Emerging Commons

Abstract

This special issue explores the idea of commons, placing it in a theoretical but also richly empirical context. In this introductory article, we highlight the depth and diversity of the scholarship on commons represented in this issue. Drawing from the articles that follow, we examine a range of commons that share a dependency upon the collective and local ownership of land, resources or ideas, held in an often communal manner and sometimes in opposition to private property. We begin by returning to land as the original locus of commons and trace the importance of issues of public space and public access. In moving beyond a land-based and unitary conception of commons, we analyse the emergence of richer understandings of commons, divorced from physical or geographical entities -cultural and historical commons, and environmental commons including the idea of a 'Global Commons'. In these different settings, we consider how the idea of 'the commons' can work as a signifier -of resistance, community, collective action and common values.

Beyond Tragedy: Differential Commoning in a Manufactured Housing Cooperative

“…Long a historical referent of communal grazing land in fifteenth century England, the concept of “the commons” has more recently been revitalized in contexts associated with a wide range of collective resources, relations, and activities. While there is no unifying definition of “the commons”, at a basic level it has been described as “the collective and local ownership of land, resources, or ideas, held in an often communal manner, sometimes in opposition to private property ” (Holder and Flessas :300, emphasis added). It is this potential to exist outside of, or in opposition to, private property, that Garret Hardin contests in his (in)famous article, “The Tragedy of the Commons”.…”

Commoning: on the social organisation of the commons

“…As new forms of enclosure emerge from the machinations of global capitalism (through global trade agreements and legislation on intellectual property rights, for example), social movements are forming and establishing connections across national boundaries to protect their livelihoods (Goldman, 1998). The contemporary significance of the commons in the struggles against global capitalism is suggested by the proliferation of 'commons', be they global, digital, creative or cultural, as sites of resistance (Holder and Flessas, 2008). What emerges from this brief review is that whilst the commons have endured, they have also come under increasing pressure from capitalism.…”

“…Some people use the concept of social commons (for example, care for the sick, the elderly and children and clean water provision) or of intellectual and cultural commons (for example, music, creative skills, technologies and scientific concepts) (e.g. Holder and Flessas, 2008;Nonini, 2006). As Agrawal (2002) suggests, throughout much of the 20th century, theoretical and empirical studies of common property tended, implicitly if not explicitly, to portray commons arrangements as antiquated.…”

Plataformas virtuales: ¿Herramientas para el aprendizaje? Las diferencias entre ADAN y EVA

“…En el caso de ADAN la gestión no recae sobre un estudiante sino sobre una comisión administradora de alumnos de la plataforma, quienes pueden hacer un rápido seguimiento a las demandas de sus pares porque gestionan tiempo y "bienes comunes" (SUBIRATS, 2012(SUBIRATS, , 2013BARBIERI, 2014;HOLDER;FLESSAS, 2008;OSTROM, 1990;BENKLER, 2006) en beneficio de la comunidad. Barbieri (2014, p. 111) esquematiza la idea de los bienes comunes como:…”