An Architektur 23
Über Commons
Commons are not simply resources that we use collectively – the concept of commons simultaneously encompasses three aspects. First, all commons involve a number of shared resources understood as non-commercialized means of satisfying human needs. Second, commons are necessarily created and maintained by communities. And third, and most importantly, commons are always based on “commoning” – the social process that creates and reproduces commons.
“Commons are a means of establishing a new political discourse that builds upon and helps articulate the many existing, often small-scale struggles, while recognizing their power to overcome capitalist society. One of the most important challenges we face today is to dissolve the boundaries between inside and outside the movement and to foster a social movement that engages with the real challenges people face in reproducing their own lives. How can we reproduce our lives in new ways while simultaneously placing limits on capital accumulation?”
—Massimo De Angelis
The issue includes three pamphlets, a public interview with Massimo De Angelis (political economist, University of East London) and Stavros Stavrides (architect, National Technical University of Athens), as well as additional texts by Massimo De Angelis, Joanna Burger, Christopher Field, Garrett Hardin, Karl Marx, Stefan Meretz, Richard Norgaard, Elinor Ostrom, David Policansky, and Stavros Stavrides.
The interviews were conducted by “An Architektur” in collaboration with the Athens Biennale 2009.
