New cooperation blog

The subject of the future of cooperation and collective action is one that the Institute has been dealing with for a couple years now. Now, several members of the Institute universe have started a new blog on cooperation. Howard Rheingold explains what's going on:

Even a small increase in our understanding of the dynamics of cooperation and collective action could have enormous payoffs in regard to international relations and conflict-resolution, the evolution of economic institutions, and the future of democratic governance and civil society. The cooperation project proposes to catalyze an interdisciplinary study of cooperation and collective action. We do this by compiling and synthesizing current knowledge, mapping the outlines of the emerging field, convening meetings of the best minds in relevant disciplines, and encouraging ongoing discourse, research, and practice.

Jim Benson elaborates:

In this blog we will link to new studies, organizations, or other materials doing interesting work when viewed through the lens of cooperation. We will interview people working in fields that require cooperation. We will also try to synthesize some of this information and put forth some of our own theories.

Our goal for this blog and this study is to make it as open and inclusive as possible. The Cooperation Commons as a group is evolving. We invite anyone to participate through the blog’s comment feature, by blogging themselves and linking back, through e-mail, or however you feel comfortable. Guest bloggers are also welcome.

The project and this blog will be looking resources and developing thought surrounding cooperation phenomena. Cooperation studies are a multidisciplinary field. Objects from the quantum to the mega exhibit certain cooperative properties.

Technorati Tags: cooperation, IFTF