Blockchain in support of the commons
Malafosse, Maxime · theses.fr (ABES) · 2022
Blockchain and the commons are two concepts that are attracting more and more interest. Through different perspectives, these two notions raise a lot of hopes to transform our society and to answer the current challenges of social and ecological transition. However, there is little research linking them. Especially since the work that brings blockchain and the commons together remains essentially theoretical. Our work aims to better understand how blockchain can support the commons in real life situations. We explored several fields that embodied, in different ways, the role of a technology as a tool in the service of a collective purpose. We began by observing the key role of the blockchain in a commons that aims to produce and self-manage monetary creation (essay 1). To invest this first research field, we conducted a case study. In the following essay, we aimed to shed light on the role of blockchain as a tool integrated in a larger device for experimenting the data commons at the scale of a city (essay 2). This second case study was matured by the realization of a two-year expertise mission in a third place and finally focused on the European project DECODE. Finally, our last essay builds on the results of the first essay and explores how blockchain could economically support the commons as it disrupts the prospects of money through democratizing its alternative forms, facilitating its creation, and increasing the complexity of its design (essay 3).