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| coec:commons_economy [2025/11/08 09:11] – simon | coec:commons_economy [2025/11/08 11:05] (current) – simon |
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| ## Commons Economy | *Part of [Commons Economy & Exchange](cats:ctee)* |
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| | # Commons Economy |
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| > "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Buckminster Fuller | > "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Buckminster Fuller |
| > | > |
| > "People who are directly affected by and have to live with a resource are more likely to manage that resource sustainably." - Elinor Ostrom | > "People who are directly affected by and have to live with a resource are more likely to manage that resource sustainably." - Elinor Ostrom |
| ### What is a commons economy? | |
| | ## What is a commons economy? |
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| It’s an economy in which the essentials of life – housing, energy, land, food, water, transport, social care, the means of exchange etc. are owned in common, in communities, rather than by absentee landlords, corporations or the state. Commons have 3 parts: | It’s an economy in which the essentials of life – housing, energy, land, food, water, transport, social care, the means of exchange etc. are owned in common, in communities, rather than by absentee landlords, corporations or the state. Commons have 3 parts: |
| We believe that a combination of the inherent social nature of humans, ancient commons practices, established commons principles and new commons ideas can help build a commons movement to challenge the current economy in a way that nothing else has or can. | We believe that a combination of the inherent social nature of humans, ancient commons practices, established commons principles and new commons ideas can help build a commons movement to challenge the current economy in a way that nothing else has or can. |
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| #### Elinor Ostrom | ### Elinor Ostrom |
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| You may have heard of [Garrett Hardin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Hardin)'s famous essay, _the Tragedy of the Commons_, in which he claimed that commons will always fail because of incentives for all users of a common resource to take a little more than their fair share until the resource collapses. [Elinor Ostrom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom) pointed out that Hardin was talking about a free-for-all, not a commons - for which she received a Nobel Prize. She shows that communities can develop systems of self-governance to manage resources without the need for top-down government intervention or privatization. | You may have heard of [Garrett Hardin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Hardin)'s famous essay, _the Tragedy of the Commons_, in which he claimed that commons will always fail because of incentives for all users of a common resource to take a little more than their fair share until the resource collapses. [Elinor Ostrom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom) pointed out that Hardin was talking about a free-for-all, not a commons - for which she received a Nobel Prize. She shows that communities can develop systems of self-governance to manage resources without the need for top-down government intervention or privatization. |
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| <WRAP center round box 50%> | <WRAP center box 50%> |
| <figure> | <figure> |
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| <caption>Elinor Ostrom, whose work made it clear that commoning is not about a ‘free-for-all’, but responsible governance of resources. Image: [Holger Motzkau](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Prolineserver), [CC-by-SA-3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).</caption> | <caption>*Elinor Ostrom, whose work made it clear that commoning is not about a ‘free-for-all’, but responsible governance of resources. Image: [Holger Motzkau](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Prolineserver), [CC-by-SA-3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).*</caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
| </WRAP> | </WRAP> |
| In _Governing the Commons_ (see further resources), Ostrom outlined principles for successful commons. To summarise: resources are not owned privately, but it's not a free-for-all either - there are boundaries and agreements so that all users (commoners) know what’s expected of them, and what they can expect to receive; commoners make and monitor the agreements themselves – they’re not imposed from above - i.e. not by the state; each local commons can fit into a larger geographical commons, and so on, up to the global scale - a movement. Here's the full list of principles. | In _Governing the Commons_ (see further resources), Ostrom outlined principles for successful commons. To summarise: resources are not owned privately, but it's not a free-for-all either - there are boundaries and agreements so that all users (commoners) know what’s expected of them, and what they can expect to receive; commoners make and monitor the agreements themselves – they’re not imposed from above - i.e. not by the state; each local commons can fit into a larger geographical commons, and so on, up to the global scale - a movement. Here's the full list of principles. |
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| #### Ostrom’s commons principles | ### Ostrom’s commons principles |
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| 1. **Clearly defined boundaries:** commoners understand what resources they have responsibility for, and who with. | 1. **Clearly defined boundaries:** commoners understand what resources they have responsibility for, and who with. |
| 8. **Nested groups:** if part of larger systems, commons groups are organised in multiple layers of nested groups. | 8. **Nested groups:** if part of larger systems, commons groups are organised in multiple layers of nested groups. |
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| | <WRAP center box 50%> |
| | <figure> |
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| | <caption>//Cattle have been grazed on managed alpine meadow commons in Switzerland for hundreds of years without depleting the resource. Pic: [Richard Bartz](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bos_taurus_taurus_sideview_2.jpg), [CC BY-SA 2.5](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)// |
| | </caption> |
| | </figure> |
| | </WRAP> |
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| //Cattle have been grazed on managed alpine meadow commons in Switzerland for hundreds of years without depleting the resource. Pic: [Richard Bartz](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bos_taurus_taurus_sideview_2.jpg), [CC BY-SA 2.5](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)// | ### New commons ideas |
