Commons

More and more people are bringing the concept of the commons into the social discussion in search of alternatives to our economic model. As a contribution to this discussion, the Heinrich Böll Foundation has published two anthologies.

Last published: "Free, fair, and alive: the insurgent power of the commons" from Silke Helfrich and David Bollier, published with the support of the Foundation.

Recent articles

Last published

Free, fair, and alive: the insurgent power of the commons

Book

Ambitious, sophisticated, and resolutely grounded in everyday realities, "Free, Fair and Alive" present a compelling vision of a future that can actually work. Written by two highly experienced commons activists, this book is at once a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook for building a new world of commoning.

Commoning is at bottom a process by which we enter into a participatory culture and can sketch an idea of how we want to live together as a society.
Silke Helfrich & David Bollier

Free, Fair and Alive – The Insurgent Power of the Commons - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Video: What are Commons?

What are Commons? (english) - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Commons is about reclaiming, sharing and self-governing resources that belong to everyone. 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!

Further publications

The Wealth of the Commons

The Wealth of the Commons is about history, political change, public policy and cultural transformation on a global scale – but most of all, it’s about commoners taking charge of their lives and their endangered resources. It’s about common people doing uncommon things.

Patterns of Commoning

More than sixty frontline activists, academics and project leaders from twenty countries explain how commoning is empowering people to challenge the deep pathologies of contemporary capitalism and invent powerful, participatory alternatives. A special series of essays explores the inner dynamics of commoning - its ethics, social practices and worldview - to explain why the building of new worlds starts from within.

Further topic

For 200 years we've been building a gigantic worldwide machine for permanent economic growth. But it is not fulfilling its promise of prosperity, and exceeding the planet’s ecological limits. Together with Attac Germany we have made this film about the permanent economic growth, which breaks the ecological limits of the earth and makes it uninhabitable. A fundamental change is not only necessary, but possible.

 

The Growth Machine - Global Justice Now

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Dossiers