How do we harness the sharing economy for real good?

The sharing economy, at least conceptually, seems like a win-win for everyone, for both the literal haves and the have nots. Owners can make a few extra bucks off of things they already have — such as cars, spare rooms, or if we look at it a bit more broadly we could also include the precious commodity of time. Consumers can rent from their peers instead of renting or buying from a company. “The sharing concept,” as Tomio Geron wrote in Airbnb And The Unstoppable Rise Of The Share Economy,“ has created markets out of things that wouldn’t have been considered monetizable assets before.” Which is great. I’m all for people finding ways to make money, and becoming more economically empowered. And on my end, I’m also all for a life that’s more about access than about owning. I don’t need more stuff.

I love the idea of the convenience things like on-demand food delivery and saving money by using peer-to-peer taxis or renting out someone’s room. I like the idea that anyone can make a few extra bucks driving around or sharing their spare bedroom, or picking up groceries. I’ve talked to people who really enjoy being able to make their own hours driving for Lyft or make a few extra bucks delivering groceries in the morning for Intacart.

I think that peer-to-peer lending has the potential to build a real social movement based on sharing and cooperation. It’s already radically changing the way people consume goods and services. It has a lot of potential, and is already doing a lot of good in spheres like tool-lending libraries or in helping people get to know their neighbors. But without democratization of ownership and governance of the platforms, the for-profit companies will continue to grow revenue as much as possible. To the surprise of no-one, for-profit platforms have coopted what began as “a progressive, socially transformative idea.”

Yet, I’ve read story after story about how all these companies that essentially serve as brokers between consumers and lenders, are reaping all the benefits. The companies are taking cuts of the profits, sure, and that makes sense for the services they provide. But they’re also getting the benefits of labor without any responsibility to the workers, or get to operate as a hotel or a taxi service without having to face the taxes or regulations of a hotel or taxi company.

Instead of serving as the great equalizer, it seems to me that the sharing economy has become another wedge in the ever expanding gap between rich and poor. The rich get richer as the rest are losing traditionally secure jobs for part-time, insecure, and often low-paid gig work. How accessible is the sharing economy for low-income and minority communities? What are the true environmental impacts if the sharing economy is simultaneously encouraging people to travel more or buy less of some things and more of other things?

We know that the sharing economy has potential to do both good and not-so-good. So where do we go from here? We need to harness the power for good.

Juliet Schor sums it up best in her essay called Debating the Sharing Economy, “Software, crowdsourcing, and the information commons give us powerful tools for building social solidarity, democracy, and sustainability. Now our task is to build a movement to harness that power.”