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| #### New commons ideas | |
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| There are new tools and ideas that allow us to: | There are new tools and ideas that allow us to: |
| 5. **federate to form the basis of a new, commons economy:** all commons projects can be connected together via the ‘[Credit Commons Protocol](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/credit-commons/)’ – a ‘language’ that they can all speak that allows them to trade between each other – but in a federation, with no centre. Each local group retains full autonomy. Everything is interoperable – so people could eventually pay for their housing, energy, care, shopping, and receive wages etc. in mutual credit. | 5. **federate to form the basis of a new, commons economy:** all commons projects can be connected together via the ‘[Credit Commons Protocol](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/credit-commons/)’ – a ‘language’ that they can all speak that allows them to trade between each other – but in a federation, with no centre. Each local group retains full autonomy. Everything is interoperable – so people could eventually pay for their housing, energy, care, shopping, and receive wages etc. in mutual credit. |
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| | <WRAP center box 40%> |
| | <figure> |
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| | <caption>//In a commons economy, mutual credit is a tool for accounting for exchange, but it doesn’t provide a store of value. Future-use vouchers (a.k.a. ‘use-credit obligations’) can be used to save / store value / provide non-monetary pensions.// |
| | </caption> |
| | </figure> |
| | </WRAP> |
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| //In a commons economy, mutual credit is a tool for accounting for exchange, but it doesn’t provide a store of value. Future-use vouchers (a.k.a. ‘use-credit obligations’) can be used to save / store value / provide non-monetary pensions.// | ### What’s happening already? |
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| #### What’s happening already? | |
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| Under feudalism, ‘commoners’ had rights on land owned by the Crown, nobility or the church, to graze animals, collect firewood etc. Ending such rights – by legal acts of [enclosure](https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/short-history-enclosure-britain) – was part of the transition to capitalism. An estimated 2 billion people today still depend for at least part of their livelihood on common resources. | Under feudalism, ‘commoners’ had rights on land owned by the Crown, nobility or the church, to graze animals, collect firewood etc. Ending such rights – by legal acts of [enclosure](https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/short-history-enclosure-britain) – was part of the transition to capitalism. An estimated 2 billion people today still depend for at least part of their livelihood on common resources. |
| According to the [International Reciprocal Trade Association](https://www.irta.com/), around $12-14 billion worth of trade happens annually via mutual credit between participating businesses in their global network. There are similar networks in [Sardinia](https://www.sardexpay.net/) and [Kenya](https://www.lowimpact.org/posts/how-chamas-mutual-credit-changing-africa/). | According to the [International Reciprocal Trade Association](https://www.irta.com/), around $12-14 billion worth of trade happens annually via mutual credit between participating businesses in their global network. There are similar networks in [Sardinia](https://www.sardexpay.net/) and [Kenya](https://www.lowimpact.org/posts/how-chamas-mutual-credit-changing-africa/). |
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| | <WRAP center box 60%> |
| | <figure> |
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| | <caption>//Stroud Commons: inaugural event.// |
| | </caption> |
| | </figure> |
| | </WRAP> |
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| //Stroud Commons: inaugural event.// | ## What are the benefits of the commons economy? |
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| ### What are the benefits of the commons | |
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| economy? | |
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| #### Personal | ### Personal |
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| Local economies are reoriented towards providing: | Local economies are reoriented towards providing: |
| * personal attention from real people. | * personal attention from real people. |
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| | <WRAP center box 50%> |
| | <figure> |
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| | <caption>*An economy based on credit clearing, mutual credit and commons ownership would insulate local economies from wider financial downturns.*</caption> |
| | </figure> |
| | </WRAP> |
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| An economy based on credit clearing, mutual credit and commons ownership would insulate local economies from wider financial downturns. | |
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| #### Decentralising power away from corporations | ### Decentralising power away from corporations |
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| Once assets are in the commons, they’re never sold again, so that wealth stays in communities, rather than being extracted by corporations and concentrated. Mutual credit is the exchange system for the commons economy - it’s accounting for who’s done what for whom, rather than money (which is what’s actually extracted from communities). | Once assets are in the commons, they’re never sold again, so that wealth stays in communities, rather than being extracted by corporations and concentrated. Mutual credit is the exchange system for the commons economy - it’s accounting for who’s done what for whom, rather than money (which is what’s actually extracted from communities). |
