The Sharing Turn: Why We are Generally Nice and Have a Good Chance to Cooperate our Way Out of the Mess We Have Gotten Ourselves Into

In: Wolfgang Sützl, Felix Stalder, Ronald Maier, Theo Hug (Eds.): Cultures and Ethics of Sharing / Kulturen und Ethiken des Teilens innsbruck University Press 2012, ISBN 978-3-902811-74-5. Full text available for download from publisher's website.

18 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2013 Last revised: 3 Aug 2013

See all articles by Volker Ralf Grassmuck

Volker Ralf Grassmuck

Hans-Bredow-Institute for Media Research; freelance

Date Written: August 18, 2012

Abstract

After a period of neoliberal blind faith in the power of economic self-interest and of austerity to tackle its catastrophic effects, we are re-discovering our more pleasant sides. There is currently a surge of interest in sharing – in research in various developmental sciences, in popular debate and most of all in practice. This paper proposes that our society is undergoing a Sharing Turn that has its roots in human nature and in cultural history, is media-technologically enabled by networked computers and is fueled by the rising anger over societal systems that fail to serve the public interest. It attempts to set out some of the roots, diverse manifestations and dynamics of this paradigmatic shift, and it expresses hope that the ‘trending’ values of sharing and cooperating will change the world for the better.

Keywords: sharing, cooperation, commons, res universitatis, knowledge commons, commons-based peer-production, evolutionary anthropology, evolutionary biology, homo economicus, scacity, abundance, free software, OA, OER

JEL Classification: D10, D20, D60, D70, D80, H40, K111, L30, O30, P40

Suggested Citation

Grassmuck, Volker Ralf and Grassmuck, Volker Ralf, The Sharing Turn: Why We are Generally Nice and Have a Good Chance to Cooperate our Way Out of the Mess We Have Gotten Ourselves Into (August 18, 2012). In: Wolfgang Sützl, Felix Stalder, Ronald Maier, Theo Hug (Eds.): Cultures and Ethics of Sharing / Kulturen und Ethiken des Teilens innsbruck University Press 2012, ISBN 978-3-902811-74-5. Full text available for download from publisher's website., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2295622

Volker Ralf Grassmuck (Contact Author)

freelance ( email )

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Berlin, 10967
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://vgrass.de

Hans-Bredow-Institute for Media Research ( email )

Rothenbaumchaussee 36
Hamburg, 20148
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://https://leibniz-hbi.de

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