Introduction

An epoch in modern history has ended. The growth imperative of market capitalism is evidently endangering the ecosystem. Confidence in governments as reliable steward of people's interests has been shaken. Therefore, a new path forward is coming into focus: The commons! The commons is about reclaiming, sharing and self-governing resources that belong to everyone. As a form of governance it is defending traditional or building new social and institutional systems for managing our resources – water and land, knowledge and seeds, genes and the atmosphere – based on the principles of equity and sustainability. The commons is a practical means for re-inventing society in ways that markets and governments are unable or unwilling to entertain. Commons does not mean resources alone are centre stage, of higher importance are the relationships among us, the commoners, our ways of commoning!

Conference Documentation

International Commons Conference 2010

The multidisciplinary international conference took place in November 2010 and brought together about 150 leading figures in commons-based studies and activism. The participants shared their understandings of the commons, explored the range of commons-based policy and forged a new network of commoners. Here you find texts and interviews documenting the event. more»

Publication

The Commons - Prosperity by Sharing

October 29, 2010 - This report attempts to explore the potential of the commons if they are used wisely and sustainably. It delves into the reasons why so many commons are threatened and examines the rules that can help protect the commons from ruin. This article provides also a french version of the report. By Silke Helfrich, Rainer Kuhlen, Wolfgang Sachs, Christian Siefkes more»

Beyond State Capitalism: The Commons Economy in our Lifetimes

- October 29, 2010 - In considering the essential problem of how to produce and distribute material wealth, virtually all of the great economists in Western history have ignored the significance of the commons - the shared resources of nature and society that people inherit, create and utilize.  By James Bernard Quilligan more»

The new triarchy: the commons, enterprise, the state

- 29. Oktober 2010 - It is customary to divide society into three sectors, and what we want to show is how the new peer to peer dynamic unleashed by networked infrastructures, changes the inter-relationship between these three sectors.  mehr»

Manifesto

Strengthen the Commons – Now!

- Awareness of the commons requires a fundamental shift in thinking about the foundations of society. It means using, sharing, and multiplying our common wealth in a free and self-determined way. Our society needs a great debate and a worldwide movement for the commons. Now!
By Yochai Benkler more»

Video

David Bollier - The Commons as a New/Old Paradigm of Governance, Policy, and Political Action

April 26, 2013 - While at the American Academy as a Bosch Public Policy fellow in fall 2012, David A. Bollier produced a strategy memorandum as a foundation for further action in the commons world. His December 4 lecture spoke to the continuing appeal of the Commons, which stems both from a critique of neoliberal economics and policy, as well as from its practical systems for managing value.  more»

Audio

Lawrence Lessig on Copyright Wars

- Prof. Lawrence Lessig spoke at the Heinrich Böll Foundation's "Spielstand Spezial" event on Copyright Wars. Enjoyment and Discomfort in a Digital Culture. more»

Hope from the Margins

April 18, 2013 - In the south of Mexico people are regenerating the society from the bottom up. It is a new kind of revolution without leaders or vanguards, which goes beyond development and globalization. It is about displacing the economy from the center of social life, reclaiming a communal way of being, encouraging radical pluralism, and advancing towards real democracy. Gustavo Esteva more»

The Economy of Wastefulness: The Biology of the Commons

- April 17, 2013 - There is an all-enclosing commons-economy which has been successful for billions of years: The biosphere is neither efficient nor does it know property. Nature embodies the commons paradigm par excellence and can therefore provide us with a powerful methodology of the commons as a natural and social ecology. Andreas Weber more»

Share or Die – A Challenge for Our Times

- April 17, 2013 - In the past, we tended to see cities as dirty, unnatural, and isolating places; today, citizens and urban planners alike are starting to see their potential for generating widespread well-being at low financial and environmental cost. People want the streets to make room for pedestrians and bicyclists, and for civic engagement and for sharing.  Neal Gorenflo more»

Transition Towns: Initiatives of Transformation

- April 18, 2013 - Today there are more than 500 “official” Transition Town initiatives in more than 38 countries, and several thousand more are in the process of formation in many cities, towns and regions across the world. But what is it that makes the Transition model so attractive for so many extremely different people and cultures? Gerd Wessling more»

The Global Land Grab: The New Enclosures

- April 17, 2013 - Clearly possession is no more sufficient today than it was for the English villagers of the 17th and 18th centuries of enclosure. Only legal recognition of commons as the communal property of communities, author Liz Alden Wily finds, is sufficient to afford real protection. Liz Alden Wily more»