This reading group is starting on Tuesday, 25th September (not Wed 17th as previously announced) in the seminar room in Johns Lane, off Thomas St (Dublin 8).
Theorists of enclosure have
described and analyzed its spokespeople, legal bases, economic rationalities,
political implications and philosophical underpinnings. The same cannot be said
for the commons, which are often discussed ambiguously in terms of
'anti-enclosure', outside the limits of private property and commodification.
In the contemporary context, where
the distinction between public and private has become weak and the logic of
enclosure extends over new areas of social and ecological life, the potential
significance of the commons, as a potent idea to mobilize behind and a material
form to live by, appears great. Yet the characteristics of the commons are
under-explored. Who are the spokespeople of the commons? What rights does it
lay claim to and how? What forms of exchange, production and distribution does
it employ? What regimes of property does it use? What forms of social and
ecological relations does it enact and express?
These seem to be important
political questions which we would like to explore by discussing a wide-range
of sources on the commons. While we will draw on contemporary theories of the
commons our main concern is to 'thicken' the concept by looking at and
examining concrete examples drawn from historical and contemporary research.
Structure
This is a very brief sketch of how
the seminar will be organized in terms of general themes. While we have certain
readings (and films) in mind the more precise direction and content of the
seminar should be worked our and agreed on by the participants.
The
first part of the seminar will provide an overview and discussion of some
recent texts on the concepts of the commons and enclosure. While there are
various interpretations of the commons we want to concentrate on that dimension
which is excessive to the state and capital, and the ways this results in
moments of conflict or struggle. This is in contrast to a more managerial,
neoliberal conception of the commons framed in terms of 'governance of the
commons.'
The
second part of the seminar, up to Christmas, will focus on historical and
contemporary articulations of the commons. This will involve looking at
empirical research on contestations over the use, value and meaning of
different spaces, bodies and resources.
After
Christmas, the focus will turn to questions relating to the politics of the
common: the relationship between the commons and the state (public); the issue
of inclusion and exclusion, and the possibility of a 'common commons' framed in
terms of 'common rights'. We have readings in mind but, again, the precise
structure of this part of the seminar will be determined by the participants.
Preliminary reading list
Blomley, N. (2008). Enclosure,
Common Right and the Property of the Poor. Social & Legal Studies, 17 (3) : 311-331.
Caffentzis, G. (2010). The Future
of the Commons : Neoliberalism's 'Plan B' or the Original Disaccumulation of Capital?
New Formations, 23, 23-41.
Dalakoglou, D.
& Vradis, A. (2012). Spatial legacies of December and the right to the
city. Revolt and Crisis in Greece. AK Press: London.
De Angelis, M. (2003). Reflections on alternatives, commons and
communities or building a new world from the bottom up. The Commoner.
De Angelis, M. & Stavrides, S. (2010). On the
Commons: A Public Interview with Massimo De Angelis and Stavros Stavrides.
E-Flux.
Eizenberg, E. (2012). Actually
Existing Commons: Three Moments of Space of Community Gardens in New York City.
Antipode, 44, 3, 764-782.
Federici, S. (2004). Caliban the
Witch. Autonomedia, New York.
Johnson, C. (2004).
Uncommon Ground: The ‘Poverty of History’ in Common Property Discourse.
Development and Change, 35(3): 407–433
Linebaugh, P. (2007). Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties
and Commons for All. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Linebaugh, P. (2012). Nedd Ludd and Queen Mab:
Machine-Breaking, Romanticism, and the Several Commons of 1811-12. Oakland,
CA: Retort Pamphlet Series.
Linebaugh, P. and Rediker, M (2000). The Many-Headed Hydra. Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the
Hidden history of the Revolutionary Atlantic. Beacon Press, Boston.
May, T. (2010). Institutions
of Equality. In Contemporary Political Movements and the Thought of Jacques
Rancière: Equality in Action. Edinburgh University Press.
McCarthy, J. (2005). Commons as
Counterhegemonic Projects. Capitalism
Nature Socialism, 16, 9-24.
Thompson, E.P. (1991). Customs
in Common. The New Press, New York.
Films
Brownlow, K. & Mollo, A.
(1975). Winstanley.
Hamilton Kennedy (2008). The
Garden.
Varda, A. (2000). The
Gleaners and I.
Watkins, P. (2000). La Commune
(Paris, 1871).