| By building the commons, we can start to lay the foundations of a new system. It may be the only way we can do that – we can’t vote for it, as the state and corporate sector are so entwined; protest or petitions won’t work for the same reason; there’s not going to be an ‘uprising’, and even if there were, it would be crushed, and even if it succeeded, it would mean a different group in control of centralised power. We need to build something new ourselves, in our communities. In the 19th century, the co-operative and mutual movements came close to building a new system, but co-ops needed to go into debt to obtain infrastructure, and didn’t have strong enough asset locks to prevent corporate buyout. Social connections are paramount in the commons. Attempts to change the system without considering social relations have been disastrous (communism, fascism), and attempts to change social relations without considering the system have been ineffective (hippies, self-help). | By building the commons, we can start to lay the foundations of a new system. It may be the only way we can do that – we can’t vote for it, as the state and corporate sector are so entwined; protest or petitions won’t work for the same reason; there’s not going to be an ‘uprising’, and even if there were, it would be crushed, and even if it succeeded, it would mean a different group in control of centralised power. We need to build something new ourselves, in our communities. In the 19th century, the co-operative and mutual movements came close to building a new system, but co-ops needed to go into debt to obtain infrastructure, and didn’t have strong enough asset locks to prevent corporate buyout. Social connections are paramount in the commons. Attempts to change the system without considering social relations have been disastrous (communism, fascism), and attempts to change social relations without considering the system have been ineffective (hippies, self-help). |
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| #### Building community and preparing for any potential collapse scenarios | ### Building community and preparing for any potential collapse scenarios |
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| 'There may be trouble ahead'. We’re going to need to look after each other in communities, by building the commons economy to provide affordable housing, energy and other essentials, and a way to invest our savings in our communities. | 'There may be trouble ahead'. We’re going to need to look after each other in communities, by building the commons economy to provide affordable housing, energy and other essentials, and a way to invest our savings in our communities. |
| Most movements for change don't engage working-class communities - where most people live. Commons is different, because it provides affordability and jobs (management of the commons is via paid steward roles, not volunteer trustees). | Most movements for change don't engage working-class communities - where most people live. Commons is different, because it provides affordability and jobs (management of the commons is via paid steward roles, not volunteer trustees). |
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| #### Environment | ### Environment |
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| Unlike capitalism, a commons economy has short supply chains and no '[growth imperative](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/steady-state-economics/)' and therefore might just be able to provide the things we need without completely destroying the biosphere (again, unlike capitalism). Decisions can be made to protect nature, that the profit motive overrules in corporations. | Unlike capitalism, a commons economy has short supply chains and no '[growth imperative](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/steady-state-economics/)' and therefore might just be able to provide the things we need without completely destroying the biosphere (again, unlike capitalism). Decisions can be made to protect nature, that the profit motive overrules in corporations. |
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| | <WRAP center box 50%> |
| | <figure> |
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| | <caption>//The commons economy generates more (and more meaningful) jobs, managing schemes and maintaining properties / infrastructure.// |
| | </caption> |
| | </figure> |
| | </WRAP> |
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| The commons economy generates more (and more meaningful) jobs, managing schemes and maintaining properties / infrastructure. | |
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| ### What can I do? | ### What can I do? |
| Subscribe to our newsletter for commons news; comment on the blog, or [send us an article](https://www.lowimpact.org/blog-article-social-media-policy/); and of course, please share this page with anyone you think might be interested. We’d like to invite everyone to be a commoner! | Subscribe to our newsletter for commons news; comment on the blog, or [send us an article](https://www.lowimpact.org/blog-article-social-media-policy/); and of course, please share this page with anyone you think might be interested. We’d like to invite everyone to be a commoner! |
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| ### Further resources | ## Further resources |
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| * Elinor Ostrom's *[Governing the Commons](https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/ostrom_1990.pdf)* (pdf) | * Elinor Ostrom's *[Governing the Commons](https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/ostrom_1990.pdf)* (pdf) |
| * [Credit commons](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/credit-commons/): the 'money system' for the commons economy | * [Credit commons](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/credit-commons/): the 'money system' for the commons economy |
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| ### Specialist(s) | ## Specialist(s) |
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| Dil Green was an architect and builder for 30 years, working on projects from an extension to London’s Science Museum to an award-wining eco-surgery. He now works away at systemic leverage points around [Governance](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rn54TgAXbOa0aaijb7knQCfQiQxA12LfoEhNOlalW4A/edit?usp=sharing), Wisdom: [Pattern Language](http://PatternLanguage.Institute), and Economy: [](https://opencredit.network/)[Mutual Credit Services](https://mutualcredit.services/). He lives in Brixton, and blogs at [digital-anthropology](https://digital-anthropology.me/). | Dil Green was an architect and builder for 30 years, working on projects from an extension to London’s Science Museum to an award-wining eco-surgery. He now works away at systemic leverage points around [Governance](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rn54TgAXbOa0aaijb7knQCfQiQxA12LfoEhNOlalW4A/edit?usp=sharing), Wisdom: [Pattern Language](http://PatternLanguage.Institute), and Economy: [](https://opencredit.network/)[Mutual Credit Services](https://mutualcredit.services/). He lives in Brixton, and blogs at [digital-anthropology](https://digital-anthropology.me/). |
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| ---- | --- |
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| [Original at Lowimpact.org](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/commons-economy/) | [Original at Lowimpact.org](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/economy/commons-economy/) |