The Rise of Platform Cooperativism in Australia

Summary

It has been said repeatedly that when it comes to the sharing economy, access trumps ownership. Yet questions of ownership are more important today than ever, as millions of people rely on a range of peer to peer platforms for work, knowledge, mobility, media and culture of which they have little to no control over. How can drivers, task runners, freelancers and micro-entrepreneurs generate secure livelihoods and stand-up to the dominant logic inherent in much of the sharing economy that uses Internet platforms to extract value from people and communities? How can the financial interests of people who create value in the new economy be protected and what pathways to collective ownership and democratic governance are available?

These questions framed the opening of an event with Nathan Schneider, journalist, author, co-convenor of the first platform cooperativism conference(NYC) and professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nathan’s visit to Australia was capped off by a workshop in Melbourne Australia on 10th June 2016 called ‘Sharing Value and Ownership for the Common Good: Building the Commons Economy’.