Cosmolocalism
A Framework for Building Sustainable Network State Economies
“What happens when an industry transitions from using one or more 'smart' and centralized networks to using a common, decentralized, open, and dumb network? A tsunami of innovation that was pent up for decades is suddenly released.”
-Andreas Antonopoulos
Nation-states are inefficient; their governance mechanisms are outdated, corruptible, and failure-prone. They face disruption from decentralized technologies and parallel societies, especially network states. As a result, legacy governance institutions may cede power and territory. However, for network states to succeed, they will require fault-tolerant economic structures.
One such structure is cosmolocalism, which combines global knowledge-sharing with local production. By leveraging open-source knowledge and distributed manufacturing, cosmolocalism is a scalable and antifragile economic scheme.
Typically, governments could resist cosmolocal startups because they would emerge inside national borders, leaving them vulnerable to regulatory scrutiny. Platforms like Google or Amazon could also muscle them out of the market by revoking their hosting or undermining their business.
With the emergence of network states, cosmo-local startups may be able to operate more freely while unlocking new business opportunities. Anyone involved in network states should comprehend this model. Let us explore it more granularly.
DGML
Cosmolocalism can be summarized with the acronym “DGML,” or design globally and manufacture locally.
Jose Ramos generally describes it as a new economic model in which what is light (knowledge, design, software) is global and what is heavy (production, manufacturing) is local.
Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation, envisioned cosmo-localism as an economy where communities utilize open-source designs, digital fabrication, and commons-based governance to achieve self-sufficiency. According to Bauwens, “Cosmolocalism proposes a relocalization of material production, so a move away from a lot of world trade, coupled with a global cooperation through ‘organized networks with commons’, i.e. ‘everything that is heavy is local, everything that is light is global and shared’."
Cosmolocalism can also be considered a “post-capitalist” solution to undo endless amounts of corporate waste and excess. It has the potential to surpass previous governance and economic structures, behaving like a prototype for a more efficient economy that accounts for the best capitalist and socialist outputs. In other words, it transitions us beyond the confines of socialism and capitalism.
Two key principles guide this transition:
Global Knowledge Commons, Local Production — Knowledge, design, and intellectual resources should be shared globally as digital commons. In contrast, physical production should be localized to reduce the environmental footprint and enhance regional self-sufficiency.
Distributed, Open-Source Innovation — Open collaboration and decentralized networks allow communities to co-create solutions tailored to their local needs while benefiting from global expertise and shared knowledge.
This approach negates traditional models by ensuring that communities maintain sovereignty over production and governance rather than depending on monolithic organizations. Let us explore how network states interact with cosmolocalism.
Network States
Network states are digital-first communities that embrace pluralistic governance frameworks to establish political independence. Unlike traditional nation-states, network states often operate in a more decentralized fashion, relying on p2p tech for decision-making and organization. However, network states face challenges that could threaten their long-term viability.
Self-sustainability remains a primary concern, as these emerging communities must establish economic resilience without relying on the traditional sector. Governance poses another hurdle — maintaining social cohesion without a centralized authority demands innovative models that balance autonomy with sensemaking.
Additionally, resource allocation is a pressing issue, as network states must develop resilient architectures rather than depend on fragile supply chains, which can be vulnerable to disruption.
Cosmolocalism provides a framework to address such challenges.
Sovereignty via Cosmolocalism
By fostering decentralized governance, network states can achieve autonomy while ensuring cooperation among their members. Economic independence becomes attainable through localized, high-tech manufacturing that leverages digital fabrication, minimizing reliance on supply chains.
Furthermore, cosmolocalism allows network states to stay agile, integrating global knowledge while tailoring solutions to a specific context. Combining international expertise and localized implementation enables network states to evolve rapidly. This combination emboldens the creation of self-sufficient polities.
The following are active cosmo-local initiatives that could empower the network state movement. Network state entrepreneurs should explore these and other integration options.
Case Studies and Prototypes
Several real-world enterprises illustrate the potential of cosmolocalism in a network state ecosystem:
WikiHouse and Open-Source Cities:
WikiHouse provides open-source blueprints for modular housing, enabling communities to build sustainable dwellings without reliance on centralized construction firms.
