Читать книгу The Handbook of Peer Production - Группа авторов - Страница 57

According to Bauwens (2005) then, the P2P dynamics have allowed for:

 producing use‐value through the free cooperation of producers who have access to distributed capital: this is peer production, different from for profit maximization production or production by state‐owned institutions. The product of (commons‐based) peer production, as defined by Benkler (2002, 2006), is not exchange value for a market, but use‐value for a community of users who may also be the producers.

 community‐driven governance mechanisms: this is peer governance, different from market allocation or corporate hierarchy.

 making use‐value freely accessible on a universal basis, through new commons‐oriented property regimes: this is peer property, different from private property or public (state) property.

Peer production is thus fundamentally different from the incumbent models of value creation under industrial capitalism. In the latter, the owners of the means of production hire workers, direct the work process and sell products for profit maximization. Such production is organized by allocating resources through price signals, or through hierarchical command that takes into account these price signals.

In contrast, peer production is in principle open to anyone with skills (and access to the appropriate technological infrastructure) to contribute to a joint project: the knowledge of every participant is pooled.¹ These participants may be paid, but not necessarily, as this system of production is open to self‐motivated contributions. Precisely because peer production projects are open systems in which knowledge can be freely shared and distributed, anyone with the right knowledge and skills can contribute, either paid by companies, clients, or not at all. In these open systems, there are many reasons to contribute beyond or besides that of receiving monetary payment. Peer production allows contributions based on all kinds of motivations, but most importantly on the desire to create something mutually useful to those contributing. Hence, people contribute because they find it meaningful and valuable. Next we review the most important principles and characteristics of peer production.