WIll Ruddick on 'Commitment Pooling' to Build Economic Commons
Mar 1, 2024
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Will Ruddick discusses 'commitment pooling' in creating community currencies to empower marginalized African groups. The evolution of community currency systems is explored, highlighting the shift towards collective ownership and stewardship. The podcast advocates for redefining ownership through traditional practices in economic commons and breaking free from the wage slavery system.
Community-based currencies empower marginalized communities through commitment pooling.
Rediscovering ancient economic traditions fosters equitable and resilient economic systems.
Integrating commitment pooling with digital tech creates decentralized economic networks.
Deep dives
Building Assets Through Community-Based Currencies
Community-based currencies, pioneered by Grassroots Economics Foundation founder Will Ruddock, enable marginalized African communities to leverage their skills and time. These mutual credit systems operate in various African communities, allowing people to trade goods and services even without much national currency. By re-engineering money through locally created credit vouchers, individuals can meet their basic needs and engage in a system of commitment pooling.
Transitioning from National Currency to Community Commitments
Ruddock's journey from physics grad school to economics led him to explore Bernard Lietaer's work on redesigning money and eventually introduce community-based currencies in Kenya. By engaging with communities on indigenous mutual credit practices, Ruddock aims to bridge the gap created by the centralized nature of national currencies. This transition involves connecting diverse economic practices, such as chess lessons or yoga classes, through commitment pooling and equitable exchange.
Reviving Indigenous Economic Practices
Rediscovering pre-colonial economic traditions like rotational labor associations and communitarian resource sharing is central to community currency initiatives. Returning to these ancient principles, rooted in reciprocity, fairness, and care for people and the environment, offers a path towards a more equitable and resilient economic system. By nurturing economic commons based on indigenous knowledge, communities can cultivate a social structure grounded in collective stewardship and reciprocity.
Transformation through Commitment Pooling and Technological Innovation
By integrating commitment pooling principles with cutting-edge digital technologies like distributed ledgers, community-based currencies facilitate a decentralized economic ecosystem. The emphasis on relative value, reciprocity, and shared commitments allows for the creation of interconnected economic networks. Through platforms like Seraphu.network, diverse economic actors can exchange vouchers, fostering economic resilience and community collaboration.
Counteracting Capitalist Dynamics with Fairness and Interoperability
Community-based currencies disrupt traditional capitalist structures by incorporating principles of fairness, demerage, and commitment expiration. By preventing wealth accumulation through socially embedded currency systems, moguls are encouraged to invest in community utilities and participate in collaborative exchange. The emphasis on interoperability and circulation of vouchers within diverse economic pools ensures a more equitable and socially accessible exchange system.
Will Ruddick, development economist and founder of Grassroots Economics, has spent the past 16 years in Kenya developing innovative "community inclusion currencies" for dozens of poorer communities. By combining ancient mutual aid practices with credit vouchers (circulating as a kind of money) and digital ledger technologies (to expand the scale of exchange), people are able to develop their own economic commons to meet everyday needs. Ruddick credits the success of the currencies to "commitment pooling" protocols that have long been used by Indigenous and traditional communities. Blog post: https://www.bollier.org/blog/will-ruddick-commitment-pooling-build-economic-commons
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