Despite the deepening crisis of neoliberalism in Europe, there has not been a united response or convergence of movements to build a shared alternative vision. To explore the possibilities for cooperation among important social movements in Europe, CSG brought together participants associated with movements dedicated to co-operatives, degrowth, Social and Solidarity Economy, peer production, Transition […]

As enclosures have taken control of common assets, they have spurred new interest in using law to protect commons. This topic has a rich history going back to the Magna Carta and its companion document, the Charter of the Forest, which legally recognized commoners’ customary usage of forests, farmland, pastures and rivers. In this tradition, […]

The logic of neoliberal capitalism is responsible for at least three interrelated, systemic problems that urgently need to be addressed – the destruction of ecosystems, market enclosures of commons, and assaults on equality, social justice and our capacity to perform care work. None of these problems is likely to be overcome unless we can find […]

What accounts for the persistence and spread of “commoning,” the irrepressible desire of people to collaborate and share to meet everyday needs? How are the more successful projects governed? And why are so many people embracing the commons as a powerful strategy for building a fair, humane and Earth-respecting social order? To explore these questions, […]

New forms of peer production for software, knowledge, product design, hardware and manufacturing hold great promise for creating a new autonomous, productive sector of commons. Unfortunately, much of this open cooperation is captured and sold by businesses whose extractive business models fail to re-invest in the commons. The peer production may therefore never evolve into […]