On commoners’ daily struggles: Carving out the when/where of commoning

Research output: Journal Article or Conference Article in JournalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Following recent developments in commons studies centred on commoning as a practice, this work takes special interest in commoners’ lived experiences, desires, expectations, and struggles as they relate to sustaining a commitment to such practices over time. The article adopts a micropractice perspective focused on commoners’ privileged vantage point to observe how multiple heterogeneous practices overlap and intersect in the mundane life of commoning and how, in turn, a necessary condition to continue commoning is to unearth ways through this nexus of practices. Empirically, the article is grounded in the analysis of twenty-five semi-structured interviews with long-term commoners recruited from three different commoning realms, and it advances the concept of carving out the when/where of commoning: a situated and relational type of boundary work that commoners continuously perform and reproduce when committing (or trying to commit) to commoning. As such, the article contributes to commons studies by starting to unravel commoners’ everyday struggle to commit to and perform commoning.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEphemera: Theory & politics in organization
Volume21
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)73-93
Number of pages20
ISSN1473-2866
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • commoning as practice
  • boundary work
  • long-term commitment
  • nexus of practices
  • bounded selves
  • commoners

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'On commoners’ daily struggles: Carving out the when/where of commoning'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • The Long Now of the Commons

    Giacomo Poderi (Organizer) & Joanna Saad-Sulonen (Organizer)

    17 Oct 2019

    Activity: Participating in or organising an event typesOrganisation and participation in workshop, seminar, course

Cite this