Michael Bauwens
| Michel Bauwens | |
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Michel Bauwens in 2013
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| Born |
March 21, 1958 Belgium |
| Occupation | Activist, Director and Founder of the P2P Foundation |
| Website | http://p2pfoundation.net |
Michel Bauwens (born 21 March 1958) is a Belgian Peer-to-Peer theorist and an active writer, researcher and conference speaker on the subject of technology, culture and business innovation. Michel Bauwens is a theorist in the emerging field of P2P theory and director and founder of the P2P Foundation, a global organization of researchers working in collaboration in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property. He has authored a number of essays, including his seminal thesis The Political Economy of Peer Production.
Bauwens regularly lectures internationally on P2P theory, the Commons and their potential for social change.
In the first semester of 2014 Bauwens was research director with the FLOK (Free Libre Open Knowledge) Society at IAEN, the National Institute of Advanced Studies of Ecuador. The FLOK Society developed a first of its kind Commons Transition Plan for the Ecuadorian government. Over fifteen policy papers the plan outlines policy proposals for transitioning Ecuador to what is described as a social knowledge economy based on the creation and support of open knowledge commons. One version of the plan is available online.
He currently lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In The Political Economy of Peer Production Bauwens regards p2p phenomena as an emerging alternative to Capitalism, although he argues that "Peer production is highly dependent on the market for peer production produces use-value through mostly immaterial production, without directly providing an income for its producers." However, Bauwens goes on to argue that the interdependence is mutual: the capitalist system and market economies are also dependent on p2p production, particularly on distributed networks of information processing and production. Consequently, p2p economy may be seen as extending or already existing outside the sphere of free/open source software production and other non-rival immaterial goods.
This idea is explored also in the essay Peer to Peer and Human Evolution that expands the P2P meme beyond computer technology. It argues that egalitarian networking is a new form of relationship that is emerging throughout society, and profoundly transforming the way in which society and human civilization is organised. The essay argues that this new form of non-representational democracy is a crucial ingredient in finding the solutions to current global challenges; as well as a new and progressive ethos representing the highest aspirations of the new generations.
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