Collaborative Governance

Thursday, May 20, 2021 1-2 p.m. Mountain Time Free webinar Watch As the US federal government considers once-in-a-generation investments in infrastructure, is it possible to also enable a new commitment to a democratic economy? In this conversation, celebrating the publication of Sara Horowitz's new book Mutualism , we will explore...

Alongside whatever else mothers and sons talk about, I have begun receiving regular updates on the governance of my mother’s neighborhood garden club. They make me jealous. The club has survived from the heyday of suburban housewives—which my mother, as a retired government employee, never was. She is currently her...

On December 5, 2020, we met with key stakeholders from the Rocky Mountain Mutual Aid Network (RMMAN) to discuss the organizational structure and potential future impact of RMMAN. The stakeholders at RMMAN worked to answer questions about RMMAN’s organizational design: How are decisions made? Who makes the decisions? Who gets...

One of the most inspiring outgrowths of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rise of local relief efforts under the banner of "mutual aid" and a commitment to "solidarity, not charity." These groups seek to address the impacts of the pandemic while also working for transformative social change. Their work...

Isn’t it weird that the radically democratic miracle of open-source collaboration is so full of monarchical dictatorships? Take your pick of projects; “benevolent dictators” are everywhere. Linux has Linus Torvalds, WordPress has Matt Mullenweg, and Ethereum has Vitalik Buterin—all of them founders poised to enjoy (or not) lifelong, absolute authority...