COMMONSIM: Simulating the utopia of COMMONISM: Review of Evolutionary Political Economy

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Lena Gerdes
  • Ernest Aigner
  • Stefan Meretz
  • Hanno Pahl
  • Annette Schlemm
  • Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle
  • Jens Schröter
  • Simon Sutterlütti
This research article presents an agent-based simulation hereinafter called COMMONSIM. It builds on COMMONISM, i.e. a large-scale commons-based vision for a utopian society. In this society, production and distribution of means are not coordinated via markets, exchange and money, or a central polity, but via bottom-up signalling and polycentric networks, i.e. ex ante coordination via needs. Heterogeneous agents care for each other in life groups and produce in different groups care, environmental as well as intermediate and final means to satisfy sensual-vital needs. Productive needs decide on the magnitude of activity in groups for a common interest, e.g. the production of means in a multi-sectoral artificial economy. Agents share cultural traits identified by different behaviours: a propensity for egoism, leisure, environmentalism and productivity. The narrative of this utopian society follows principles of critical psychology and sociology, complexity and evolution, the theory of commons and critical political economy. The article presents the utopia and an agent-based study of it, with emphasis on culture-dependent allocation mechanisms and their social and economic implications for agents and groups.
Original languageEnglish
JournalReview of Evolutionary Political Economy
Volume4
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)559-595
Number of pages37
ISSN2662-6144
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.10.2023
Externally publishedYes