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In the spring of 2014, the sharing economy held an unusual gathering in San Francisco, a sort of “coming out” party. Entitled “SHARE,” the conference included not only founders, funders and fans of the sharing economy, but also harsh critics. Politically progressive insiders and outsiders raised questions about access, exclusion and the distribution of value in the sector. They discussed their vision of a fairer, lower-carbon, more transparent, participatory and socially connected economy, and whether those goals are consistent with the actions of the large, moneyed players—the successful platforms and the venture capitalists who are backing them with vast sums of finance. More recently, a key figure from the French sharing economy think tank OuiShare stated at their annual conference in Paris that “the sharing economy is over” as it did not live up its initial promises (De Grave 2016).

It is clear that the sharing …