Reclaim the Gobal Commons

This blog was originally written and posted for the Civicus World Assembly.


There is a movement rising that seeks to organize the world in a new (and old) way. It involves two concepts - promoting "the commons" and fighting "enclosure".

According to "Another World is Possible":

The global commons is the set of natural resources, basic services, public spaces, cultural traditions, and other essentials of life and society that are, or should be, part of a public trust to be enjoyed by all people and cherished for the planet’s well-being. Another way to conceive of these assets is how it is said in Spanish: el bien común, the common good. Behind the commons is the fundamental idea that life, information, human relationships, popular culture, and the earth’s riches are sacrosanct and not for sale.

Today, all over the world, pieces of our commons are being commodified and/or privatized by the powerful and rich, in deals made possible by corporate trade accords and government. Being snapped up in the giant tag sale now underway is, well, pretty much everything: the creation of babies, health care, indigenous or shared knowledge, public radio and television, schools, human organs, genetic mapping, control of the use of plants and animals, water, and air. (Yes, air. Beyond the recent fad of oxygen bars, carbon trading is the buying and selling, effectively, of air). And that’s a limited list.

Naturally, people aren’t just taking this sitting down. They are inventing ways to ensure that society’s and nature’s wealth remains for the use of the community and for the sustenance of the earth. Collectively, the endeavors can be seen as the global commons movement.

In a book from 2008, called The Magna Carta Manifesto, Peter Linebaugh writes about the erosion of rights, once clearly established, for the many, mostly western societies, which are based on "common law." The book "blurb" as linked above says:

This remarkable book shines a fierce light on the current state of liberty and shows how longstanding restraints against tyranny—and the rights of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and due process of law, and the prohibition of torture—are being abridged. In providing a sweeping history of Magna Carta, the source of these protections since 1215, this powerful book demonstrates how these ancient rights are repeatedly laid aside when the greed of privatization, the lust for power, and the ambition of empire seize a state. Peter Linebaugh draws on primary sources to construct a wholly original history of the Great Charter and its scarcely-known companion, the Charter of the Forest, which was created at the same time to protect the subsistence rights of the poor.

You can see a rather lengthy, but fascinating, interview with Peter Linebaugh, about the book, and the concepts here:



Today, struggles to defend "the commons", range from First Nations, in Canada, fighting to protect the land from the oil sands exploitation, to the Adavasi people in India, or indigenous people in South America, having their land exploited by mines and dams, without compensation (because the land does not have a deed in the name of an individual, it is a commons for the people to use, as needed and not individually owned.) Unfortunately any "commons" is too often thought of as as just land, water, resources etc. that no one owns. . . yet.

The Commons though, conceptually, means that we all own the resources, feel that they are ours, and therefore we are all stewards of the resources, and have a need to look after them. So it is not just a way to get everyone's needs met, but is also a way to protect the earth. See: Earth Commons Rising and/or (warning direct link to english pdf) The Commons Manifesto

Just for fun, (and because it can be motivating) I include here a musical interlude -- Struggles against enclosure and to hold onto the commons spawned movements in Great Britain from the 12th-20th century in Britain. One 17th century movement called the Diggers or the True Levellers. . . who wanted to eliminate enclosure and work the land "in common" and on the commons - planting vegetables on so-called "wasteland", are well known.



There is also a (relatively) new organization called "On the Commons" that says of the idea of a commons based society:

A commons-based society refers to a shift in values and policies away from the market-based system that dominates modern society, especially over the past 30 years. The foundation of the market is narrowly focused on private wealth, while the commons is built upon what we all share—air, water, public spaces, public health, public services, the Internet, cultural endowments and much more.

One of the most compelling ideas being raised today is the possibility of evolving from a market-based society to a commons-based society. The commons has always been an element of human civilization. But its central role in sustaining all societies has recently been rediscovered, inspiring new lines of thinking in fields ranging from high technology to public health to business.

A commons-based society is one that values and protects commons assets, managing them for the benefit of everyone. Market-based solutions would be valuable tools in a commons-based society, as long as they do not undermine the workings of the commons itself.

Is "the commons" a useful concept? Can we return to, or create, a new world where there is a real "commons"? Combined with the elimination of enclosure (that is the increasing privatization or "ownership" of once free resources like water, but also corporate ownership of words and art,and the potential death of "net neutrality") development of non-monopoly markets, an unfettered civil society, and real democracy, it helps me envision a world that might be organized in a different way, and one in which civic engagement would be easy, necessary and effective. As, Jack Layton, a Canadian politician used to say: Don't let them tell you it can't be done."