Digital commoning and post-capitalist crypto-economies: The case of FairCoop

Abstract

In the context of the current global recession, big tech and big data corporations have amassed a disturbing amount of power and influence in this new phase of platform and surveillance capitalism. Against this backdrop, and inspired by Gibson-Graham’s invitation to look for difference rather than dominance, this paper considers digital commons as a viable post-capitalist alternative. In particular, this research’s focus will be on the international activist collective, FairCoop. This group, inspired by ideas of degrowth, decentralization and post-capitalism, has developed its own crypto-currency, FairCoin, along with tools and infrastructures that seek to challenge the economic and digital status quo. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork, this investigation explores the practices and experiences of this alternative economic project. Drawing on commoning literature, the paper engages with the challenges that such initiatives face, such as the risky entanglements with crypto-markets, governance mechanisms, transparency and management issues, scalability and individual burnouts. By studying FairCoop and associated collectives such as Komun and Kaana, this paper demonstrates how alternative economies, blockchain initiatives and digital commoning can contribute to more progressive and transformative technological innovation. Yet, focusing on the practice and (re)production of the commons reveals a multifaceted picture. I argue that if we are to study the present and future of digital commoning, it is crucial to engage with difficult issues such as tensions, hierarchies and democratic deficits. These cases will be discussed to further the debate on the possibilities for post-capitalism in the digital era and bring alternative economies, technological innovation and commoning perspectives into a fruitful dialogue.