36 results
Dedication
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 8-8
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Sharing And Disability
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 243-256
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Summary
One thing that’s nice about being disabled is that it makes you aware of your own dependence on other people. I can’t get dressed, go to the toilet or eat without assistance. Of course, no one else can either, right? We invisibilise the sewage worker, we invisibilise the people who make the clothes, they are somewhere else, but your dependence on them is enormous. Sharing is just very visible when you’re disabled.
Jacob Berkson, founder, Thousand 4 L1000
For Jacob Berkson, a 36-year-old campaigner for migrant rights, Sharing is an all too pertinent subject. Following a severe spinal cord injury at the age of 21, he has to share his daily life with a carer who helps him with his basic needs. He believes that we all share every single day, we just might not know it. Indeed, this ‘invisible sharing’ is precisely what his campaigning group, Thousand 4 £1000, which crowdfunds rent for refugees, seeks to make visible to the wider public.
In November 2017, disability activist Annie Segarra started a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #InvisiblyDisabledLooksLike to mark the end of Invisible Disabilities Week. She invited people to share their photos, to challenge perceptions and make their stories known. Seventy-four per cent of people with disabilities do not use a wheelchair or anything that might visually signal their disability and about 1 in 5 people worldwide are disabled. Less likely to find employment due to discrimination, people with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty.
The Sharing Economy helps to bring ‘visibility’ to the ‘invisible’, enabling an understanding that our biases (conscious or unconscious) lead to discrimination and inequality. But it’s also about understanding that, as Jacob Berkson suggests, none of us could lead our lives without the hidden sharing that happens continually.
When we make assumptions based on biases and exclude others by engaging in non-sharing behaviour, we contribute to the problem. It’s by making evident and understanding these connections (like car use and consumption leads to pollution, poverty and homelessness), by ‘internalising our externalities’, that we can start to build a truly transparent Sharing Economy, where everything is counted, connected and seen; where the impact of our actions or inactions are understood.
Generation Share
- The Change-Makers Building the Sharing Economy
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 14 October 2022
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Generation Share takes readers on a journey around the globe to meet the people who are changing and saving lives by building a Sharing Economy. Through stunning photography, social commentary and interviews with 200 change-makers, Generation Share showcases extraordinary stories demonstrating the power of Sharing. From the woman transforming the lives of slum girls in India, to the UK entrepreneur who has started a food sharing revolution; you'll discover the creators of a life-saving human milk bank, a trust cafe and a fashion library who are changing the world. A collaboration between speaker, social innovator and global Sharing Economy expert Benita Matofska and photographer Sophie Sheinwald, Generation Share brings to life the phenomenon causing the most significant shift in society since the Industrial Revolution.
Conclusion
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 287-301
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Summary
I feel most comfortable and most abundant when things are very simple and I know where everything is and there’s nothing around that I don’t need.
Leonard Cohen, singer-songwriter, poet
You cannot live without sharing, we share the air we breathe, whatever is alive is dependent on something else for its living. The plants wouldn’t be able to live without the sun they depend on. We depend on sharing to be alive. I hope we become more aware of it and do it under the right conditions so that we can all flourish, I look forward to that future.
Alexandros Pagidas, Greek philosopher, founder of Patreon
Generation Share set out to bring the human stories of Sharing to life, to better understand the people behind the phenomenon known as the Sharing Economy – a system to live by where we care for people and planet and share available resources however we can. This book is the culmination of a decade-long expedition into the world of Sharing. Our journey to meet the people who are driving world change has been a study of age, gender, urban and rural living, wealth, culture, disability and geography in relation to the Sharing that makes us human. But it is also an exploration of the relationship between Sharing and the Sharing Economy, the final destination for this adventure.
Each story has offered a different insight into the life of a Sharer leading change in big and small ways. Each perspective demonstrates one of the five parts: categories, subsets, mode, values or impact of the Sharing Economy.
We’ve met Ashod Rathod who is sharing a love of football to educate and offer a future to slum kids in India; Saasha Celestial-One who through food-sharing app Olio believes we can end world hunger; there’s intrapreneur Nanjira Sambuli transforming the lives of women across Africa by sharing access to digital technology; we’ve visited Georgia Haddad Nicolau who is spearheading citizen innovation in Latin America, and grandma Alia Dasouqi who has been empowered by hosting shared dinners in her home in Jaffa, Israel. We’ve been fascinated by Malik Yakitini at D-Town Farm in Detroit, USA, who is campaigning for food justice, and Australian Paralympic athlete Elizabeth Wright, who uses positivity and character building to inspire schoolkids.
