The source of the power

Criteria for peer production: Openness

• External openness
  • I.e.: Everyone may use the results without restrictions
  • Implies: Results are available without conditions
  • Allowed: Conditions to keep external openness
    Exchange *is* no such condition
• Internal openness
  • Everyone may contribute to the project

Criteria for peer production: Selbstentfaltung

• Selbstentfaltung of producers
  • Work == fun
    No compensation needed for work pain
    BTW: Something the labor movement has enormous difficulties with
  • Implies: Volunteer producers
  • Not alienated from production process
    Producers control and manage production process as they see fit
  • Producers are not alienated from the products
    Volunteers select the product they like
  • Results in absolute quality
    Not only relative quality as in markets
• Unalienated products
  • Products are not alienated from the users
  • I.e.: Use value based production
• In other words: Freedom
  • Selbstentfaltung ultimately means emancipation
    That is why it is interesting for me

Power from a new mode of production

• Powerful products
  • Successful products
  • Complex products
  • Major societal impact
  • Global use
• Powerful producers
  • Happy producers
  • Volunteers can not be forced
• Ultimately: A new mode of production
  • Undermining the stronghold of capitalism

Basis of contemporary peer production

Internet as technological basis

• Internet enables peer production
  • Enables peers to find each other
  • Enables peers to work together
  • Major distribution channel
    Globalization at its best
• Today Internet and computers are part of common infrastructure
  • I.e. no extra cost
  • On an industrial level
  • Even for the average household
• Internet / computers are *the* technological basis of peer production
• Internet / computers are the *technological* basis of peer production
  This new mode of production needed a technological basis

Skilled volunteers as human basis

• Peer production mainly by volunteers
  • For instance in Wikipedia
  • Mostly in Free Software
    See respective studies
  • I.e. in Free time
• Peer production partly in paid time
  • Either where peer production can be monetized by secondary effects
  • Or where sponsored by the state
• Peer producers often highly skilled
  • Necessary for products like an encyclopedia, software, science...
  • At least some discipline needed for Open Streetmap
• Free time of skilled volunteers as the human basis

Contemporary limitations

Availability of machinery

• Internet is sufficient machinery for pure information products
• But some products need expensive machinery
  • Also applies to some information products
  • Much research is based on expensive machinery
• Expensive machinery is not simply available
  • Limits types of products producible by peer production

Availability of skilled volunteers

• More volunteers would mean:
  • More labor force / more products
  • More diversity in Selbstentfaltung covering a wider range of products
• Peer producers must earn money
  • Therefore they are not fully available for Selbstentfaltung

Tasks hard to conceptualize as Selbstentfaltung

• Necessary tasks today may be
  • Boring
  • Dangerous
  • Dirty
  • ...
• Hard to see as Selbstentfaltung
• No problem: difficulty
  • Difficult tasks are a nice challenge for the real masters ;-)
• Capitalism can structurally force people to do *every* task
  • But force destroys Selbstentfaltung
  • Thus force is not available for peer production

No principle limitation: Physical products

• Information products are based on digital copy
  • But digital copy exists since 60 years
  • And is ubiquitous since 10-20 years
• Today means of production for physical products are:
  • Not ubiquitous
  • Less universal than computers
  • Not part of common infrastructure
• Physical peer products will exist when their preconditions are met

Overcoming machinery limitations

Sponsored machinery for information production

• State pays for expensive machinery
  • Like in science / Open Access
  • Free Software also started in universities

Sponsored machinery for manufacturing designs

• Contract manufacturers
  • Have expensive machinery
  • May produce peer production designs on order
• Standard industry producing peer products
  • Trend to ask the users
    See Eric v. Hippel's work
  • Even in Free Software: Distributors

Cheap / universal machinery

• Note: Computers are universal *and* (meanwhile) cheap
  Cheap and universal machinery seems to be a fertile ground
• Cheap means: easy to get
• Universal means: Useful to have
  • Like a car for many transportation issues
  • Fabbers, industrial robots, ... are universal
• Adopt the Free Software strategy
  • Building the means of production from the ground up
  • Editors, compilers, operating system

More sophisticated technology

• May solve many problems
  • Lower costs
  • Cheap / universal means of production
  • Enable physical peer production
  • Reduce unwanted tasks
  • Enable Selbstentfaltung by needing more sophisticated work
• In short: More automation

Overcoming Selbstentfaltung limitations

Expanding Free time

• Unconditional basic income from the state
  • However: Unconditional basic income destroys the basis of capitalism
  • Thus this won't happen
• Lower average labor time
  An old labor movement demand...
• Higher wages
  Another old labor movement demand...
  But this time not only for pleasure but to the help a new society
• Lower costs by using results of peer production
  • Less need to work for money
  • Positive feedback cycle

Extending and using Selbstentfaltung

• Lift skill level by Free education
  • OLPC (One Laptop Per Child)
  • MIT Courseware
  • Open Access
  • Open Textbooks
• Leverage diversity of Selbstentfaltung
  • Selbstentfaltung is a very individual thing
  • What is horror for one person is pleasure for someone else
  • Open Streetmap fine for those strange people who like walking ;-)

Using capitalism

Learning from capitalism

• Learn how germ form becomes dominant
  • Learn from history
  • Focus on strengths instead of weaknesses
• Learn what functions a modern society needs
  • These must be replaced by peer production counterparts
  • Or may become superfluous - like banks
• Make peer production sexy

Leveraging capitalism

• Public peer product policies helps public recognition
• Use capitalism for what it is (still) good
  • E.g.: Production of goods useful for peer production

Wrap up

Summary

• Criteria for peer production must be met
• Contemporary basis consists of technological and human means of production
• Limitations result from the lack of means of production
• Ideas exist on how to overcome these limitations

Thank you

• This is part of the Oekonux drawing board initiative
  • http://en.wiki.oekonux.org/Oekonux/DrawingBoard
• Thank you for your attention
• Contact: smerten@oekonux.de
• Questions? Comments?