The Commons

Explore our archive of articles on The Commons.

Restoring the Housatonic River Walk

Article

The ongoing creation of River Walk also speaks to the human element. It marks the confluence of ecological renewal, environmental and social justice, the underpinnings of the industrial revolution, and the vitality of a downtown.

Documenting Land Trauma

Gallery

Since the mid-1990s, when I first learned about it, a fervent desire of mine has been for this type of coal mining to be halted and forever banned. If my photos have helped build a movement calling for the abolition of mountain-top removal, then I have accomplished something in my life.

Among the Nightingales in Berlin

Music

David’s latest recording projects are focused on collaborations with nightingales. As part of the work, Rothenberg and an international band of musicians perform music in concert with nightingales in Berlin’s public parks.

Rhino Conservation

Article

There has been lots of press around big cats and elephants. Not as many people know about the plight of the rhinos and, in fact, I did not. I said, "Fantastic. If the rhinos need help, then we are here to help the rhinos."

The Insurgent Power of the Commons in the War Against the Imagination

Article

I believe the commons paradigm can help us develop a new social and cultural vision, and new strategies for practical change. Paradoxically enough, redirecting our attention away from conventional politics and policy may offer the most promising possibilities for developing a transformational vision.

BOOK | Farming for the Long Haul

Article

Farmers in urban civilizations have always been subject to powers beyond them. Indeed, there is ample evidence that urban civilizations were invariably built on the conquest and subjection of farming cultures. Our current food industry grew out of the defeat of farmers’ efforts in the late nineteenth century to win fair prices for their production.

Water and the Rising Feminine 

Conversation

Pat McCabe | As women, I see us as the relational glue, the relational builders, so I need to get it really straight in my own mind and heart from what ethic will I address these pressures and potential conflicts around water.

Economics for the Anthropocene

Article

A talk given at the Schumacher Center for New Economics, Great Barrington, MA, USA, July 27, 2014 I’m so happy […]

Human Watershed: The Emerging Politics of Bioregional Democracy

Article

The Crisis Downstream: Waiting For A Rainy Day First, the bad news. Our global community no longer has the luxury […]

Toward a Common Theory of Value | Part Five: Common Development

Article

The previous articles in this series considered how objective and subjective principles have been applied in economic thinking. We noted that the left hemisphere of the human brain is categorical and sequential in its objective construction of reality, building the edifice of knowledge up from fragments, piece by piece, to the larger system. By contrast, the right brain experiences the world as timeless Being, a great flowing network of subjective interconnection and unity, processing reality from the Whole to the Part.