COMMONS MAGAZINE
The commons is the essential form of wealth that we inherit or create together, and which must be shared in a sustainable and equitable way.
Ranging from water to biodiversity to historic knowledge to the Internet, the commons provides the foundation of our social, cultural and economic life. To ensure a hopeful future for ourselves and coming generations, we must vigorously protect and promote the commons.
It’s no coincidence that the words “commons” and “community” spring from the same linguistic ancestor—which some researchers trace back beyond Latin and Greek to “kommein,” a word that in Indo-European languages means “shared by all.”
Chris Carlsson: Who did you write Rebel Cities for?
David Harvey: My aim was to write a book for everyone who has serious questions about the qualities of the urban life to which they are exposed and the limited choices that arise, given the way in which political and economic power asserts a hegemonic right to build cities according to its own desires and needs (for profit and capital accumulation) rather than to satisfy the needs of people.
Against the background of banners proclaiming “We Built It!,” speaker after speaker at the Republican convention blasted President Obama for substituting government for the agency of the people. Referring to a comment Obama made at a rally in Virginia about roads and bridges, “You didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen,” Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, posed the issue as agency versus dependency.
The Great Lakes face grave danger as pollution, over-extraction, invasive species, and wetland loss continue to intensify, exacting a devastating toll on the watershed. While beaches close and fisheries decline, private companies are eyeing these precious waters for increased exploitation, whether in the form of additional commercial bottled water export, mining, oil and gas exploration, or control of once public water services.
Susan Raffo, a Minneapolis-based writer, activist and body worker wisely said, “The only time patterns become visible is when they are contradicted or challenged.” Here at On the Commons, we’ve discovered the need for a Great Lakes Commons Charter and set in motion a multi-cultural, cross-border commons movement by doing just that: questioning why the Great Lakes are severely threatened—despite the work of countless groups to protect and preserve the Lakes—and discovering a deeply troubling governance pattern.
Why we need a Great Lakes Commons Charter
Kevin Miyazaki is an editorial and fine art photographer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With a focus on issues including family history, memory, and the intersection of public and private space, Miyazaki works with a wide range of subjects—from people to rundown fast food joints to found objects and everything in between. Miyazaki is also founder of the site collect.give, a platform that connects photographers to the charities they love.
Almost daily we read about another apparently stiff financial penalty meted out for corporate malfeasance. This year corporations are on track to pay as much as $8 billion to resolve charges of defrauding the government, a record sum, according to the Department of Justice. Last year big business paid the Securities and Exchange Commission $2.8 billion to settle disputes.
The historic land-grant tradition of higher education in the United States shares notable similarities to the emerging interest in the “commons”. Having researched scholarship regarding land-grant institutions and recently becoming aware of strategies for a commons-based society, I am struck by their common mission, and commitment to the public interest. This article is intended to introduce land-grant institutions, which celebrate their 150th anniversary this year to the “commoners” in hopes of bringing together advocates for the advancement of our communities and society.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
1) Dare to Dream
Your imagination is the most important resource in transforming your neighborhood
In one of his communiqués from the Lancandon jungle of Chiapas Subcomandante Marcos, the spokesman of the Zapatista indigenous people’s revolt that burst upon the world in 1994, referred, of all things, to the Magna Carta. Why the Magna Carta, an eight-hundred-year-old document from Medieval England?
In 2012 we accept as received wisdom that government is unresponsive while a competitive marketplace forces private business to offer quality customer service. So when Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced his warmly received bill, The Government Customer Service Improvement Act, most people accepted his premise, “When taxpayers interact with a government agency, they deserve the same timely, reliable assistance they would expect from a private sector business,”
1. Give people a place to hang-out
2. Give people something to see
3. Give people something to do
4. Give people a place to sit down
5. Give people a safe, comfortable place to walk
6. Give people a safe, comfortable place to bike
7. Give people reliable, comfortable public transportation
8. Make the streets safe
9. Make the streets safe—not just from crime but from traffic
10. Remember the streets belong to everyone—not just motorists
11. Don’t forget about the needs of older neighbors
12. Don’t forget about the needs of kids
It’s easy to dismiss rising interest in public spaces as something that only the wealthy can afford to worry about. But take a look at any bustling place anywhere in the world—from the markets of Africa and Asia to the squares of Latin America to the street corners of Europe and North America—and you’ll find it’s low-income people who depend on public spaces the most.
The American media focused mainly on internal corruption and oppression [as causes of the Arab Spring revolution last year].
On this, the 20th anniversary of the opening of the first charter school, kudzu comes to mind.
In the 1930s the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) paid farmers $8 per acre to plant this Japanese vine whose deep root structure helps reduce erosion and enrich a depleted soil. Farmers planted more than 1.2 million acres.
Twenty years later the SCS declared kudzu a virulent, parasitic weed. Its rapid growth shades the native flora, blocking their access to life-sustaining light. As these plants die, nutrients previously used by them become available to kudzu.
Cities are complex hives of human activity that highlight all that’s inspiring and troubling about modern life, often at the same time. Like any commons, they are made up of interconnnecting relationships that transcend our neat divisions into rich and poor, thriving and troubled.
It’s easy to dismiss rising interest in public spaces as something that only the wealthy can afford to worry about. But take a look at any bustling place anywhere in the world—from the markets of Africa and Asia to the squares of Latin America to the street corners of Europe and North America—and you’ll find it’s poor people who depend on public spaces the most.
1. The Community Is the Expert
Tapping into the ideas and talents of a community – inviting people into the process who have an interest or stake in a particular place, such as those who live or work there — is crucial in deciding how to develop or improve a place.
2. You Are Creating a Place, Not Just a Design
Creating a place entails a broader view that goes beyond design; a successful public space possesses four key attributes: accessibility, activities, comfort, and sociability.
3. You Can’t Do It Alone
It’s a dark and wintry night in Copenhagen, and the streets are bustling. The temperature stands above freezing, but winds blow hard enough to knock down a good share of the bicycles parked all around. Scandinavians are notorious for their stolid reserve, but it’s all smiles and animated conversation here as people of many ages and affiliations stroll through the city center on a Thursday evening.