Commons-based peer production for degrowth? - The case for eco-sufficiency in economic organisations

Counter-Hegemonic Decision Premises in Commons-Based Peer Production: A Degrowth Case Study

“…However, it is our belief that CBPP (i.e. the mode of production) is theoretically closely aligned to degrowth in terms of the parameters of the mode of production (see Kostakis et al 2018;Robra, Heikkurinen and Nesterova 2020), which is why CBPP has been dubbed a natural ally to degrowth (see Kallis 2018). This alignment is currently based on thin theoretical and empirical foundations.…”

“…This configuration, codified as 'design global, manufacture local' (DGML) is documented in a broad array of practices and artefacts, from small-scale wind turbines and prosthetics (Kostakis et al 2018;, to farming tools (Giotitsas 2019) and even buildings (Priavolou and Niaros 2019). Robra, Heikkurinen and Nesterova (2020) explore the connection between degrowth and CBPP further by arguing that CBPP organisations must adopt the aim of eco-sufficiency to fulfil the degrowth aspects of a focus on needs and conviviality (see also Pantazis and Meyer 2020). Within these links, the ambivalence between the political economy of capitalism and the potential for CBPP to assist degrowth as a counter-hegemony remains largely unaddressed.…”

“…1 Over the last two or three years, more studies have emerged that examine economic organisations from a degrowth and post-growth perspective (see e.g. Gabriel et al 2019;Hinton 2020;Khmara and Kronenberg 2018;Nesterova 2021;Robra, Heikkurinen and Nesterova 2020;Hankammer et al 2021). However, even in these more recent studies the political economy of capitalism is addressed only briefly, if at all.…”

“…It is therefore vital to understand the distinct roles of economic organisations and modes of production, as well as the interplay between them, in helping to achieve a degrowth society while facing this contradiction. Various alternative economic organisational forms have been connected to degrowth, such as cooperatives (Blauwhof 2012;Johanisova, Padilla and Parry 2015), social enterprises (Johanisova, Crabtree and Fraňková 2013), and commonsbased peer production (CBPP) (Kostakis et al 2018;Robra, Heikkurinen and Nesterova 2020).…”

“…Despite a tentative link between CBPP and degrowth, CBPP does not automatically represent a mode of production that helps to achieve degrowth (Kostakis et al 2018;Robra, Heikkurinen and Nesterova 2020). Whether and how CBPP can help degrowth to overcome capitalist hegemony needs to be closely investigated at the organisational level.…”