The role of the non-monetary economy, free services and civic engagement — workshop summary
The NextGen Enterprise NET — Virtual Open Space — Workshop 1 — Charles Poretz
At the dawn of the health crisis that is shaking societies around the world, the non-monetary economy has made a resounding comeback. Taking advantage of the deficient and incomplete responses of many states and public institutions, it is indeed free services and citizen commitments that have multiplied just about everywhere: whether with solidarity brigades, self-help groups, associations, certain companies or even the commitment of citizens, alone but convinced of the seriousness of the moment. From countrysides to large cities, from working-class neighborhoods to workplaces, everywhere the same movement has emerged: distribution of food and food baskets, manufacture of washable masks, reorientation of production lines: the responses have been numerous, creative, definitely up to the challenge of the crisis.
There seems to be a historical turnaround, particularly symbolic. While our societies and economic systems stack up monetary standards, market values and financial indicators as the only compass, society has taken the opposite path, leaving the eternal dictatorship of numbers on the sidelines.
Are we witnessing the emergence of new values and a new paradigm? Can all these civic, horizontal, self-managed initiatives eventually form the basis of a new economy? This question leads to other logical questions. How in this case could we get away from traditional indicators, or to put it another way: how can we measure what is not monetary? How can we understand and quantify the contribution of associations and other volunteers? This value that they generate, entirely turned towards others, how can it be integrated into the global economy? What would a universal income system linked to individual social contribution consist of?
These are questions that provide food for thought for the months and years to come, but which will be unavoidable, whether the old world likes it or not. In any case, putting the human being back at the center of activity will not be negotiable, as this new learning from the health crisis reminds us: value and social contribution must govern together, hand in hand.
