commons as a new paradigm of economics, politics and culture. He is Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts – www.centerforneweconomics.org — and Cofounder of the Commons Strategies Group. He blogs at Bollier.org.