The Top Ten P2P Trends of 2015

We live in a contradictory world, just as it is undoubtedly true that problems are worsening in the dominant system — including ecological destruction, increased social inequality, and increased state repression — just as true is the fact that there is an exponential rise in the creation of non-state, non-corporate initiatives in which citizens the world over are taking matters into their own hands. Many of the below trends were identified last year — we only mention them again here if they significantly matured.

Perhaps the main negative development in the field of p2p, and the commons, was the abandoning of the transformative change program by Syriza, which highlights the failure of the traditional Left to believe in its own promise for transition. This points to a strong need for a renewal of politics around a Commons Transition program. It is therefore particularly heartening to see the simultaneous creation this year of several local commons groups, such as Assemblies and Chambers of the Commons.

There is much to rejoice in the list below. There is now a palette of p2p-based solutions that can be used by those that are serious about reconstructing our world with distributed infrastructures, shared resources and commons, and livelihoods around such engagements.

We’re particularly happy this year to see the strengthening of post-corporate business eco-systems such as Enspiral that are co-creating commons. As we confront climate change, the capacity to drastically reduce consumption while supporting decent lives point to the need to use peer production to dramatically augment the “thermo-dynamic efficiencies” of our current production system. While we are in the early stages of a transition from the failing old system to a new one, the good news is that the transition has started nearly everywhere — civil society is responding to the combined market and state failures. Read on...