Short Bio: Michel Bauwens is the founder of the Foundation for Peer-to-Peer Alternatives which researches peer production, governance and property as well as participatory and commons-oriented modes of human cooperation. The organization’s online wiki has reached over 17,000 pages. Michel, who currently lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is Primavera Research Fellow at the University of Amsterdam, advisor to Shareable magazine (San Francisco) and Chair of the Technology/ICT working group, Hangwa Forum (Beijing, Sichuan), to develop economic policies for long-term resilience, including through distributed manufacturing. 

1.Which OuiShare values do you identify most with and why? (Read about the OuiShare values here)

I would say openness, transparency and inclusion. The latter has to be included as openness and transparency alone can also generate further and deeper inequalities, at least in the short and mid-term. For example, it has been shown that open data for urban land benefits middle class people more than slum dwellers, according to a recent Indian study cited by Michael Gurstein. We always need integrative approaches that keep the different values connected to each other. 

2. As a speaker, what would you like to learn and bring to OuiShare Fest? 

My focus is on the deep transformative process that is going on and that affects all spheres of human life. It’s not just about sharing or collaborative consumption, but about a deep cultural change, a deep change in our social structures, and also in our productive systems. In this context, social enterpreneurs are at the forefront of change today, and they are turning contemporary value systems upside down, using business methods to precipitate social change and sustainability.

3. What is the first word you associate with “Sharing”?

Sharing is first of all a value revolution, a new way to see the world. Secondly, it’s a vital practice for making the world more sustainable, because it mutualizes both immaterial (open source) resources and material infrastructures (coworking, collaborative consumption, …).

Thanks Michel! 

Michel Bauwens will be a speaker at OuiShare Fest.