Discover "The insurgent power of the Commons & the crisis of imagination," a captivating episode of the Ecologia podcast in partnership with the Heinrich Boell Foundation Tunis. Explore the potential of the Commons to shape a sustainable future!

The world of commoning represents a profound challenge to capitalism because it is based on a very different ontology. Many of us have internalized the language of separation and individualism

A very important figure in debunking the myth of the “tragedy of the commons”, was political scientist and political economist, Elinor Ostrom. She was the first woman to win the Nobel prize in economics. She received this prize for her extensive research on patterns of successful commons governance.

Conventional economists have long seen the commons as an inventory of resources that are free for the taking, or that can potentially be owned and shared by all, such as the oceans, the atmosphere, outer space, the Internet. The focus is on commons as a resource or property, and not on commoning.

A resource does not equal a commons. It is only when a community engages in processes of commoning, that a commons emerges.

These keypoints are based on David Bollier’s article, “The Commons, Short and Sweet” (2011).  The commons is a social system for the long-term stewardship of resources that preserves shared values and community identity.  

While the term the commons is often read as a noun referring to things that can be shared – such as the sea, the internet, or land – it is actually much more helpful to understand the commons as a verb.