Free, Fair, and Alive

Name: Free, Fair, and Alive
Brand: Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand
SKU: 9780865719217
Price: 49.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

The Insurgent Power of the Commons

By David Bollier and Silke Helfrich

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Summary

Free, Fair, and Alive explores the power of the commons as a liberating and equitable alternative to capitalism and socialism. The book delves into how self-organised social systems of commoning—ranging from co-housing and agroecology to fisheries and open-source initiatives—are reshaping provisioning and governance worldwide. Written by prominent commons activists David Bollier and Silke Helfrich, this accessible guide blends cultural critique, political analysis, and practical advice, emphasising the potential for freedom, fairness, and vibrant human connection through commoning.
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Format: Paperback / softback

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Free, Fair, and Alive

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This book is ideal for activist-minded readers, educators, and anyone interested in social change, alternative economic systems, and community-led governance. It appeals to those seeking a fresh, engaging perspective on contemporary commons and ways to imagine a future beyond traditional political binaries.

Free, Fair, and Alive is a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook for "commoning" - free, self-organizing systems ranging from alternative currencies to open-source everything. It presents a bold and compelling alternative to the dead-end, predatory market-state system.

Co-op Available
Pitch to appropriate podcasts
Features offered to Utne Reader, Yes! Magazine, Mother Jones, Sharebale
Excerpt offered to The Nation, Salon, The Progressive, In These Times
Email promotion to members of the Schumacher Centre for New Economic and Peer to Peer Foundation
Academic mailing to economics, political science, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies professors
Publicity and promotion in conjunction with authors speaking engagements and events
Simultaneous ebook release and promotion
Promotion on New Society Publishers social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, our blog, Pinterest, Instagram, and Youtube
Promotion on author's websites: http://www.bollier.org and commonblog.org

Description

The power of the commons as a free, fair system of provisioning and governance beyond capitalism, socialism, and other -isms.

From co-housing and agroecology to fisheries and open-source everything, people around the world are increasingly turning to 'commoning' to emancipate themselves from a predatory market-state system.

Free, Fair, and Alive presents a foundational re-thinking of the commons — the self-organized social system that humans have used for millennia to meet their needs. It offers a compelling vision of a future beyond the dead-end binary of capitalism versus socialism that has almost brought the world to its knees.

Written by two leading commons activists of our time, this guide is a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook. Highly readable and full of colourful stories, coverage includes:

Internal dynamics of commoning
How the commons worldview opens up new possibilities for change
Role of language in reorienting our perceptions and political strategies
Seeing the potential of commoning everywhere

Free, Fair, and Alive provides a fresh, non-academic synthesis of contemporary commons written for a popular, activist-minded audience. It presents a compelling narrative: that we can be free and creative people, govern ourselves through fair and accountable institutions, and experience the aliveness of authentic human presence.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780865719217

Publisher: New Society Publishers

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 September 2019

Country: United States

Imprint: New Society Publishers

Illustration: 50 Illustrations, black and white

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 747g

Pages: 448

Collections

David Bollier Education & Reference Finance & Economics Finance & Investment Non-Fiction Politics & Current Affairs Silke Helfrich

About the Author

David Bollier is an activist, scholar, and blogger who is focused on the commons as a new/old paradigm for re-imagining economics, politics, and culture. He pursues his commons scholarship and activism as Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics and as cofounder of the Commons Strategies Group, an international advocacy project. Author of Think Like a Commoner and other books, he blogs at www.Bollier.org, and lives in Amherst, MA.

Silke Helfrich is an independent activist, author, scholar, and speaker. She cofounded the Commons Strategies Group and Commons-Institute, was former head of the regional office of Heinrich Bll Foundation for Central America, Cuba, and Mexico, and holds degrees in Romance languages/pedagogy and in social sciences. Helfrich is the editor and co-author of several books on the Commons, and she blogs at www.commons.blog. She lives in Neudenau, Germany.