Other important approaches for real change

OTHER IMPORTANT APPROACHES FOR REAL CHANGE:

DEGROWTH

…Sustainable degrowth is a downscaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions and equity on the planet. It calls for a future where societies live within their ecological means, with open, localized economies and resources more equally distributed through new forms of democratic institutions. Such societies will no longer have to “grow or die.” Material accumulation will no longer hold a prime position in the population’s cultural imaginary. The primacy of efficiency will be substituted by a focus on sufficiency, and innovation will no longer focus on technology for technology’s sake but will concentrate on new social and technical arrangements that will enable us to live convivially and frugally. Degrowth does not only challenge the centrality of GDP as an overarching policy objective but proposes a framework for transformation to a lower and sustainable level of production and consumption, a shrinking of the economic system to leave more space for human cooperation and ecosystems… http://www.degrowth.org/definition-2#

THE ECONOMY FOR THE COMMON GOOD

…The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) is an alternative economic system built on values that promote the needs of the entire population. It is a tool for economic, political, and social change – a bridge to a better future. On the economic level the ECG is a viable and workable alternative for businesses of diverse sizes and legal structures. Its goal is to evaluate the management success of businesses based on values oriented towards promoting the common good. On the political level the movement seeks to bring about changes to current legislation. The overarching goal is to ensure a good life for all living things and for the planet as a whole, supported by a sustainable economic system. Human dignity, global fairness and solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, and democratic participation are at the top of the agenda. On the social level the ECG is an initiative to raise awareness for systemic change that seeks to motivate as many people as possible to cooperative, conscientious action. The Economy for the Common Good is a source of hope and courage and strives to cooperate with other movements for economic, social and environmental justice. It is an open, participative process with a grassroots structure and a global scope… https://old.ecogood.org/en/information/ecg-idea/vision-economy-common-good

SOLIDARITY ECONOMY

…A solidarity economy is an economy based on efforts that seek to increase the quality of life of a region or community through not-for-profit endeavors. It mainly consists of activities organized to address and transform exploitation under capitalist economics and the corporation executive, large shareholder-dominated economy, and can include diverse phenomena. For some, it refers to a set of strategies and a struggle aimed at the abolition of capitalism and the social relations that it supports and encourages; for others, it names strategies for „humanizing“ the capitalist economy—seeking to supplement capitalist globalization with community-based „social safety nets“. The still-evolving term „solidarity economy“ is an English translation of a concept formulated in Lima, Peru in 1997 (economía solidaria), in Quebec in 2001, and in Brazil during the World Social Forum of 2001, and in Portuguese as „economia solidária“.It is also represented by the French „économie solidaire“ and similar terms in several other languages. As such, it is sometimes translated by other expressions such as „solidarity-based economy“. An organisation seeing itself as part of the solidarity economy generally goes beyond achieving purely social aims: it aims to put right an injustice by expressing solidarity… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_economy

SHARECONOMY OR SHARING ECONOMY

…Sharing economy is an umbrella term with a range of meanings, often used to describe economic and social activity involving online transactions. Originally growing out of the open-source community to refer to peer-to-peer based sharing of access to goods and services, the term is now sometimes used in a broader sense to describe any sales transactions that are done via online market places, even ones that are business to consumer, rather than peer-to-peer. For this reason, the term sharing economy has been criticised as misleading, some arguing that even services that enable peer-to-peer exchange can be primarily profit-driven. However, many commentators assert that the term is still valid as a means of describing a generally more democratized marketplace, even when it’s applied to a broader spectrum of services. Also known as shareconomy, collaborative consumption or peer economy, a common academic definition of the term refers to a hybrid market model (in between owning and gift giving) of peer-to-peer exchange. Such transactions are often facilitated via community-based online services. The sharing economy can take a variety of forms, including using information technology to provide individuals with information that enables the optimization of resources through the mutualization of excess capacity in goods and services. A common premise is that when information about goods is shared, the value of those goods may increase for the business, for individuals, for the community and for society in general… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing_economy

The collaborative economy is defined as initiatives based on horizontal networks and participation of a community. It is built on „distributed power and trust within communities as opposed to centralized institutions“ (R. Botsman), blurring the lines between producer and consumer. These communities meet and interact on online networks and peer-to-peer platforms, as well as in shared spaces such as fablabs and coworking spaces… http://ouishare.net/en/about/collaborative_economy

COMMONS-BASED PEER PRODUCTION

…Commons-based peer production is a term coined by Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler. It describes a new model of socioeconomic production in which large numbers of people work cooperatively (usually over the Internet). Commons-based projects generally have less rigid hierarchical structures than those under more traditional business models. Often—but not always—commons-based projects are designed without a need for financial compensation for contributors. The term is often used interchangeably with the term social production… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons-based_peer_production