Apply for the 2022-2023 Fellowship Program at The New School’s Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy.

APPLICATIONS DUE FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Through our open call, The New School’s Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy is now accepting fellowship applications for 2022-2023.

The fellowship is for all who would like to join the Institute’s growing community of research and practice at The New School and around the world, where they will investigate issues at the intersection of the digital economy and cooperative principles.

Applications will be accepted until February 20, 2022, at midnight Eastern Standard Time.

The Institute for Cooperative Digital Economy is homed at The New School, a legendary progressive university in New York City.  It is the research arm of the Platform Cooperativism Consortium, PCC for short, which is a hub for all who want to launch, grow, or convert to platform co-ops. PCC, founded in 2018, convenes an annual conference previously held in New York City, Hong Kong, and Berlin. PCC maintains a sizable network of partners and sister organizations in a large number of countries. Our primary goal is to help coordinate the global development of the cooperative digital ecosystem in terms of policy, education, resource sharing, and movement-building. Our Resource Library, designed for practitioners and researchers alike, contains thousands of articles, books, videos, and other resources. Our Directory of the Cooperative Digital Economy lists hundreds of active projects. You can learn more about our work by exploring this infographic or watching this 12-minute talk.

To separate advocacy and research, we established The Institute for Cooperative Digital Economy, ICDE, which currently accepts applications. The Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy investigates business models and strategies that encourage shared ownership and democratic governance on the Internet. ICDE directs rigorous, interdisciplinary research, programming, educational initiatives, and policy analysis on economic alternatives to platform capitalism. Research reports from fellows, pop-up courses, and research sprints are examples of our work. We influenced the policy thinking and vision of major political parties in several countries. As an example of this work, see this policy paper.

Current Fellows, Affiliated Faculty, Council of Advisors: https://platform.coop/who-we-are/people/

Opportunity Knocking
Our Institute is far more than an academic institution, and the PCC is much more than a consortium. We are a large community, and becoming a fellow allows you to play an active role in the activities within this ecosystem– from programming to pop-up courses or workshops. Our Institute welcomes applications from people worldwide, widely differing in age and representing various sectors and disciplines. Fellows will be able to interact with, and in some cases work more closely with, our affiliated faculty, former fellows, PCC Council of Advisor members, hundreds of former PCC conference speakers, and platform co-op pioneers from around the world. 

This non-residential fellowship includes regular online gatherings, topical workshops, and opportunities to connect with our global network of scholars and entrepreneurs. In a supportive environment, the 2022-2023 fellowship cohort will bring together Ph.D. and post-doc researchers, cooperative entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers. We’re here to assist you in reaching your goals. For us, our program is about more than just measurable results; it’s also about caring for people so that they can grow. 

The (Not So) Fine Print: What We Expect of You
The expectations for fellows vary depending on the scholar, but there are some general guidelines that all ICDE fellows should follow. Fellows can produce a wide range of outputs, such as a public-facing, well-researched, long-form report that delves into issues within the Institute’s topical focus; blog essays, or newspaper articles. 

You will be asked to speak in person at the PCC conference, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro from November 4-6, 2022. Besides that, you will be expected to virtually attend a monthly ICDE fellowship gathering where you can present your work or discuss the work of others. We sincerely hope that you will contribute your thoughts and ideas to the intellectual environment of our community. In this regard, showing up is essential.

You Pick a Topic!
For the 2022-2023 cohort, we are especially interested in the following topics:

1. Despite the hype, scams, and misinformation surrounding Web 3.0, blockchain, DAOs, and cryptocurrency networks, distributed ledgers can be beneficial as accounting and cooperative governance tools, particularly for geographically dispersed members. We’d love to hear about it if you’re researching this topic.
2. We care about data stewardship. From data trusts to other alternative approaches, we’d like to discuss with you how a specific community, ideally a cooperative, can develop its data commons and regain control over its data. With this topic, we would be interested in a case study authored by a scholar from the Global South.

3. We’d like to continue exploring the cooperative digital economy at the municipal level, specifically in California (USA), Kerala and Gujarat (India), Emilia Romagna (Italy), the Basque Country (Spain), Catalonia (Spain),  Rio de Janeiro, So Paulo, and Minas Gerais (Brazil). If you are a researcher in one of these regions and are interested in conducting research within our institute’s broad focus area, please apply.
   

4. The presence of non-members in platform cooperatives raises serious concerns about the protection of their labor rights. Scholars have also expressed concern about related tax issues and the extent to which all member groups are adequately represented within the business. If this describes your research interest, please apply.
   

5. Rethinking current discussions about the digital cooperative economy by drawing on the work of Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, W.E.B. DuBois, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and others. Owen’s work on equitable labor exchange, Fourier’s advocacy for women’s rights, the concept of “phalanxes” communities, or W.E.B. DuBois’ theory of economic cooperation could all serve as valuable jumping-off points to discuss the politics of cooperativism in the digital economy.
   

6. How will platform cooperatives put the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into action? Contact us if you want to focus on the role of women, feminist economics, or environmental sustainability.
   

7. We are looking for someone who is passionate about and understands the importance of developing a shared global culture for our movement. This person would be already a committed participant in the work of the PCC. Together, we’d consider rituals to commemorate past accomplishments/events/people, as well as songs, films, and other forms of art that can inspire and unite us as we work together.

Ready to Apply? Here’s What You Need to Know First.
The Platform Cooperativism Consortium will cover the cost of travel to Rio de Janeiro as well as hotel accommodations during the conference days. We are unable to accommodate flights that include additional destinations. Please keep in mind that we cannot be responsible for your visa if you are traveling to Brazil for the conference. You are welcome to bring your own funding, which could be in the form of a grant or scholarship.

Ready to apply? Ok, off you go. Apply here.

If you are short-listed, we will contact you to schedule an interview no later than Monday, February 28. We will introduce the new cohort on Wednesday, March 16th.