Sharing By Gender
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 89-118
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In 2017, Canada issued the world’s first health card for a baby that does not state the child’s sex. Requested by non-binary, transgender parent, Kori Doty, who identifies as neither male nor female, the British Columbian ID carries a ‘U’ in the box where a child’s sex is ‘normally’ specified. But when it comes to gender and our interpretation of it today, what exactly is ‘normal’? Yes, gender is certainly the topic of the decade. The sheer mention of the word that originated from the Old French ‘gendre’ or ‘type’ and the Latin ‘genus’ meaning ‘birth, family or nation’ is likely to ignite multifarious opinions, wherever and whenever it is raised. We are living in an era of economic, social and environmental flux, witnessing an increased societal consciousness of the need for justice, fairness and the rejection of previously accepted norms. Sharing is at the heart of these shifts and is not just about tangible asset sharing, but offers a redefinition of ‘other’, a sharing of power and an understanding that what has previously dominated won’t do so for much longer.
2018 marked 100 years since women in the UK first got the vote, yet we are still subjected to sexism, violence and are vastly underrepresented in the political realm worldwide. The unacceptable statistics speak for themselves – each minute, 28 girls are married before they are ready and up to 35% of women today have experienced sexual or physical violence. The gender pay gap knows no borders; whether you’re a farmer in Nigeria, or Jennifer Lawrence in Hollywood, it’s likely you’ll only be paid two-thirds as much as your male equivalent.
But something is shifting. From #MeToo to the Time’s Up campaign,53 women have had enough. We’re witnessing the emergence of a Sharing system based on fairness, mutual respect and caring. Often cited as a strong attribute of femininity, though some would say that is a stereotype too, sharing is indissolubly linked with caring, a quality that is being applied to create new systems that empower all genders rather than maintain the patriarchal status quo. In the past five years, we’ve seen a proliferation of initiatives enabling women to share everything from cars to cash.
Contents
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 13-13
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Sharing The Money
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 179-210
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Summary
I magine a world built on food justice, empowerment and equality. A world where success means belonging to a community, making a meaningful contribution to society and enjoying abundance in return; where business is a force for good and operates within the limits of the planet, where we repair what we have and where we are all philanthropists of the heart. In this world, community is king and money is meaningless. We’ve stopped measuring the production of goods and started measuring happiness and wellbeing. We’ve stopped obsessing over quantity, contracts and outputs, and we’ve begun to focus on the value created for people and planet. This is a universe where life is about thriving, and true prosperity brings social and environmental growth; where all value – economic, social and environmental – is costed and counted, where one doesn’t ride roughshod over the other and where our actions have ‘zero marginal cost’75 to all who live here.
The people who feature in Generation Share are already living in this world, they cherish a different kind of wealth. It’s a reality beyond carbon, it may be built on blockchain, where local currencies bring value to those who contribute and citizen innovation is commonplace. They know how important equality is, that unless we reach our optimum ‘spirit level’ we all suffer – especially the wealthy. Many enjoy the benefits of ‘plugging and playing into the Internet of Things’; they trade directly, person-to-person, cutting out the corporate middlemen, creating new business models that bring tripartite value for all genders, races, religions and people. In their world, the favourite pastime is Sharing, not shopping.
This new wealth creation isn’t just for those who are already wealthy. The Sharing Economy has been shown to create three times the social impact for low-income communities. Sharing services that offer access to affordable meals, healthcare and medical equipment are disproportionately benefiting low-income groups who often spend higher proportions of pay on these basics. Car Sharing alleviates transport poverty and food Sharing programmes offer meals to the hungry.
So, can we flourish within the limits of our planet? Can we create a post-capitalist system, a true Sharing Economy where all value matters and where true wealth means inclusion, love and respect?
Generation Share demonstrates the power of Sharing. The change-makers show just what’s possible – now it’s your turn. What can you share? How can you make a difference?
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- 14 October 2022, pp 304-304
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Sharing The City
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 119-154
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Summary
A sharing city is a playground for the Sharing Economy, everything that is needed is already there. All the cars are there, the food is there, the houses are there, you just have to divide, share and make better use of available resources within the city for everyone’s benefit.
