Commons: Self-organized Provisioning as Social Movements (original) (raw)
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The Commons: A Social Form That Allows for Degrowth and Sustainability
Capitalism Nature Socialism, 2019
This theoretical article opens with the reconstruction of a value-critical argument which claims that capitalism is a form of society that is structurally unsustainable. The reason for this is the need for ever-increasing value production which stems from the core of capitalism (the commodity form, competition, profit maximization, private production) and its internal and external limits. Based on this, the article calls for a fundamental social transformation and positions the commons as a social form that has the potential to replace the commodity form as societal foundation. Constituted by social practices (commoning) that are based on voluntariness, autonomy and needs- satisfaction, commons do not have an inbuilt growth compulsion. Therefore, the article concludes, the commons may enable humanity to deal with the question of sustainability on the basis of social structures that include the possibility of a solution.
Social Justice The Struggle for Commons
It is so easy to talk about social justice, yet, so difficult to achieve it! In fact, our world today is faced with two major challenges: ecological destruction and the social question. What I want to explain very briefly in this paper, is how the concept of commons and the practice of commoning, can help to find solutions. Both problems are closely linked to each other, and are closely linked to democracy, that is the way citizens can govern and shape their world and give direction to the policies that are needed to preserve our planet and sustain the livelihoods of people.
Introduction: No Place for the Commons
The Minnesota Review, 2019
This article introduces the dossier "Is There a Place for the Commons?" by briefly explaining the concepts of the common (no s) and the commons (with an s) in terms of their philosophical, political, social, and historical trajectories. It examines the tension between the universalizing aspiration of the common as a political project and the particular social situations of the commons. It emphasizes the commons as praxis, that is, as a practice that takes place in the world without being reducible to place. In doing so, it also considers the vexed relationship between the commons and state sovereignty, the way in which the common functions as a placeholder for revolutionary subjectivity, the significance of ecology for the commons and vice versa, and the importance of queer, indigenous, feminist, and minoritarian commons for understanding what it means "to common" within and against capitalism.
We live in the midst of a social and economic crisis, one of the worst in capitalism's history; at the same time the environmental crisis, according to the predictions of the vast majority of scientists, is approaching catastrophe. Neither states nor markets seem able to offer solutions. On the contrary, many believe that they are the main sources of these crises. It is in this context that talks of – and social movements for – commons have become not only increasingly commonplace, but also increasingly relevant. In general terms, the commons are social systems in which resources are shared by a community of users/producers, who also defi ne the modes of use and production, distribution and circulation of these resources through democratic and horizontal forms of governance. Such commons are not utopias, if nothing else because they exist and are produced vis-à-vis a social force – capital – that often demands their co-optation , if not enclosure. In this chapter we will examine various conceptualizations of commons, tracing a brief history of commons thinking in the process, before concluding that commons are essential to both capital and anti-capitalist social movements – and will therefore be a key focus of social antagonism over the next century.
Social Revolution and the Commons
South Atlantic Quarterly, 2014
What does it mean to say no to a capitalist social system that has the power to put life to work for its own development and, in so doing, shapes subjectivities, horizons, architectures, urban and rural spaces, life rhythms, ecologies, and polities in its own image? This question arises with particular urgency in the midst of one of the deepest capitalist crises, with its catastrophic social and ecological consequences. This article argues that the answer to our question resides ultimately in a particular type of social power, one that recomposes the social practice of the commons to achieve autonomy from capital, especially and initially in matters of social reproduction (food, health, care, housing, knowledge, and education).
Commons against and beyond capitalism
Community Development Journal, 2014
This essay contrasts the logic underlining the production of 'commons' with the logic of capitalist relations, and describes the conditions under which 'commons' become the seeds of a society beyond state and market. It also warns against the danger that 'commons' may be coopted to provide low-cost forms of reproduction, and discusses how this outcome can be prevented. 'Commons' is becoming a ubiquitous presence in the political, economic and even real estate language of our time. Left and Right, neo-liberals and neo-Keynesians, conservatives and anarchists use the concept in their political interventions. The World Bank has embraced it requiring, in April 2012, Zapatista women working in a common garden (photo by George Caffentzis)
Nature of Commons and its Challenges
There exist and existed numerous number of commons, such as certain types of pasture, coastal fishery, forests, hydraulic facilities for agricultural irrigation, etc., not only geographically today but also historically in the past on this globe. The concept of the commons is defined as a common-pool resources (CPRs) management system, where relevant resources of commons are managed under autonomous governance consisting members who have formal or informal right of access, resulting in sustainability of those resources. Commons are usually structured in accordance with Ostrom’s design principles found in long-enduring CPR institutions. Regarding climate change, working of commons in the natural environment or natural capital plays an essential role of ‘social common capital’ whose well-maintaining is crucial for sustainability of human society, including abating global warming. In this presentation after clarifying commons in general in terms of nature of resources, surrounding social environments, decision-making patterns and management methods, and socio-economic outcomes, some illustrative cases of commons located in Japan are to be explained. Important conditions are observed, which contribute to sustaining individual commons. They are: (1) Main resource of each common is mostly scarce in the community and at the same time indispensable factor for daily living and subsistence. (2) Commons should acquire explicit/implicit recognition by surrounding societies/parties and retain legitimacy. (3) The size of commons should be as large as the extent where members can observe others’ actions and trace their context. That means that monitoring is easy and commons are managed autonomously by their members. (4) Commons members hold ecological knowledge relating such commons upon traditions or from historical knowledge accumulations. (5) Equity of resources among members should be kept. Commons exist on the delicate balance of several factors and conditions. Commons face challenges as surrounding conditions changes. Drastic technological change sometimes nullifies the necessity of existence of commons. However in many cases commons transform themselves to adapt to the changes and establish new forms and legitimacy.