This work is dedicated to Jean Lievens, who passed away in 2016 after a lifetime of engagement for social justice and the commons. Πείτε μου εκείνες τις ιστορίες σας, που κάνουν τα καλάμια να λυγίζουν, στα όρια των χωραφιών κι εν μέσω άπνοιας τα μέτωπα των αγροτών δροσίζουν. Πείτε μου εκείνες τις ιστορίες σας. Tell me those stories of yours that make the reeds bend, at the edge of the fields, and that, amidst wind lull, cool the farmers' brow. Tell me those stories of yours.
The aim of this paper is to make the case that peer production offers a unique chance to transcend capitalism, and that peer-to-peer movements represent the succession of industrial-society based socialisms. The paper describes the salient characteristics of peer production before going on to explore whether it is ‘transcendent’ or ‘immanent’ to the market system, concluding that it is both in that it creates a new form of capitalism and also points out how that new form might be overcome. Following a review of the hybrid economic forms emerging today, I formulate the hypothesis that peer production is actually a hyperproductive mode, forcing for-profit entities to adapt to its characteristics, thereby further integrating it into the existing political economy, but not without the transformative effects of its market transcending aspects. After examining the possible expansion of peer-production modalities to physical manufacturing, I also examine the class aspects of commons and sharing-based platforms and hypothesise the emergence of a new section of capital, netarchical capitalists, who enable and empower participation, but also monetise it and attempt to control it.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.