Tools, practices and systems monthly meet up

Wednesday 27 April 2022 | 12:30 - 14:00

James Muldoon - Social Ownership in the Digital Economy

Tech companies have been criticised for their surveillance practices, privacy breaches and monopolistic ambitions. Instead of inquiring as to how we could ‘fix’ Facebook this paper explores alternatives that could replace them. It presents the idea of platform socialism - the organisation of the digital economy through the social ownership of digital assets and democratic control over the infrastructure and systems that govern our digital lives. This framework facilitates holistic thinking about the systemic nature of the problems we face and the need for genuine alternatives. To develop the principles and institutional sketch of platform socialism, I draw inspiration from the writings of two early twentieth century writers: the libertarian socialist, G. D. H. Cole and the Austrian philosopher and economist Otto Neurath. I propose new forms of participatory and decentralised governance through an ecosystem of alternative ownership models of digital platforms. How would socially-owned and controlled apps operate in transport, food delivery and short-term accommodation? Drawing from historical examples and contemporary prototypes, platform socialism examines a variety of ways communities could reclaim ownership and control over digital platforms.