Michel Bauwens (born 21 March 1958) is a Belgian theorist in the emerging field of peer-to-peer (P2P) collaboration, writer, and conference speaker on the subject of technology, culture and business innovation. Bauwens founded the P2P Foundation, a global organization of researchers working in open collaboration in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property.^[1] He has authored a number of essays, including his thesis The Political Economy of Peer Production.^[2]

Bauwens regularly lectures internationally on P2P theory, the resource commons and their potential for social change, taking a materialistic-conceptual approach.

In the first semester of 2014 Bauwens was research director with the FLOK Society (Free Libre Open Knowledge) at the National Institute of Advanced Studies of Ecuador (IAEN).^[3] The FLOK Society developed a first of its kind Commons Transition Plan for the Ecuadorian government. Over fifteen policy papers the plan outlines policy proposals for transitioning Ecuador to what is described as a social knowledge economy based on the creation and support of open knowledge commons. One version of the plan is available online.

He currently lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand.