The Commons in History: Culture, Conflict, and Ecology PDF
Preview The Commons in History: Culture, Conflict, and Ecology
The Commons in History History for a Sustainable Future Michael Egan, series editor Derek Wall, The Commons in History: Culture, Conflict, and Ecology Frank Uekötter, The Greenest Nation? A New History of German Environmentalism The Commons in History Culture, Conflict, and Ecology Derek Wall The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2014 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wall, Derek. The commons in history : culture, conflict, and ecology / Derek Wall. p. cm.—(History for a sustainable future) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-02721-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-262-32201-0 (retail e-book) 1. Commons—History. I. Title. HD1286.W34 2014 333.2—dc23 2013032414 To Emily Blyth and Amanda Penfold What we need to question is bricks, concrete, glass, our table manners, our utensils, our tools, the way we spend our time, our rhythms. To question that which seems to have ceased forever to astonish us. We live, true, we breathe, true; we walk, we go downstairs, we sit at a table in order to eat, we lie down on a bed in order to sleep. How? Where? When? Why? Describe your street. Describe another. Compare. —Georges Perec, L’Infra-ordinaire (1989) Contents Foreword Acknowledgments 1 Commons Ecology Overview Commons, Sustainability, and Environmental History What Is the Commons? Contested Commons The Tragedy of the Commons Commons as a Solution Commons History: England, Mongolia, and India Successful Commons Ecologically Failed Commons 2 Culture in Common? Commons as an Economic Solution Culture as a Means of Conservation Culture versus Economics The Gift Economy Contested Cultures Misreading the Cultural Commons 3 Commons in Conflict The Assault on the Commons Enclosure and Colonization Ecological Imperialism The Radical Case for the Commons Conflicted Commons Commons, Conflict, and Gender Continuing Commons 4 Questions for Good Ancestors How Do We Research the Commons? How Can the Commons Sustain the Environment? How Do We Socially Share? How Do We Fight the Crab? How Do We Love the Land? Before Time People Notes Selected Readings on the Commons Index Foreword Michael Egan Derek Wall’s The Commons in History: Culture, Conflict, and Ecology inaugurates a new series from the MIT Press. “History for a Sustainable Future” is predicated on the idea that scholars, publics, and policymakers need to be conscious of the historical contexts of contemporary environmental problems to understand their social, political, economic, and ecological contexts. Resolving local and global environmental quandaries requires careful thought and planning, and future success depends on a deep appreciation of the past. This is the point of the series: we can learn from past mistakes, but more important, solving the environmental crisis demands the best information available, and history provides valuable insights into the creation and proliferation of the environmental ills we hope to curb. Fittingly, the commons in history is a good departure point for this series for two reasons. First, the commons constitutes one of the oldest stories of human interaction with the physical environment. The collective use of land and extraction of resources has been engrained in human activities since before history was written down. Second, this story possesses critical contemporary relevance for helping us to move toward a more sustainable future. As Wall notes in his introduction to this book, understanding property rights is essential for understanding sustainability. How we use, share, close off, and open up the land and its resources offers insights into how we value the environment, the economy, and each other. And by applying an historical lens to how the commons have evolved over time and across space, Wall reads a method of engaging with the future.
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