Difference between revisions of "FairShares Commons"

Revision as of 11:37, 14 April 2020

Introduction

The idea of a FairShares Commons Company emerged from the work of Graham Boyd and Jack Reardon, and the consultancy company Evolutesix. Evolutesix was an early adopter of the FairShares Model (in 2016), and through 2018/19 built a network of organisational and personal coaches who further developed Graham Boyd's concept of a 'free company' (i.e. free from the subjugation that occurs in a capital market where a company is seen as property to be bought and sold).

These pages were created - initially - by Prof Rory Ridley-Duff, whilst reading source material for the book 'The Roads to New Co-operativism' and have been integrated into the FairShares Wiki by members of the FairShares Association (2020 - 2023).

Preface

This sets out why the authors between there has never been a better time for a generative economy (p. xii). Described as a 'how-to' manual, it tracks their changed thinking from 2015 - 2020, particularly the realisation that the climate crisis on its own will not catalyse the transformative action at a fundamental level needed to make business an 'intrinsic force for good'. After a section about Graham's upbringing in South Africa (and working in across Europe and Asia), Graham funnels in on the loss of Arctic ice, and the need to understanding 'the anchors holding the [capitalist] system stable it is dysfunctionality' (p. xv). In place of this dysfunction, Graham describes elements of the FairShares Commons - the subject of the book - and the process of building a network of people interested in developing the ideas, and arriving at the Rethinking Economics conference at Greenwich University.

Jack's upbringing starts with memories of his grandfather's view of improving environmental management. Tracking both depression and joy (much as Graham did), we arrive at turning defeat 'inside out' and achieving success. Jack's mindset became set after a rejection of a paper pointing out flaws in neoclassical economics, particularly in relation to the allocation of resources in a market economy. He created a new journal - the International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education - which set him on a path towards ideas that now manifest in his work on FairShares Commons Companies (p. xvii). He redirected his efforts to 'a different valley on a completely different track'. Jack arrived (and spoke at) the Rethinking Economics conference attended by Graham.

Bringing their stories together, they found themselves sharing their ideas over a meal and enjoyed the 'generative conflict' that (eventually) produced the book, 'breaking free of the old paradigms'. Readers are asked to regard the book as a 'circle' - starting and finishing anywhere. They assume a global crisis, and that the crisis needs addressing, that the readers are people who are passionate about having greater impact. There is a positive attitude to business, as the institution with the power to resolve global challenges (more than any other social institution). Profit is used in a wider sense, 'not just financial profit' (p. xx). Investors are seen as allies in the project to address climate change.

Part 1 - Chapter 1 - Reasons for Hope

Chapter 1 opens with questions about grief and anxiety about climate change, and swiftly moves to an argument that the 'shift' coming will be the biggest for 75,000 years. Once again, we are invited to believe that business can be both for the environment and for-profit (in the broader sense than money). To make the shift, we have to change 'who you are, how you think, and how you make meaning' (p. 5). 'Doing differently at this scale requires us to become someone different'.

The argument that 'shift happens' gains momentum and traction. Picasso and Einstein enter as 'key players in the transformation of art and physics' (through pluralism and the use of multiple perspectives). Acting differently required understanding differently, after an 'inner shift' in identity and meaning-making. The perspective that 'the world you are experiencing today [is] inherently unpredictable and emergent' prevents capture of what is evolving by looking at the past and present, because the future is 'filled with inherent, irreducible uncertainty' (p. 6).

Adaptive capacity enters the lexicon of the book - the capacity to navigate contradiction and ambiguity. The authors signal they will use quantum physics and relativity to ask different questions and find better answers. A subjective epistemology is adopted:

p. 7 "All ... meanings are true, at least for you in your reality when you make meaning"

but there is recognition that subjective meaning may not related to the world as it is (an objective ontology). The mix of subjective meaning making and objective reality is expressed as follows (p. 7)

"the reality you experience is shaped by your meaning making, out of the raw material that is actually present"

Describing the release of Nelson Mandela, the argument is made that hope can replace fear in periods of great uncertainty and changes lens and ways of thinking can bring hope.

Emergent strategies are those the focus on maximising the generation of desired outcomes (even if they cannot be seen, predicted or realised in the present situation). (p. 8).