Elinor (Lin) Ostrom, Political Scientist deserves special credit for her role in expanding the frame analysis of economic activity…
Ostrom's answer was Governing the Commons, a landmark 1990 book that set forth some of the basic "design principles" of effective, durable commons. These principles have been adapted and elaborated by later scholars, but her analysis remains the default framework for evaluating natural resource commons. The focus of Ostrom's work, and of the legions of academics who now study commons, has been how communities of resource users develop social norms and sometimes formal legal rules that enable them to use finite resources sustainably over the long term. Standard economics, after all, declares that we are selfish individuals whose wants are unlimited. The idea that we can depend on people's altruism and cooperation, economists object, is naive and unrealistic. The idea that commons can set and enforce limits on usage also seems improbable because it rejects the idea of humans having unbounded appetites.
Ostrom nonetheless showed how, in hundreds of instances, commoners do in fact meet their needs and interests in collective, cooperative ways. The villagers of Törbel, Switzerland, have managed their high alpine forests, meadows and irrigation waters since 1224. Spaniards have shared irrigation waters through huerta social institutions for centuries while, more recently, diverse water authorities in Los Angeles learned how to coordinate their management of scarce groundwater supplies.
Many commons have flourished for hundreds of years, even in periods of drought or crisis. Their success can be traced to a community ‘s ability to develop its own flexible, evolving rules for stewardship, oversight of access and usage, and effective punishment for rule breakers.
Think Like a Commoner by David Bollier Pgs. 28 - 29
Invitation: “Many commons have flourished…”
More about Elinor (Lin) Ostrom - the first woman Nobel Prize in Economics
We will meet for the Community Table Monday, March 10rd at 8:00 PM ET. Contact us for information HERE.
We will begin our daily Shared Solitude: Embracing the gift of silence in community offered by our Courageous friend Emily - March 3rd through April 18th. See details on our Calendar HERE
Learn More About Circles of Courageous Commons HERE
We are so grateful for the work of Elinor Ostrom who despite the odds against her - persisted to prove that we can and do work together for the common good.
"Many commons have flourished for hundreds of years, even in periods of drought or crisis. Their success can be traced to a community ‘s ability to develop its own flexible, evolving rules for stewardship, oversight of access and usage, and effective punishment for rule breakers." This has been a source of uplifting feelings for me today. Thank you for sharing.