Commons movement

The commons movement is not always easy to spot in the way the civil rights movement was in the 1960s, or the health care and local food movements today.

But a close look will turn up many people working to protect and promote the commons.

Local citizens organizing to keep their community center open, or fight crime are saving the commons. Greens opposing urban sprawl and inner city pollution are protecing the commons. Internet activists providing technology training to kids in low-income areas and challenging corporate schemes to limit our access to information are expanding the commons. Indigenous people instilling a sense of tradition and hope in their children are preserving the commons. Young social entrepreneurs seeking new ways for people to share their ideas and meet their needs are strengthening the commons of tomorrow.

Few of these folks would think of themselves as “commons activists”. Some may not even be familiar with the term. That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that these efforts represent a bold new spirit that prizes things we share together as much as things we possess individually.

The role of the commons today can be compared to the state of the environment in the 1960s. At that time, there was little talk about ecology or the Greening of anything. There was wide concern about air pollution, pesticides, litter, the loss of wilderness and more.Yet the phrase “environment”, did not become a household word until the first Earth Day—April 22, 1970.

Bringing all these issues together under the banner of environmentalism highlighted the connections between what until then had been seen as separate concerns. In the same way, linking the numerous social, cultural and environmental concerns related to the commons would spark a powerful new wave of citizen activism to shape popular consciousness.

The commons offers more than simply a philosophical and political framework for understanding what’s gone wrong in our times. It provides a toolkit of practical solutions that all of us can employ to create a better future for coming generations. These kinds of efforts extend the scope of the commons beyond that of a noun to a verb. Peter Linebaugh, a leading historian on the commons, has coined the word “commoning” to describe the growing roster of projects to protect and strengthen the things we share.