Harmen van Sprang, co-founder, Sharing Cities Alliance.
That our urban environments face the considerable challenges of population, pollution and poverty is evident. But around the world, cities have another story to tell. A (not so) quiet revolution is happening. An abundance of untapped physical and human resources, combined with a desire to create sustainable eco-systems that benefit citizens, has led to the re-imagination of the city. This new approach commingles smart, networked technologies, available resources and sustainable development approaches, illustrating that when cities are co-created by the ‘city-zens’ themselves, we can bring everyday magic to our metropolises. Share a car and take between 9 and 13 cars off the road, lower carbon and offer cheaper mobility; share the 1.3 billion tonnes of needlessly wasted food and sustain those living in food poverty; create inclusive, community spaces where people can connect and watch people flourish.
Indeed, being part of a community could be life-saving. A recent three-year study in Frome, UK, showed that emergency hospital admissions fell dramatically following the introduction of a Sharing project to tackle isolation. The Compassionate Frome project, launched by GP Helen Kingston, deployed health and volunteer community connectors to help patients find support. Despite a 29% increase in emergency hospital admissions across the rest of the region, in Frome, they fell by 17%. The study found that this is due in no small part to the Sharing projects catalysed by Compassionate Frome. From Men’s Sheds (where men come together to make and mend), to Library of Things, where you can share and borrow needed items, the study demonstrates that there’s some science to back up the notion that Sharing can save lives.
The potential for the Sharing Economy to thrive in metropolitan areas is also borne out in greater awareness and higher participation rates, with residents being twice as likely to use Sharing services as their rural counterparts.
Is Sharing Cultural?
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 211-242
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Whether it is how you bring up your children, or how you come together over a meal, culture is all about sharing. If we can remind people of that, tap into that, then we’re onto something.
Shaff Prabatani, Sharer, UK
Through inter-cultural sharing, we are able to learn and understand different cultures and the diversity of humanity.
Ji Hae Kim, Sharer, South Korea
The different meanings of the word ‘culture’ demonstrate that it is inextricably linked to Sharing. One can’t exist without the other. Whether culture means the arts and other expressions of ‘human intellectual achievement regarded collectively’ or ‘the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular people or society’ (for example ‘Jewish culture’), Sharing is intrinsic. Perhaps, as social psychologist Geert Hofstede suggested, culture is either stuff made by humans (music, painting, folklore…) or ‘software of the mind’, a collective phenomenon shared with people who live in the same environment. Arguably, any culture is a system of shared meanings; it can’t exist in isolation, it’s a way of thinking, feeling and knowing about the world. It’s a shared ‘web of significance that we have spun for ourselves’.
So do different religions, regions and communities view Sharing contrarily? When it comes to Sharing, do they have and practice different cultural norms? Are some societies more sharing than others? In a Sharing world, our cultural norms, traditions and creative activities root themselves in collaboration, cooperation and community. This is an ecosphere far away from inequality, poverty and hyper consumption. For a Sharing culture to be mainstream, a significant shift is required. It’s about changing our value system, from me to we, from consumer to user and from owner to co-operator. In a Sharing society, sustainability supersedes selfishness and inclusivity is vital, as Ghandi said, ‘No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.’
Culture could be considered as the foundation of sustainability. A Sharing civilisation that is built on the values of justice, equity and solidarity, whose ultimate purpose is to achieve individual, social and environmental durability, would need new social organisations, economic models and new forms of collaboration between individuals and community, public and private. Perhaps what’s needed is ‘a new economy of culture’?
What Is The Sharing Economy?
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 16-24
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Sharing means creating the conditions to understand others, it is not a one-way street, it isn’t just giving something from my surplus to someone else, it’s a relationship where somebody provides me with the opportunity to share with them. Sharing is a condition under which we can demonstrate a fundamental aspect of being human. You can discover what you have in common and where there are differences, through sharing, you can get to a point that you wouldn’t without it. You cannot live without sharing.
Alexandros Pagidas, sharer, philosopher, founder of Patreon
What does sharing mean to you? When I interviewed Servane Mouazan, a social entrepreneur who helps women grow their social businesses, I asked her this question (as with every person interviewed for this book). She replied, ‘Sharing is something bold, it’s an engagement, it’s a decision. There’s nothing fluffy about sharing.’ She’s right, there isn’t.
