Contributions

Here we describe the centrality of contributions as the basis of meet.coop, the kinds of contribution that are encouraged and recognised, and associated privileges, obligations and protocols..

Updated: 10dec21

meet.coop is a community of people and organisations making contributions of various kinds in the commons. Here we describe the kinds of contributions, the recognition of contributions, and the privileges, obligations and protocols of different kinds of contribution.

The political economy of meet.coop is not a system of ‘rights’ belonging to individuals (or organisations). It is a system defined by commoned spaces and contribution in those commons. With a contribution of a particular kind there are particular privileges and obligations, and contributions are made under various protocols as determined and assessed in the stewarding of the commons. There is no ‘right’ to contribute except under the protocols: a commons is not a market, an unregulated common pool or a free-for-all.

Query from commons.hour session#1: Expand on: relationship between contribution in a commons, under protocols, and free-libre principles in software. Is this to be seen as some kind of version of (free-libre) open-source contribution? Or as commons contribution? In what way are these alike and differing? Differing regimes of privilege/obligation/sanctions? Liberal propertarian freedoms - no.

See also the central practice of contribution accounting .

What follows is subject to revision as the framework develops . .

Three kinds of contribution are recognised:

• Financial contribution (User members, Sustaining members) - a transaction performed by making a financial payment;

• Contribution in kind; and

• Work contribution - performed within the frameworks of the Circles and other Venue spaces

Three kinds of work contribution are recognised, from the standpoint of the commons:

• Livelihood work - work that enables meet.coop to meet obligations, in provisioning platform spaces (public and operational), performing membership administration (financial transactions and recording, fiscal hosting, Registry, responding to user enquiries) and moderating venues, media and platform usage) etc. Livelihood here refers to the livelihood of the commons. xxx

• Care work: organisational care work xxx

• Care work: personal care work xxx

xxx DisCO governance model 3.0, feminist economics, notably care work; also love work. [DisCO - to be added xxx]

xxx Comment from commons.hour session#1: Contributions of glue work - Recognise glue work aka care work (typically ‘invisible work’ ) as a major, basic contribution.

Recognition, in what form? Typically, not wages? So, what then? Status? Credits? Trust?

. . and in terms of anticipated recognition, a work contribution may be:

• Gift contribution (unpaid Circle members) - work performed without expectation of being paid, within the broad frameworks of Circles' commitments xxx

• Paid contribution (Operational members) - work performed with an expectation of being paid, within the rosters of tasks maintained by Circles xxx