To browse Academia. This deliverable aims at characterizing alternative production models based on two schools of thought: the logic of the knowledge commons, and platform cooperatives. Building on the analysis undertaken in the D2. This will be linked to the other principles that make it possible to define a commons-based production model, alternative to that of capitalist platforms: governance rules; financing models; conception of technologies; legal models of ownership of the means of production in particular the management of algorithms and data.
With this in mind, the report will be divided into two parts which, although closely linked, can be read independently by the hurried reader. The first part, in line with our previous work D2. After highlighting the systemic risks and negative externalities that the development of platform capitalism entails for society as a whole, it will be shown that not only is it possible, but also necessary to test alternative models based on the principles of the commons.
The second part will be thus devoted to the analysis of the alternatives to platform capitalism. Following Albert Hirschman, we will distinguish between the two main ways through which forms of resistance and alternative experimentations to the Internet oligopolies and gig economy emerge in the society: a the way of voice and b the way of exit, which can be combined.
We will also analyse socially widespread practices aimed at circumventing the control of platforms. For pedagogical purposes, the latter b will be characterized in opposition to the three main ideal types of platform capitalism: i The model of social network platforms based on free digital labour. We will also take into account the trend of platform capitalism to extend its logic to more and more economic sectors and, in the context of the so-called Smart Cities, to metropolitan governance.
The conclusion will be dedicated to reflect on an agenda to promote the sustainability of the commons and alternative platforms. In this perspective, particular emphasis will be placed on a strategic node: combining the development of neo-communalist experiences with a project of federation of the commons and cooperative platforms.