Of the 200 people interviewed for Generation Share, every single one had a different answer when asked that same question, confirming my view that the word ‘sharing’ means different things to different people; that in fact, there’s a whole spectrum of Sharing. It is precisely that diversity that makes up what we call a ‘Sharing Economy’, a whole system based around the sharing of human and physical resources. Generation Share is a journey to meet the inspiring change-makers behind this phenomenon, but what exactly is the ‘Sharing Economy’? What does it have to do with Sharing? And why has Sharing become the topic of our time?
There’s nothing new about Sharing per se – it is as old as humanity itself. Hunter-gatherers were foraging and sharing food almost 2 million years ago in order to survive. These early human social networks (a precursor to the digital ones we have now) formed resilient economies based on cooperation and the most efficient use of available resources.1 But the Sharing that was essential for our early evolution gave way to narcissism and eventually capitalism. By the end of the 20th century, competition and consumerism prevailed and the ‘Happy Days’2 of the 1950s, when sharing the proverbial sugar with a neighbour was commonplace, were over.
Notes
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- 14 October 2022, pp 302-303
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Frontmatter
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- 14 October 2022, pp 1-7
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Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- 14 October 2022, pp 9-12
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Sharing The Countryside
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 155-178
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If the notion of idyllic, peaceful country life appeals, just imagine combining all that greenery with a Sharing lifestyle. That’s what Giorgos Vallis did when he left the ‘madding’ crowds of Athens and headed for his birthplace Paliomylos, on the Greek island of Evia. His mission: to build a rural eco-farm and self-sustaining community based on the principles of Sharing and permaculture. Giorgos is not alone in his vision (well of course not, he’s sharing). In fact, escaping the city is a dream many urbanites have. By 2025, it’s predicted that in the UK alone, half a million of them will have abandoned urban life to move to the countryside. And it’s easy to understand why. Rural lifestyles are reportedly healthier, wealthier and happier,70 with 31% of people saying they ‘love’ the area in which they live, compared to just 16% in cities. But is there something more significant at the heart of this rural migration and the lure of pastures new?
Gandhi described the village as ‘the soul of India’, a place of authenticity, community and cooperation. In India, the village is a place where Sharing is such an innate aspect of life, there isn’t even a local word for it. Country living is often characterised by strong social bonds, as Hillary Bee from Time to Breathe, Totnes, says, ‘It is easier to share in a smaller place where the networking is much deeper. You share with someone in multi-layered ways. You don’t just see them in one context. You have seen their cousin, you have gone dancing with their brother and you know who they dated. There is a depth of information which makes sharing easier.’
Indeed, many Sharing traditions can be traced back to the countryside. Hitchhiking is an original form of ridesharing and ‘gleaning’ is a custom originating in the Old Testament, where leftover crops were collected from farmers’ fields following a harvest. The New Deal era in 1930s America saw the birth of electricity and phone cooperatives among farming communities, making the amenities affordable through sharing. Indeed, this reliance on others and a culture of Sharing is inherent to village life where, traditionally, each person contributes something – a skill, job or resource – to make up a micro-sharing economy.
Our Sponsor
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 14-15
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Angela Laws is the 72-year-old social media and community manager at TrustedHousesitters, representing the heart and soul of this Sharing community. Angela has been with the company from the very beginning, combining her love for pet sitting with her full-time job. TrustedHousesitters is a membership-based house and pet sitting platform bringing together a worldwide community of home and pet owners and pet-loving sitters. Now in over 130 countries, TrustedHousesitters has helped make Generation Share possible by being our global sponsor.
We’re delighted to sponsor Generation Share, spreading the word that we are here to enable our community to share an exchange of value and trust.
Travelling owners share their homes and pets and, in doing so, pet lovers are able to travel more while pets stay happy at home. TrustedHousesitters is a unique platform, built on pure sharing. No money changes hands between members, it’s a completely altruistic arrangement. That’s the beauty of it. This is a community that builds friendships around the world, connecting like-minded animal lovers.
