Commoning: Theory & Praxis behind Experimental Spaces
This session is part of the Introduction to Political Technology course at Newspeak House, open to faculty and fellowship candidates only.
This lecture explores commoning as both practice and political technology for collective resource management.
"In facing up to the many profound crises of our time, we face a conundrum that has no easy resolution: how are we to imagine and build a radically different system while living within the constraints of an incumbent system that aggressively resists transformational change? 'Commoning' refers to acts of mutual support, conflict, negotiation, communication and experimentation that are needed to create systems to manage shared resources. This process blends production, governance, culture, and personal interests into one integrated system." - David Bollier
Dr Zarinah Agnew is a neuroscientist by training. After spending over a decade in academia, they left to study the science of groups of brains - that is, humans in collectivity. Alongside their work with the college, Zarinah is Director of Research at the Collective Intelligence Project, which works to direct technological development towards the collective good.
On the side, Zarinah also runs three nonprofits aimed at experimental aspects of society, collective transformation and para-institutions. The Social Science Observatory is dedicated to the study of social science in the wild, Alternative Justices works towards abolitionist community-based harm prevention and response, and District Commons engineers experimental spaces where humans can ‘be otherwise’.
Together, these strands allow both the prefiguration of new social configurations, as well as the study of their transformational potential.