Co-Goods

Description

Co-goods is a framework for transforming physical products from extractive to regenerative systems by applying antirival dynamics through demand-driven co-creation. The approach addresses the gap identified in commons-based peer production: how to connect immaterial production of digital commons to material production.

Key principles:

• Demand-Driven: Community determines value rather than producers dictating terms
• Open Access: Information and participation mechanisms are publicly accessible
• Copyleft: Open usage of designs, patterns, and knowledge components
• Nonlinear Value Creation: [[network-effects|Network effects]] compound through participation
• Antirival Systems: Physical products wrapped in systems that generate increasing returns

This tag should be used when discussing:

• Theoretical foundations being applied to co-goods implementation
• How specific insights relate to the co-goods framework
• Design implications for physical product co-creation
• Bridging theory to practice in material production
• Environmental and social regeneration through network dynamics

Notes

The co-goods framework builds on work by [[f-xavier-olleros|Olleros]] on antirival goods, addressing the critical gap that Benkler left open: "the absence of a concrete strategy as to how the immaterial production of the digital commons can connect to material production."

While physical products are inherently rival at the unit level (the garment itself can only be worn by one person at a time), co-goods creates strongly antirival systems around them by:

• Maximizing nonrival components (designs, patterns, knowledge, feedback data)
• Building participation mechanisms that generate increasing returns
• Designing feedback loops where consumption becomes contribution
• Creating earned scarcity through contribution rather than payment

The goal is to demonstrate that [[network-effects|network effects]] can drive degrowth rather than extraction - reducing material throughput while increasing collective value through demand-driven co-creation.