In DisCOs, production is explicitly guided by need, including social and environmental priorities. This orientation towards positive outcomes is the heart of a DisCO’s values. The needs-based priorities defined by the cooperative are embedded in each DisCOs legal statutes, as well as the technologies and cultural practices that let DisCOs assess and reflect on the outcomes of their effort.
The disco elements
In DisCOs, production is communal and value measurement aims to be transparent. Three types of value are highlighted and rewarded:
- Livelihood Work: productive market value (the DisCO’s goods and services are paid for);
- Love Work: productive pro-bono value (the commons created through self-selected volunteer work); and
- Care Work: reproductive work value (towards the collective and among its members, see above).
All are tracked through complementary value metrics that apply to all DisCO members. Recognizing different types of value influences functions including payments, work priorities and certain key decisions. This recognition gives visibility and empowerment to other
The DisCO Elements
Reimagining Value in DisCOs
DisCOs Character
Playful
Caring
Aesthetically pleasant / artistic
In terms of subject matter, feminist economics takes a more holistic approach, factoring in all activities that currently fall outside of the mainstream economic sphere, but that without which the economy would not be able to run. In short, it is concerned with all of the things that human beings need to survive and flourish, but particularly with the provision of care of and unpaid domestic labour, sometimes referred to as “social provisioning”. In making this its focus, it seeks to challenge notions of “work” and “production” that are based solely on manufacturing, and asks us to rethink how we value the different sorts of activity that occur within our economy.
