COMMONS MAGAZINE
In the belief system called economics, it is an article of faith that commons are inherently tragic. Almost by definition, they are tragic because they are prone to overuse. What belongs to all belongs to none, and only private or state ownership can rescue a commons from the sad fate that will otherwise befall it.
We’re pleased to announce the new Arts and Culture department of Commons Magazine, where we will amplify our coverage of creative work in all disciplines. With a special emphasis on artists, writers, performers, and collectives who blur the lines between art making, personal activism, and community involvement, we seek to show how art can help us dissolve lines of class and geography and create a context for renewing our sense of belonging in the diverse global community. After all, when art and culture open a window to the wider world, we can more clearly see all that we share—the commons.
Water Governance for 21st Century, by Shiney Varghese at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, makes a compelling case urging advcates and policy makers to advance an approach combining the commons framework and the Public Trust Doctrine principles. Shiney notes that the tendency of recent trends to rely on market and rights–based policies has exaccerbated the failures in water governance.
Thank you for your interest in submitting to Commons Magazine’s UNCOMMON/WORD: A collection of commons-inspired poetry. Submissions are now closed. The next submission period will open on April 1st, 2014.
Anyone contemplating a submission is encouraged to examine the magazine before sending a manuscript. To subscribe, click “here”:http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5475/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=7885.
What kind of work is Commons Magazine looking for?
The Great Lakes are a gift we all share, a gift we are all responsible for.
If you’re invested in the health and well-being of these waters, please add your voice to the Great Lakes Commons Charter by answering the questions below.
Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow, a longtime collaborator and a leader of the Great Lakes Commons Initiative, just visited the first five cities in a tour of seven.
I AM WATER is a public art project created by Camille Gage, a Minnesota artist. It is an artful vehicle for lending your voice to the Great Lakes Charter and will result in a large, moveable, indoor/outdoor sculpture consisting of hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of paper ‘ripples.’ Each ripple will represent a voice added to the Charter and an individual who has pledged to be a steward of the Lakes. There are two ways to participate: online and by mail.
What is a social charter, and how does it apply to the Great Lakes?
Historically, a social charter is a tool that communities have used to define norms, rules, boundaries, claims, and practices for protecting the commons. A social charter is a process that results in a living document.
We’re calling the social charter for the Great Lakes the “Great Lakes Commons Charter.”
The Great Lakes Commons Charter process
Not many people have the imagination, intellectual depth and sheer courage to take on an entire profession and demonstrate how it is wrong. Jane Jacobs did. The renegade author and activist — who died in 2006 at age 89 — not only took on many such “impossible” challenges, she often prevailed. In her devotion to humanistic, small-scale solutions to big problems, Jacobs can be rightly understood as an early champion of what we now call the commons.
From my home in Missoula, Montana I can walk north 120 miles or so to the Canadian border. I do not need a permit, nor will I have to pay any fees. I can stay as long as I like, hike, camp, forage for food, fish (with a state license), marvel at the scenery, and drink straight from unpolluted mountain streams. Other than a couple of road crossings I will be on public land the whole time. I can do the same thing after a short drive, heading south, again walking for 100 or more miles well into central Idaho, without needing a permission slip or paying for the privilege.
I’m not saying it’s time to break out the champagne and start chanting, “The people united will never be defeated”. But the past few weeks have brought us some heartwarming demonstrations that the popular will still has a bite.
February 22: Public Access to Publicly-Funded Research
After a major public outcry, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed federal agencies to make published results freely available to the public. Director John Holdren declared, “Americans should have easy access to the results of research they help support.”
The commons is more than just natural resources or a set of theories and policies about how to improve society—it’s also about how we lead our lives day-to-day.
Are you a commoner? CLICK HERE to take our simple quiz and find out!
If you had asked the person next to you in New York or virtually any other city for a drink of water in 1825,they would have had a predictable response: go buy your own. It would be like today asking the person next to you for a Coke.
Water, safe and dependable water, was a private responsibility. Sure there may have been some public fountains or known springs, but the burden was on the individual or the family to obtain such a thing.
Property is a mirror; the way we think about it says a lot about the way we think about ourselves. And the way Americans thought about property for much of our history is very different from what most politicians and economists profess today.
It’s easy to forget that the broadcasting airwaves are—and once were treated as—a commons, owned by citizens, not powerful media companies.
It has become increasingly clear that “business as usual” is failing us economically, ecologically and socially. Today people yearn for a world that is more collaborative, equitable and enjoyable. This is especially true for young people, and over the past two years On the Commons (OTC) has worked with professors on college campuses to raise student awareness of the opportunities offered by the commons.
It has become increasingly clear that “business as usual” is failing us economically, ecologically and socially. Today people yearn for a world that is more collaborative, equitable and enjoyable. This is especially true for young people, and over the past two years On the Commons (OTC) has worked with professors on college campuses to raise student awareness of the opportunities offered by the commons.
There’s a national movement underway, and it’s gaining momentum. Inspired in part by Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article and coordinated by the global grassroots organization 350.org, the Fossil Free campaign aims to convince “educational and religious institutions, city and state governments, and other institutions that serve the public good” to divest from fossil fuels.
Q: How would you describe the commons, which can at first appear abstract?
This is one of many great questions I was asked on a recent mini-West Coast tour that took me to Portland State University and Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. It’s why On the Commons is hitting campuses across the country—to explain that the commons is not some abstruse intellectual construct but a useful set of ideas and practices that point us in the direction of new solutions for issues in our communities and lives.
I can remember the moment I first recognized the commons as a powerful tool to heal the Earth, reverse economic inequality and strengthen our communities. This article by Jonathan Rowe lit a fire in my head when I first read it in Yes! magazine. It’s the reason I am now doing what I do.