Short Course Description
"Who owns the Commons?" The concept of "the commons" first appeared in the environmental debate as an answer to the question of the origin of our ecological crisis. According to biologist Garrett Hardin, the environmental crisis is inevitable because natural resources are managed as common resources ("the tragedy of the commons"). Proposals to "solve" the tragedy through privatization (or State or international governance) were described by critics and historians as creating a different social "tragedy": of "enclosure", the expropriation of the rights of groups and nations thereby generating economic and social inequalities. Private property is based on exclusion, and thus is contrary to common property ? ?the commons?. This concept serves both as a new framework for discussion of environmental and ecological justice and as an attempt to redraw the map of relations between market economy, society and the environment. These themes recur in the discourse on copyright and intellectual property in the digital and intellectual spheres, especially in the context of globalization, international trade agreements, industrial vs. ecologiocal agriculture, the Internet, open source software, copyright, patents and scientific research, etc. The "melodrama" of the commons include the tragedy of the anticommons (in scientific research), the comedy of the commons (creating non-market affluence שפע within society), and more. Special focus will be given to issues related to public space and natural resource management, especially re "development" and agriculture. Recent debates regarding the Corona policies are discussed in the context of the commons of science.
Full Syllabus
