Frontiers of Commoning, with David Bollier

When he died in 2012, David Fleming -- a polymath thinker among the earliest to address Peak Oil -- left behind an unusual book manuscript about climate change, the fragility of capitalism, and the likely nature of our post-capitalist future. Fortunately, Shaun Chamberlin, a British author and activist who was Fleming's associate, shepherded the manuscript to publication as 'Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It' and a companion volume, 'Surviving the Future.' In this podcast, Chamberlin reflects on Fleming's brilliant, visionary writings and his own ongoing activism and initiatives.

Can property law be used to reclaim our common wealth and transform capitalism in the process? In his new book 'Ours', Peter Barnes, a socially minded entrepreneur and commoner, proposes inventing a new class of property rights -- "universal property" -- to protect land, watersheds and the atmosphere as well as co-inherited civic infrastructures such as our financial and communications systems. The point is to stop investors from privatizing the benefits of this wealth by instead instituting trusts (and other forms) to manage it as universal property. These alternatives can both protect common assets and generate reliable revenue streams shared by everyone.

Among millions of Black women in Africa, the Caribbean, and North America, ROSCAs, or 'rotating savings and credit associations', are trusted alternatives to racialized, exclusionary systems of formal banking. The self-organized, informal pooling of money among friends and neighbors offer a way to help people amass the money to buy a used car, pay for school, and meet other household expenses. Professor Hossein of the University of Toronto at Scarborough, in Ontario, Canada, discusses the resourcefulness and resilience of the Black social economy despite attacks by many state authorities and mainstream banks.

Ecological economist Tim Jackson has spent over three decades investigating what a post-growth economy might look like and how to pursue it. His 2009 book 'Prosperity without Growth' became a landmark exploration of this topic. Now, more than a decade later, Jackson’s thinking has evolved in some new and unexpected ways. His new book, 'Post Growth: Life After Capitalism', urges economics to expand its narrow, hyper-rational frameworks, and draw on insights from the worlds of art, culture, philosophy, storytelling, and the human quest for meaning.

Jeremy Lent, author and self-described "integrator," has spent years exploring the "cognitive history of humanity" as expressed in diverse civilizations. Lent continues this investigation with a new book 'The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe," which can be succinctly summarized: "Our mainstream worldview has expired. What will replace it? A world of deep interconnectedness."

Kate Raworth's 2017 book 'Doughnut Economics' has become an international phenomenon by debunking the many half-truths of standard economics and offering a new framework for dealing with 21st Century realities. Her reconceptualization of the economy as a doughnut accents two vital concerns that economics often ignores -- the importance of meeting everyone’s basic human needs (the inner ring of the doughnut) and the importance of staying within the planet's ecological limits (the outer ring). Economics should not focus on market and state alone, says Raworth, but also on households and commons, and the trust, reciprocity, and creativity that they engender.

Professor Peter Linebaugh, the acclaimed historian of commons, discusses the social and political histories of English commoners caught up in their struggles with state power and early capitalists. He explains the importance of Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest; the criminalization of customary practices as early capitalism arose; the special relationship of women to the commons and therefore their persecution; and the role of commoning in struggles for political emancipation.

Katherine Gibson, a Professor at the Institute for Culture and Society, explores the Community Economies Research Network's journey towards a post-capitalist future. She discusses transformative local economic practices like care work and cooperatives, challenging capitalocentrism. Gibson highlights the network's growth to nearly 280 members, focusing on inclusivity and the impacts of colonialism. The conversation also bridges research and action, calling for ethical collaboration and a rethinking of economic language, with insights from feminist theory.

Andreas Weber, a theoretical biologist and ecophilosopher, challenges conventional views on life by emphasizing its subjective aliveness. He discusses the importance of relational webs, suggesting that life operates as a commons, fostering symbiotic connections. Weber critiques the competitive interpretations rooted in Darwinism and Victorian capitalism, advocating for an interconnected approach to evolution. He introduces concepts like 'erotic ecology,' highlighting love's role in ecosystems and calls for a shift towards nurturing relationships in our ecological interactions.

Jimmy Buff, Executive Director of WKNY Radio in Kingston, NY, explains how he and a team of local talent converted an oldies-format AM radio station into a vibrant community broadcaster. The station features the usual blocs of rock, pop, and classical (with slots for polka and German music, too!), but also voices from the LGBTQ world, seniors, people of color, feminists, local artists, mindfulness practitioners, environmentalists, and businesspeople -- all with a local perspective..