In this Article, we contend that we must recognize and protect the commons not simply because the commons resources themselves are essential. First, it is just to ensure that the value that is created through commoning is not captured by private market actors to the exclusion and/or detriment of the residents who create that value. Second, being able to see what is a common is key to maintaining access to and enhancing the use of essential resources. (11) And finally, making visible and protecting places created through processes of commoning are equitable (re)distributive responses to a history of race-based divestment and neglect.
Source
Amy Laura Cahn and Paula Z. Segal, You Can't Common What You Can't See: Towards a Restorative Polycentrism in the Governance of our Cities, 43 Fordham Urb. L.J. 195 (2016). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol43/iss2/1
Amy Laura Cahn and Paula Z. Segal, "You Can't Common What You Can't See: Towards a Restorative Polycentrism in the Governance of Our Cities", contributed by Giselle Babiarz, The Asthma Files, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 21 October 2019, accessed 12 December 2024. http://583559.710819.cn/content/you-cant-common-what-you-cant-see-towards-restorative-polycentrism-governance-our-cities
Critical Commentary
In this Article, we contend that we must recognize and protect the commons not simply because the commons resources themselves are essential. First, it is just to ensure that the value that is created through commoning is not captured by private market actors to the exclusion and/or detriment of the residents who create that value. Second, being able to see what is a common is key to maintaining access to and enhancing the use of essential resources. (11) And finally, making visible and protecting places created through processes of commoning are equitable (re)distributive responses to a history of race-based divestment and neglect.