The power of the commons as a free, fair system of provisioning and governance beyond capitalism, socialism, and other -isms. From co-housing and agroecology to fisheries and open-source everything, people around the world are increasingly turning to 'commoning' to emancipate themselves from a predatory market-state system. Free, Fair, and Alive presents a foundational re-thinking of the commons -- the self-organized social system that humans have used for millennia to meet their needs. It offers a compelling vision of a future beyond the dead-end binary of capitalism versus socialism that has almost brought the world to its knees.
B.A., Bates College ’00 (Environmental Studies); M.S., UMass Amherst (Geography); PhD, Western Sydney University (Political and Social Thought) Ethan Miller is an interdisciplinary lecturer at Bates College, teaching in Environmental Studies, Politics, and Anthropology. His research focuses on challenging and rethinking the distinctions between “economy,” “society,” and “environment” in sustainable development practice (particularly in Maine); on developing new concepts for understanding and negotiating our interdependencies with human and non-human communities, and on cultivating and strengthening diverse practices of livelihood beyond conventional capitalist employment. He pursues much of this work in conversation and collaboration with fellow members of the international Community Economies Collective.
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