I started pet sitting as a way to heal after losing my beloved dog, Holly. My first sit was for a cocker spaniel, Charlie, who belonged to a young widow. She’d lost her husband to cancer and didn’t want to put Charlie into kennels, so I looked after him while she went away on business. It was the most cathartic thing I had ever done. I wanted animals in my life, but I knew the time wasn’t right for me to have another pet of my own. Sitting helped me find joy again.
Not long after, a young man called Andy Peck contacted me. He was starting TrustedHousesitters based on the idea that he would build a community of pet lovers that adored animals so much, they would care for them for free. Connecting with people just like me with a passion for animals, helping people and sharing trust – I had to be involved.
TrustedHousesitters doesn’t just help dog and cat owners, we help all creatures great and small. We share this planet with animals; we don’t own it and we should look at them as beings to be kept safe, whether in the wild or at home.
Does Age Matter?
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 25-88
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In the beginning, the people creating the Sharing Economy and driving it (some quite literally) were millennials, most aged 25–34, middle class, educated, looking for experiences, adventure and a desire to belong. I called them ‘Generation Share’, a global peer group, connected via technology, united by sharing resources and driven by possibility.
Research showed that of the world’s 2.68 billion millennials, 73% saw the Sharing Economy as important to them,7 preferring to access rather than own goods. With most Sharers having a degree or other qualifications and earning over $100,0008 a year, the Sharing Economy, it seemed, was a young thing, an educated thing and, most certainly, a middle-class thing.
Fast forward to 2019 and ‘Generation Share’ has grown well beyond its early, hip, millennial adopters. Now over 28% of the global adult population are participating,9 with 25% of Sharing Economy service providers being over 55.10 Participation rates of over 55s on some sharing sites has grown over 375% in the past year11 and adults aged 55–64 choosing renting, sharing and swapping over ownership has increased 80% in the past 12 years. Millennials may still form the largest group of Sharers, but the Sharing Economy has certainly spread outside of its earlier demographic leanings.
So is there a link between age and sharing? Does why, what and how we share vary as we age? When it comes to Sharing, does age matter?
Generation Y (Millennials)
Millennials think they can change the world, but they know they can’t do this alone. They are connected from birth. They have the tools, mindset and passion to use technology for social good.
Inés Echevarria, crowdfunder, Barcelona
They’ve been vilified and judged, they’re the largest peer group in the US and India, and they’ve garnered more attention than any other generation. But go beyond the stereotypes and the tabloid headlines and you’ll find that the global cohort first coined ‘millennials’ by William Strauss and Neil Howe,12 (born between 1982 and 2004), brought us the ‘Sharing Economy’ in the first place. Millennials are natural born Sharers: they see that the road to consumption is paved with destruction; they recognise that the accumulation of stuff doesn’t make us happier or healthier but brings heartache, for people and planet.
The Geography Of Sharing
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Generation Share
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- Bristol University Press
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- 14 October 2022, pp 257-286
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Can geography have an influence on how much we share? Are some countries sanctuaries for Sharers? Is it possible to determine the most Sharing place in the world? If so, could it be New Zealand, with 75% of those moving there saying it’s easy to fit in? What about Norway, where the more you share, the happier you become? Canada could be a good option, as personal freedom reigns there. You could vote for equal Sweden, or perhaps it’s positive Paraguay? While Iceland boasts the smallest gender gap, maybe the strongest contender is the best country to live in – Switzerland? That said, Lithuania does offer the fastest Wi-Fi, so perhaps it pips the post as the easiest place to share?
Research on sharing differentiation by place is hard to come by. One study found that Asia comes out on top as the continent with the biggest appetite for Sharing, with 78% of people willing to share their own goods.
To better understand the impact of place, we met, photographed and interviewed 200 people from 30 countries. Their stories are inspiring, fascinating and diverse, but three countries stood out. They encapsulated the trends, opinions and impacts that we found worldwide: the UK, Greece and India.
SHARING: IN THE UK
When it comes to Sharing, despite our British reserve, we’re a pretty forthright bunch. The UK makes up a third of all Sharing activity across Europe, with 64% of us already participating in online and offline Sharing, from cars and clothes to food. 80% believe Sharing makes us happy and 83% say we’d share even more if it was easier. This propensity to share, as history tells us, is indigenous. 1761 saw ‘The Society of Weavers’ set up the first cooperative organisation of the industrial age in the Ayrshire village of Fenwick. By 1831, shared ownership models proved so popular in Britain that the first national cooperative congress was held in Manchester, paving the way for the establishment of the much-celebrated ‘Equitable Pioneers Co-operative Society’, in Rochdale.
