BioFi Deep Dive: The Maternal Gift Economy in Practice
Do you feel inspired by visions of the gift economy, yet find it hard to practically carry this inspiration into your work and the communities you belong to? Curious about how gift economy practices can be relevant for developing regenerative economies and bioregional financing facilities?
This BioFi Deep Dive is for you!
In this BioFi Deep Dive, we’ll sit down with Miki Kashtan and Selene Aswell, two core members of the Nonviolent Global Liberation (NGL) Community to learn about their many years of experimentation towards prototyping a Maternal Gift Economy, and to explore what this bold vision and practical experiments can offer those working at the edges of financial and economic systems transformation.
Our plan is to discuss:
What is the Maternal Gift Economy, and why not just call it the gift economy?
What is the significance of resources flowing to needs, and how is this different from reciprocity?
What does experimentation look like within NGL, and what is being learned?
For whom and what contexts is the Maternal Gift Economy practical? How can it interface with or influence systems, institutions, and economies designed for exchange?
Highlighted in Robin Wall Kimerrer’s recent book, The Serviceberry, NGL is a community of practice engaged in radical and practical experimentation towards realigning humanity with life. This work happens in areas such as collaborative leadership, purpose orientation, and restoring trust in self, others, and life. A core component of this experimentation involves uncoupling giving from receiving and flowing resources to where they are needed based on willingness and capacity. Roughly 35 people sustain themselves in whole or in part based on money freely gifted to NGL and shared based on needs.
Miki Kashtan is a practical visionary pursuing a world that works for all, exploring the application of the principles and tools of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to social transformation. She dreams of local and global systems based on care for the needs of all life. In her work with individuals, she focuses on supporting movement towards rapid empowerment in service of the whole. In her work with organizations, she focuses on creating and supporting collaborative systems and processes. Inner freedom, nonviolence, dialogue, collaboration, interdependence, leadership, conscious use of power, and a commitment to structural change are the lenses through which she looks at every moment and interaction.
Selene Aswell has been experimenting in gift economy in different forms off and on for 16 years. Selene has a BA in Community Building, is an NVC trainer certified by the Center for Nonviolent Communication, with 17 years teaching and coaching experience on a range of topics. Selene coholds Resource Flow Design and the Financial Gift Hub Design and Implementation Team. She holds the functions of Financial Gift Hub Entrusted Decision Maker and Gift Economy Coaching. Selene also offers public speaking, training, coaching, and modelling on the topics of gift economy, community living, NVC and the NGL framework.