Smart Villages and Fab Cities:
Initiatives like Barcelona’s Fab City movement promote self-sufficient urban communities using distributed fabrication and open-source design.
Gitcoin and Quadratic Funding:
Gitcoin funds public goods through decentralized crowdfunding, demonstrating how network states can finance local initiatives while maintaining global collaboration.
Maker Markets:
Maker Markets are decentralized, peer-driven economic systems where individuals or small entities create, customize, and trade goods or services directly, often leveraging digital platforms, blockchain technology, and open-source tools.
These examples indicate that cosmo-local strategies work at varying scales, offering blueprints for network states. So, what are the implications?
Cosmo-Local Designs, Extractivism, and Challenges
Network states that adopt cosmolocalism transcend top-down nation-state governance. Rather than hierarchical bureaucracies, governance can become modular, open-source, and community-driven. This change enables network states to:
Reduce economic dependencies on external factors.
Foster sustainable economic models based on commons-based peer production.
By combining global collaboration with local self-determination, network states preserve cultural heterogeneity while benefiting from global knowledge.
However, challenges such as open-source extractivism (where powerful entities exploit open knowledge without reciprocation) must be addressed through healthy governance frameworks.
An example of this kind of extractivism occurs within the Ethereum blockchain. It is called MEV (maximal extractable value) and is an ongoing problem. MEV occurs when a validator in the ecosystem changes the production order of a block within the blockchain so they can maximize the fee value they derive from validation activity. This situation constitutes the exploitation of “open source” transactional knowledge on a blockchain, whereby powerful validators are able to manipulate it for their own gain.
Similar forms of exploitation could arise within the decentralized knowledge-sharing networks. This represents a new form of “capture.” The p2p Foundation suggested that cosmolocalism must be safeguarded from corporate capture, ensuring that its principles of open access and local empowerment remain intact. In this sense, network states should anticipate various challenges to implementing cosmo-local designs.
Challenges with Cosmolocalism
Despite its promise, cosmo-local designs face several hurdles that must be addressed to become viable.
One major challenge is coordination: Decentralized communities must find ways to avoid Moloch Traps, where misaligned incentives lead to self-destructive competition and decision paralysis. Without robust mechanisms for governance, resource allocation, and conflict resolution, cosmo-local networks risk fragmentation and inefficiency.
Another key issue is scalability. While localized, decentralized production can be highly adaptive and resilient. Questions remain about whether cosmolocalism can scale to meet the demands of large, complex economies. Traditional economies benefit from economies of scale, centralized logistics, and industrial efficiency — advantages that distributed models may struggle to replicate. To compete, cosmolocal systems must develop distributed manufacturing networks, automation strategies, and interoperable standards that allow them to scale without sacrificing core principles.
Institutional resistance also presents a formidable challenge: Existing political and economic structures are designed around centralized models of production, regulation, and taxation. Integrating cosmolocal frameworks into legacy governance systems requires not only technological adaptation but also legal and regulatory innovation. Policymakers, businesses, and network states must be willing to experiment with new models of public-private collaboration, governance, and alternative economic incentives.
Addressing these challenges demands continued research, technological innovation, and institutional experimentation. By refining governance structures, developing scalable production methods, and fostering policy adaptations (especially within special economic zones), cosmolocalism moves from an aspirational ideal to a transformative economic force.
A Cosmolocal Future
As network states emerge as a new paradigm for governance and sovereignty, cosmolocalism can provide a robust foundation for novel economic and social configurations. Network states can achieve resilience, sustainability, and autonomy by harnessing global intelligence while fostering local self-sufficiency.
Polis Labs is at the vanguard of this transformation and is beginning to explore how network states can integrate cosmolocal principles into governance, economy, and social organization.
There are plenty of challenges ahead, but it seems clear that the nation-state and other legacy structures are almost certainly relinquishing power. This is a clarion call for entrepreneurs and social architects to embrace the incoming tsunami of innovation and change. Contact Polis Labs if you want to find ways to work together or learn more.