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COMMONS MAGAZINE

Commons Strategies

A wide number of new strategies exist for assuring that the commons, in its many forms, is protected and enhanced over time. Some involve government and law, others depend on informal governance and social sanctions, while still others work with market mechanisms and other hybrid models.

August 10, 2006

Who Owns The Batting Average of David Ortiz?

Who owns the batting average of David Ortiz? Baseball is a grand slam example of a commons.
June 16, 2006

Scholars of the Commons Converge on Bali

A global organization shows that the commons is no tragedy.
June 16, 2006

A Captive Audience of Kids

Big Brother rides the school bus. Bus Radio targets a captive audience of kids with the help of cash-starved school districts.
June 15, 2006

Entrepreneurs of Cooperation

Before Social Security and the New Deal, the Unemployed Exchange Association in California rebuilt a collapsed economy.
June 8, 2006

The Surprising Scope of the Commons

A dedicated activist on water issues discovers the surprising scope of the commons.
May 30, 2006

Wealthy Towns, the Commons and Elitism

Is concern about the commons elitist? Just the opposite, but in the strange world of contemporary politics, some make that claim.
May 25, 2006

Cooperation and Punishment in a Commons

German study showing commons needs methods to discourage free riders gets media attention.
May 14, 2006

The Magna Carta and Commoners

The Magna Carta did more than secure individual rights; it established commons rights.
April 4, 2006

Imagining New Institutions to Defend the Commons

Ben Franklin invented the public library and the fire department. If he were around today, he'd be creating new institutions to help the commons help us.
March 27, 2006

Four Great Websites on the Knowledge Commons

Our Hidden Wealth

How the commons makes everything else work

Gustavo Esteva voices provocative views on human rights, economic development and flush toilets 

Mexico's Maverick Commoner

Gustavo Esteva challenges conventional wisdom with a worldview based on indigenous culture, Marx and Small is Beautiful

Lelalnd Maschmeyer is a creative director in New York City and author of The Triumph of the Commons.

You No Longer Have to Own Everything You Use

Leland Maschmeyer on creativity, sharing and the 21st Century Economy