De Cooperant - Weekly Journal

The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins (2015)

The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins (2015), by anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, is a highly original ethnographic and philosophical study that uses the commercial and ecological web of the matsutake mushroom to reflect on human survival in a degraded planet. Life in the Ruins: The matsutake is a unique mushroom because it thrives in forests disturbed by human activity (such as pine forests devastated by deforestation). Tsing proposes that we must learn to look at what grows in the ruins of capitalism instead of expecting infinite progress or mourning total ruin. Assemblages and Precarity: Through the global matsutake trade—which connects displaced gatherers (such as Hmong war veterans or migrants in Oregon) with luxury consumers in Japan—the author explores how precarity is not an exception, but the central condition of our era. Ecological Dimension: The book challenges the anthropocentric and individualistic view of progress. Tsing demonstrates that no species (including humans) survives in isolation, but through complex interdependencies and unintended alliances with other living beings. This is a fundamental work for environmental studies, the social sciences, and contemporary critical theory. Faced with the defeatism of ecological collapse and blind faith in technology, the book offers a realistic yet hopeful way of paying attention to the world: learning the 'art of noticing' to discover forms of coexistence amidst uncertainty.

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Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (1990), by Elinor Ostrom

Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (1990), by Elinor Ostrom, is an important work of economics that challenged the idea that the only solution to the 'tragedy of the commons' is privatization or centralized state intervention. Through a rigorous empirical analysis, Ostrom demonstrated that local communities can design sustainable and efficient institutions to manage shared-property resources—such as irrigation systems, forests, or fisheries—without external impositions. Ostrom analyzed successful and failed case studies around the world and identified several principles that, to varying degrees, work in sustainable collective management systems: Precise definition of who has the right to extract resources and the boundaries of the resource itself. Congruence between rules and local conditions: Rules of use adapt to local needs and ecological conditions. Collective-choice arrangements: Most individuals affected by the operational rules can participate in modifying them. Effective monitoring: Monitors who are accountable to the users or are the users themselves audit the state of the resource and the behavior of the members. Graduated sanctions: Application of progressive penalties for those who violate community rules. Conflict-resolution mechanisms: Access to local, low-cost arenas to resolve disputes. Recognition of rights to organize: External authorities do not challenge the right of users to devise their own institutions. Nested enterprises: For larger resources, governance activities are organized in multiple interconnected layers. Her work, paradoxically guided by a conservative philosophy, helped dismantle the notion that individuals trapped in social dilemmas are incapable of cooperating autonomously and offered a 'third way' between the left and the right for environmental management and public goods, applicable today from the climate crisis to the digital commons. Reading her work helps us recognize contributions toward new thinking regardless of their conceptual origins and traditional labels.

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Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence (2021) by Kate Crawford

Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence (2021) by Kate Crawford is a crucial work for demystifying contemporary technology. The author dismantles the notion of AI as something abstract or immaterial and redefines it as an intensive industry that relies on the extraction of natural resources, precarious human labor, and the massive capture of data. Among other topics, it addresses the following: Material extractivism: AI has a direct ecological impact that requires the mining of rare earths (such as lithium or cobalt), in addition to massive water and energy consumption to keep data centers operational. Invisible labor: It exposes how the functioning of these systems relies on an underpaid workforce responsible for labeling data, moderating traumatic content, and training algorithms under precarious conditions. Biases and surveillance: It analyzes the indiscriminate collection of information and how facial recognition or predictive analysis tools reinforce social inequalities and expand corporate and state surveillance. Crawford's greatest achievement lies in her research rigor, combining the mapping of global supply chains with political critique and the history of technology. Instead of focusing on speculative debates about machine consciousness, the book offers an essential ethical framework regarding the real, tangible, and geopolitical costs of today's technology.

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The People's Republic of Walmart, by Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski

The People's Republic of Walmart, by Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski, offers a provocative perspective on the contemporary economic debate by using the retail giant as an unexpected model for socialist planning. The central argument of the book stems from a paradox: Walmart, one of the most emblematic symbols of modern capitalism, does not operate through a free market internally. Instead of allowing its departments to compete with one another through prices, the company operates as a massive, centralized, and hyper-efficient planned economy. Through this analysis, the authors debunk the notion that large-scale economic planning is unfeasible or inherently inefficient. After the experience of bureaucratic centralized planning in former communist countries, this claim may seem naive; however, it is not without relevance for the present moment, in which free-market ideology seems to go unquestioned. The authors point out that if Walmart were a country, its economy would be comparable in size to that of Sweden or Switzerland. Its success demonstrates that modern technology, real-time data processing, and advanced logistics make it possible to coordinate complex production and distribution networks without relying on internal market mechanisms. The text re-examines the historical economic debates between free-market advocates (such as Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises) and socialist theorists. Phillips and Rozworski argue that current technological tools resolve the information constraints that historically hindered central planning, which is largely true... but not entirely. In addition to Walmart, the book analyzes how multinationals like Amazon or the United States Pentagon operate highly centralized and planned resource allocation systems to coordinate operations on a global scale. The authors' crucial point is not to praise Walmart for its labor practices or social impact, which they harshly criticize, but to distinguish between the tool (central planning) and the goal (private profit versus collective welfare). The book combines an accessible, journalistic style with the rigor of economic analysis, avoiding dense academic jargon. Its main merit lies in shifting the focus of the debate: the question is no longer whether economic planning is possible, but who controls it and for what purpose. Although some critics point out that the authors simplify the transition from authoritarian corporate planning to democratic, comprehensive planning for an entire society, the work manages to challenge deeply rooted ideological assumptions and offers a fresh perspective for imagining economic alternatives in the digital age. Despite its political naivety and its emphasis on technology—leaving little room for a social analysis of planning—the book contains and stimulates interesting reflections that are highly relevant to the current state of capitalism and the possibilities of considering democratic alternatives.

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Editorial

Digital Transformation and the Collective Future

In a global environment accelerated by automation and data centralization, collaborative structures stand out as the indispensable alternative to uphold social equity.

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