Category: Eseuri

From primitive accumulation to accumulation by disposession

25/01/2018
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 |  Accumulation, Capitalism, Commons, Dispossession, Eseuri, Space

Author: Marina Mironica

In order to keep itself alive capitalism always needs to enclose new goods and properties. Because of a moment of crisis or due to the urge to expand – two of the inevitable capitalism features – new territories have to be constantly conquered. By territories, I mean not only land, but also human labour products, cultural heritage or whatever else could be potentially put under enclosure and transformed from public to private property. The enclosures, which occurred in England, are referred to as a decisive step toward the concentration of land in the landlord’s hands.

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Whose commons? An exploration of ownership, against humanunkind

24/01/2018
 |  2 Comments
 |  Commons, Eseuri

Author: Maria Martelli

The commons is one thing, or another, but what can be grasped of it is that it is something collective, something „common” to someone. Different theorists say different things,  from Hardin (1968) who puts it forward as a problem (a tragedy, even!) of managing collective goods, to Ostrom (2010) who solves this false theorizing of „commons” by urging us to look at specific examples (of common pool resources collectively managed, such as Swiss pastures). The first looks at grazing lands and fisheries and says something along the lines of: if we no one owns them, man (man, not some other instance of human) will make the maximum use of them for himself, and thus destroy them, slowly, and everyone will be worse off.

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