Topic: Environment
A collection of resources on the sharing economy
Article / 30th May 2014STWR has published various resources over recent months and years that outline how authentic forms of sharing relate to the political and economic challenges of the 21st century. Many of these blogs, articles or reports relate directly to the sharing economy, a selection of which are collated here according to four broad subheadings.
Putting the ‘sharing’ back in to the sharing economy
Article / 24th April 2014A vibrant debate is beginning to question the meaning of sharing in relation to the big questions of our time. In a recent article printed in STIR magazine, STWR argues that this emerging economic concept should not be beholden to solely personal, consumer-oriented or commercialised forms of collaboration, and must ultimately be reflected in government policies on the national and international level.
Equity + sustainability = sharing globally
Article / 21st March 2014At a time when the risk of civilizational collapse is widely forewarned, it is time to recognise that the call for sharing is a cause that can unite concerned citizens working on a diverse range of interconnected global issues.
Viva la #SharingSpring!
Blog / 5th March 2014As the Sharing Spring kicks off, more and more people are participating in localised forms of sharing in response to the failures of government and big business. While this is right and imperative, it is equally vital that citizens call upon their political representatives to integrate the principle of sharing into governmental policies on national and global levels.
From sharing cities to a sharing world
Blog / 7th February 2014Few could disagree on the beneficial aspects of sharing resources within communities or across municipalities, but can the sharing economy in its current form represent a movement that can challenge unjust power structures and pave the way to a better world?
The illegitimate power of multinational corporations
Article / 28th January 2014As the influence of multinational corporations over public policy continues unabated, the key challenge for those campaigning for social and environmental justice is how to redistribute political power back into the hands of ordinary people.
The sharing economy: a short introduction to its political evolution
Article / 21st January 2014Can the sharing economy movement address the root causes of the world’s converging crises? Unless the sharing of resources is promoted in relation to human rights and concerns for equity, democracy, social justice and sustainability, then such claims are without substantiation – although there are many hopeful signs that the conversation is slowly moving in the right direction.
Economic sharing as a challenge to neoliberal globalisation
Blog / 15th January 2014In the fresh rallying call from civil society for a new future based on sharing, it is interesting to note some old examples of NGO campaigns that call for a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources – such as this Friends of the Earth dialogue from thirteen years ago that recognises how the perennial ethic of sharing is fundamental to redressing the disastrous failure of neoliberal economic policy.
Will 2014 mark the beginning of a second American revolution?
Blog / 6th January 2014Many people at this time of social, political and economic turmoil are voicing the need for a ‘revolution’ in one form or another, with a major focus on all that is wrong in the world’s richest and most powerful country – the United States. Dr Zeki Ergas has taken up this question in a long political essay about the need for a second American revolution to build a better world.
Talkin’ ‘bout a global revolution
Article / 6th January 2014As the global financial crisis now enters its seventh year, it is time to start asking difficult questions about the right priorities for popular protest if we want to realise a truly united voice of the world’s people. There can be no revolution in a truly moral or global sense until the critical needs of the extreme poor are prioritised and upheld, which will require mass mobilisations in the streets like we have never seen before.