DisCO Governance

The DisCO Governance model is an extensive reworking of an orphaned open source governance protocol. It was developed and put into practice by Guerrilla Media Collective (GMC), the Spain-based cooperative focusing on language and communications services, which became the first DisCO LAB. In 2018, a group of experts on decentralized/non-hierarchical organizations, facilitation, peer governance, distributed tech and mutualized finance were invited to help reimagine the model, which resulted in a new version: The Distributed Cooperative Organization Governance and Economic Model.

Here is a brief overview. Co-op members are owners and shareholders, each holding different types of shares in the collective. These correspond to value-tracked pro bono and livelihood work, as well as reproductive or care work (see below). Shares in these three types of work determine how much is paid on a monthly basis. The money to pay shares come from the productive work performed by the co-op’s worker-owners, which is accounted for in internal credits (1 credit = 1 unit of applicable currency or income), creating shares. Using the example of GMC, the shares accrued by co-op members correspond to the work done in these three areas of value: 

‍Paid work performed for outside clients who are invoiced by GMC as an agency. We call this the “livelihood work” stream.

‍Pro-bono work in a DisCO’s specific productive area. For example, members of GMC choose articles to translate pro-bono based on their enthusiasm and how the material aligns with their values. These translations are presented in Guerrilla Translation’s websites, with the consent of, but at no cost to, the authors. These translations create an open knowledge commons. This is described as the “love work” stream.

‍Care work which, as explained in the 5th DisCO principle includes “caring for the collective and its social mission” ensuring that all the collective’s administrative, communication and economic needs are cared for, and “caring for the humans that make up the collective”.

These are proportionally accounted for and treated as shares, and are the basis for the distributions of income. Note that the same value metrics are used for both types of productive work (in this case, translations). DisCO’s model of income distribution diverts a portion of paid work towards the pro-bono work previously performed by members. Net funds held on account are distributed on a monthly basis: 75% to pay members’ agency (livelihood) shares, and the remaining 25% pays for pro bono (love) shares.

Meanwhile, reproductive work is tallied in hours and distributed according to each member’s ratio of benefits vs. contributions. These Care Work hours dynamically affect the 75/25 Livelihood/Love split described above. Members who performed fewer care hours while earning more in the Livelihood/Agency or Love/Pro-bono streams will have a proportional deduction from their pay. Those adjustments are redistributed towards those contributing more care hours. 

In practice, this means that if all members perform roughly the same amount of care work over a month, the 75-25% split on Livelihood and Love shares will remain intact. Any imbalances are immediately compensated. The system enables flexibility and fair compensation toward activities that each DisCO values as essential for their health and reproduction.

To show how the model can be applied in real world situations, we’ve created this infographic:

File:Https://elements.disco.coop/images/DisCO Elements GovernanceModel-1.jpgFile:Https://elements.disco.coop/images/DisCO Elements GovernanceModel-2.jpg

DisCOnomics does it differently

‍This type of share-holding is in contrast to that found in a corporation. While shareholders in a corporation accrue power through money, the DisCO model treats power differently. DisCOs value forms of power, understood as “shared capacity to act” and “collective strength” centered around work undertaken for the commons.13 A corporation employs wage labor to produce profit-maximizing commodities through privately owned and managed productive infrastructures. By contrast, DisCOs work together for social and environmental purposes while also creating commons and building community, locally and/or globally. The model allows members to choose to do work that they consider value-aligned, and therefore, worthwhile. This is how DisCOs model a practice of economic resistance.

Various things are accomplished through this method. First, all members can gain income for both types of productive work, whether pro-bono or paid for by a client. Second, nobody has to compete internally for paid work versus the equally important pro-bono and care work. All three types of work are equally valued within a DisCO. Other variations, such as having several tiers of external pricing adjusted to align with means-based criteria, are also possible.14 For example, clients with the greatest financial means who are aligned with the DisCO’s principles and values, and who wish to provide support for developing its mission, are offered the top tier rate. Extra income from this level of client payment goes directly toward repaying the collective’s internal pro-bono shares (this additional income is also used to offset the cost for work performed for clients in the “solidarity tier,” i.e., value-aligned small organizations with minimal or inadequate budgets). This sliding scale helps nurture relationships and supports collectives and initiatives with the least financial means, creating better and fairer access to the DisCO’s services.15