I hadn’t thought much about using the idea of the commons in my work as a peacebuilder until the term resonated with my therapist last week. As a self-described climate voter, she immediately saw the term as a useful metaphor for understanding the world we live in and then acting accordingly.
Astrid, Thanks. I actually skipped over her article before you sent me back to it. Yes, Burning Man has lots of Commons characteristics which leap out from her paragraphs. I met with a couple of the prosocial folks last week and will probably connect with Michael Lennon in the next couple of weeks--he was at the Zebra DazzleCamp. We met through Mara's meet and greet sessions. PS You economists don't have to "own" Hardin who was an ecologist, but you can't take credit for Ostrom either. It's rare that I feel tribal pride for my fellow political scientists.....
Thanks Millie. Just bought the book which now sits atop a very tall pile on my Kindle. A friend and I will be talking with Lily next week about something we could do together.
Hi Chip, have you read Tim Hollo's book Living Democracy? I think you'd find it super interesting. Tim is a friend of mine and also connected to one of the Pro Social board members - Paul Atkins (small world!).
I think the commons is really helpful AND in Australia I think the language of public good is more powerful for doing some things at the moment - you can read our work on this at www.australiaremade.org/public-good (first port of call is the brief report but happy to direct you to some of the thinking we did around the commons etc if useful).
Astrid, Thanks. I actually skipped over her article before you sent me back to it. Yes, Burning Man has lots of Commons characteristics which leap out from her paragraphs. I met with a couple of the prosocial folks last week and will probably connect with Michael Lennon in the next couple of weeks--he was at the Zebra DazzleCamp. We met through Mara's meet and greet sessions. PS You economists don't have to "own" Hardin who was an ecologist, but you can't take credit for Ostrom either. It's rare that I feel tribal pride for my fellow political scientists.....
Thanks Millie. Just bought the book which now sits atop a very tall pile on my Kindle. A friend and I will be talking with Lily next week about something we could do together.
Hi Chip, have you read Tim Hollo's book Living Democracy? I think you'd find it super interesting. Tim is a friend of mine and also connected to one of the Pro Social board members - Paul Atkins (small world!).
I think the commons is really helpful AND in Australia I think the language of public good is more powerful for doing some things at the moment - you can read our work on this at www.australiaremade.org/public-good (first port of call is the brief report but happy to direct you to some of the thinking we did around the commons etc if useful).
Love your line of thinking here, Chip, and had the good fortune of meeting Ostrom early on in my career. We've been using some of the ProSocial principles and practices at both Armillaria and Zebras Unite, and they are very useful for creating both internal and external networks that aligned around shared purpose. Also, I was just reminded about the commons and cooperativism as part of our DNA by this great article in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/03/opinion/columnists/burning-man-rain-mud.html?unlocked_article_code=-g5E_26ba9SX2iWISp4dwbyEHfLfSN273PtDm7DMxJTMU0xb6jkM4IwUvSEEInOwQjSMija9cA9EB6NnC4jDoGXugoNIeGdhdxlA-EbpCJ80egthPMRHDb-odDz6KbZ8ZRtWINl9lr4tD4MRes-r6jrzoOGU8XJ4RMURSZcD2_0mnSlIcACDeo-VVtii6pciNf7WIr6tIXCxlmpWX32MCbLonsddfsShsJuOZZpwZOWOw2OYSmDPpzq4Xqheo0M5FbhtfjyhVM_uCWVa-riP4A-kZOjDbbVB-2hpREvZOdoNP1PT8qHJkmoENjcbH25fJdXaDGBAa3UdSNnSSlefojR02A4HCjvimA&smid=url-share
Great links to real life antidotes to the behavior that economists alike Harding stipulate to in their tidy theoretical models.