BIRTHING the P2P Society 

BIRTHING the P2P Society is a multi-stage action research program aimed at researching and creating enabling conditions for the emergence of a peer-to-peer economy at scale, setting in motion a virtuous circle of social, cultural, and ecological transformations. Drawing on the findings previous research, BIRTHING explores the potential and challenges of the church as a mediating institutional partner to facilitate the creation of such favorable conditions for a P2P breakthrough in the general technological context of the “digital revolution”. 

Peer-to-peer (P2P) as a socioeconomic paradigm refers to a decentralized model of organization, production, and value exchange based on the direct collaboration of individuals or groups, without reliance on centralized authorities or traditional market mechanisms. Real-world examples of P2P production include Open-source software (e.g., Linux, Wikipedia), distributed manufacturing (e.g., makerspaces, FabLabs), cooperative platforms (e.g., platform cooperativism), and blockchain-based governance and currencies.

Key Features

• Decentralization: Power and decision-making are widely distributed among participants.
• Commons-Based Production: Resources (e.g., knowledge, software, designs) are shared and co-created, often under open licenses.
• Reciprocity and Trust: Social norms, mutual aid, and community governance take precedence over formal contracts and profit motives.

P2P challenges capitalist logics by prioritizing use-value over exchange-value, collaboration over competition, and sustainability over growth.

Digitalization and the Politics of Potentiality

Digitalization is the defining technological mega-trend of our time. It holds contradictory potentials: enabling both emancipation and control, revolution and repression. While it fuels platform capitalism, it also opens space for global self-organization and alternative production models rooted in the commons.

Cosmolocalism: A Commons-Based Alternative

Among these models, “cosmolocalism” emerges as a noteworthy concept (Schismenos et al., 2019; Kostakis et al., 2023). Demonstrated in experimental settings across makerspaces worldwide, cosmolocalism transcends the label of mere fringe experiments sanctioned by the system. Instead, these spaces manifest as windows of opportunity, beckoning a new politics of potentiality towards post-growth.

Barriers to Scaling Cosmolocalism

Previous research (Kostakis et al., 2023) has illuminated two main roadblocks hindering the realization of cosmolocalism as a full-fledged mode of production.

• Lack of a global legal framework to standardize code, protocols, and interoperability. This renders communication and exchange across diverse locations more difficult.
• Insufficient physical infrastructure to support widespread makerspace development.

These limitations hinder its evolution into a scalable, systemic alternative.

The Church as a Strategic Ally

The BIRTHING the P2P Society program  explores how the Catholic Church and the broader ecumenical sphere could become institutional allies in advancing cosmolocalism. With its global reach, moral authority, and underutilized infrastructure, the Church is uniquely positioned to:

• Advocate for supportive legal frameworks.
• Repurpose dormant buildings into makerspaces.
• Provide political and cultural legitimacy to commons-based production.

Under Pope Francis, the catholic Church has embraced the concept of integral ecology—a holistic vision of environmental, social, and spiritual well-being. Yet this vision often lacks conceptual clarity and concrete pathways for implementation. Cosmolocalism offers a practical, scalable direction for realizing integral ecology through:

• Commons-based production and repair services
• Partnerships with schools, universities, and civil society
• Convivial technologies that bridge faith and secular cultures

Moreover, with clergy and church attendance in decline in the Western world, the church possesses dormant physical infrastructure that could be repurposed for makerspaces, holding significant scaling potential. Politically, advocating for cosmolocalism could be a central focus for the church’s international and national political efforts, injecting a tangible direction into integral ecology narratives. The cosmolocal movement, with its expertise and networks, would complement the church’s limitations.

Toward a  prosperous post-growth Future

By aligning with the cosmolocal movement, the Church can help catalyze a post-growth transition rooted in justice, sustainability, and community. Makerspaces become not just sites of production, but hubs of social learning, dialogue, and transformation—where faith and technology converge to reimagine the future.