The Commons, Short and Sweet | David Bollier
I am always trying to figure out how to explain the idea of the commons to newcomers who find it hard to grasp. In preparation for a talk that I gave at the Caux Forum for Human Security, near Montreux, Switzerland, I came up with a fairly short overview, which I have copied below. I think it gets to the nub of things.
How Commons can flourish
The following eight reference points are the result of intensive debates at the first German Sommerschool on the Commons, which took place in Bechstedt/Thuringia in June 2012. They aim to interpret…
Elinor Ostrom’s 8 rules for managing the commons
The commons are those things that we all own together, that are neither privately owned, nor managed by the government on our behalf. Some are large scale and somewhat abstract, such as the English…
Will Ruddick on "Commitment Pooling" to Build Economic Commons | David Bollier
An alternate ending to the tragedy of the commons
I recently read Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons and have been evangelizing it so enthusiastically that I figured I’d do a quick…
New to the Commons? | David Bollier
If you’re coming to the commons for the first time, it can be difficult to grok the idea because there are so many different ways to understand the commons. That’s because the commons is not so much a fixed, universal thing as a general concept describing durable, dynamic sets of social relationships for managing resources -- all sorts of resources: digital, urban, natural, indigenous, rural, cultural, scientific, to use some crude categories.
The tragedy of the commons is a false and dangerous myth | Aeon Essays
Far from being profoundly destructive, we humans have deep capacities for sharing resources with generosity and foresight
Think Like a Commoner | A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons
In our age of predatory markets and make-believe democracy, our troubled political institutions have lost sight of real people and practical realities. But if you look to the edges, ordinary people are reinventing governance and provisioning on their own terms. The commons is arising as a serious, practical alternative to the corrupt Market/State.
Reinventing Commons Governance in Modern Times | David Bollier
I gave the following remarks about commons governance on September 27 as part of the U!REKA Lab Lecture Series. U!REKA -- which stands for Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance -- is a consortium of eight European universities that studies urban commons. The subtitle of my talk was "Find Answers by Living the Questions."
A Revised “Ostrom’s Design Principles for Collective Governance of the Commons
A Revised “Ostrom’s Design Principles for Collective Governance of the Commons” The traditional economic definition of “the commons” are those resources...
2022 Australian Federal Election Analysis
The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.
Elections and Activism: Campaign Skills
The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.
Deep Roots, Real Power: Candid Stories from the Field
The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.
10 Tips from GetUp's Decade of Campaigning
The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.
Elections and Activism: Case Studies
The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.
Winning The Next Climate Fight
The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.