But it’s not just shared ownership that gets the Brits going. When we need to raise cash, we’re partial to a collective ‘whip round’ – a forerunner to crowdfunding perhaps?
Does Age Matter?
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Book:
- Generation Share
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 26 April 2023
- Print publication:
- 17 June 2019, pp 25-88
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Summary
In the beginning, the people creating the Sharing Economy and driving it (some quite literally) were millennials, most aged 25–34, middle class, educated, looking for experiences, adventure and a desire to belong. I called them ‘Generation Share’, a global peer group, connected via technology, united by sharing resources and driven by possibility.
Research showed that of the world’s 2.68 billion millennials, 73% saw the Sharing Economy as important to them,7 preferring to access rather than own goods. With most Sharers having a degree or other qualifications and earning over $100,0008 a year, the Sharing Economy, it seemed, was a young thing, an educated thing and, most certainly, a middle-class thing.
Fast forward to 2019 and ‘Generation Share’ has grown well beyond its early, hip, millennial adopters. Now over 28% of the global adult population are participating,9 with 25% of Sharing Economy service providers being over 55.10 Participation rates of over 55s on some sharing sites has grown over 375% in the past year11 and adults aged 55–64 choosing renting, sharing and swapping over ownership has increased 80% in the past 12 years. Millennials may still form the largest group of Sharers, but the Sharing Economy has certainly spread outside of its earlier demographic leanings.
So is there a link between age and sharing? Does why, what and how we share vary as we age? When it comes to Sharing, does age matter?
Generation Y (Millennials)
Millennials think they can change the world, but they know they can’t do this alone. They are connected from birth. They have the tools, mindset and passion to use technology for social good.
Inés Echevarria, crowdfunder, Barcelona
They’ve been vilified and judged, they’re the largest peer group in the US and India, and they’ve garnered more attention than any other generation. But go beyond the stereotypes and the tabloid headlines and you’ll find that the global cohort first coined ‘millennials’ by William Strauss and Neil Howe,12 (born between 1982 and 2004), brought us the ‘Sharing Economy’ in the first place. Millennials are natural born Sharers: they see that the road to consumption is paved with destruction; they recognise that the accumulation of stuff doesn’t make us happier or healthier but brings heartache, for people and planet.
Our Sponsor
- Benita Matofska, Sophie Sheinwald
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- Book:
- Generation Share
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 26 April 2023
- Print publication:
- 17 June 2019, pp 14-15
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Summary
Angela Laws is the 72-year-old social media and community manager at TrustedHousesitters, representing the heart and soul of this Sharing community. Angela has been with the company from the very beginning, combining her love for pet sitting with her full-time job. TrustedHousesitters is a membership-based house and pet sitting platform bringing together a worldwide community of home and pet owners and pet-loving sitters. Now in over 130 countries, TrustedHousesitters has helped make Generation Share possible by being our global sponsor.
We’re delighted to sponsor Generation Share, spreading the word that we are here to enable our community to share an exchange of value and trust.
Travelling owners share their homes and pets and, in doing so, pet lovers are able to travel more while pets stay happy at home. TrustedHousesitters is a unique platform, built on pure sharing. No money changes hands between members, it’s a completely altruistic arrangement. That’s the beauty of it. This is a community that builds friendships around the world, connecting like-minded animal lovers.
I started pet sitting as a way to heal after losing my beloved dog, Holly. My first sit was for a cocker spaniel, Charlie, who belonged to a young widow. She’d lost her husband to cancer and didn’t want to put Charlie into kennels, so I looked after him while she went away on business. It was the most cathartic thing I had ever done. I wanted animals in my life, but I knew the time wasn’t right for me to have another pet of my own. Sitting helped me find joy again.
Not long after, a young man called Andy Peck contacted me. He was starting TrustedHousesitters based on the idea that he would build a community of pet lovers that adored animals so much, they would care for them for free. Connecting with people just like me with a passion for animals, helping people and sharing trust – I had to be involved.
TrustedHousesitters doesn’t just help dog and cat owners, we help all creatures great and small. We share this planet with animals; we don’t own it and we should look at them as beings to be kept safe, whether in the wild or at home.