Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons

By E. Macrae. 2017

150 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons. By David Bollier. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2014. 192 pp. ISBN 9780865717688.What do agriculture in India and urban planning in Croatia have in common? In Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons, David Bollier brings together examples of co-operative practices from around the world to show how the idea of the commons can transform social relations, challenge economic assumptions, and tackle climate change. Bollier is an author and activist whose research draws on his experiences as a policy strategist and grassroots organizer. Despite Bollier's extensive insider engagement with collective endeavours, Think Like a Commoner provides an approachable overview of the commons for the general public by using accessible language and maintaining a conversational tone. Although academics may find the book light on theory, activists will be empowered by the focus on practice.Think Like a Commoner is divided into eleven chapters. Each chapter consists of a self-contained argument and could easily be read alone, but the chapters also build on one another to create a more sophisticated narrative. The book is premised on the idea that everyone has an instinctual understanding of what constitutes the commons. As a result, Bollier does not provide an overarching definition of the commons. Instead, he builds on the concept throughout the book, suggesting early on that the commons is both "things that no one owns and are shared by everyone" (Bollier, 2014, p. 2) and "a parallel economy and social order that quietly but confidently affirms that another world is possible" (p. 4).The lack of a single, authoritative definition allows Bollier to launch into examples of contemporary commons in Chapter 1. This, however, presents conceptual challenges later in the book. In Chapter 2, Bollier revisits Garrett Hardin's seminal article "The Tragedy of the Commons." Hardin's account of catastrophic mismanagement has defined mainstream understandings of the commons since its publication in 1968. In contrast, Bollier argues that the situation described by Hardin is not a true commons because resource use is not governed by social norms. The next three chapters expose the legacy of the tragedy of the commons and show how the privatization of natural resources paved the way for control of cultural assets and intellectual inquiry. Chapter 6 looks at the neglected history of the commons, while Chapter 7 elaborates on the challenges of private property. Chapters 8 and 9 focus on the commons in areas ranging from digital innovation to Indigenous traditions. Although at times these clusters of ideas seem arbitrary, Bollier resists the urge to categorize the commons, explaining that "any classification system will necessarily reflect the analysts' cultural bias" (2014, p. 127). A similar hesitancy to establish a system of thought characterizes the final two chapters of the book. Chapter 10 is devoted to the ways that embracing the commons could change the way we think, and Chapter 11 argues that theories of the commons have not kept pace with an explosion of practices in diverse domains.Think Like a Commoner is a tangible representation of the focus on practice over theory. For instance, Bollier explains how the book is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, and the appendices incorporate content from other works also under Creative Commons licenses. In essence, these licenses permit content to be used as long as credit is given to the author and derivative uses remain legally shareable. By drawing attention to the agreements that encourage his ideas to be shared, Bollier grounds his work in a concrete commitment to the inclusive and commons-based exchange of knowledge. …

Subfields: General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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