Commons—lands, waters, and resources that are not legally owned and controlled by a single private entity, such as ocean and coastal areas, the atmosphere, public lands, freshwater aquifers, and migratory species—are an increasingly contentious issue in resource management and international affairs.
Protecting the Commons provides an important analytical framework for understanding commons issues and for designing policies to deal with them. The product of a symposium convened by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) to mark the 30th anniversary of Garrett Hardin's seminal essay “The Tragedy of the Commons” the book brings together leading scholars and researchers on commons issues to offer both conceptual background and analysis of the evolving scientific understanding on commons resources. The book:
gives a concise update on commons use and scholarship
offers eleven case studies of commons, examined through the lens provided by leading commons theorist Elinor Ostrom
provides a review of tools such as Geographic Information Systems that are useful for decision-making
examines environmental justice issues relevant to commons
Contributors include Alpina Begossi, William Blomquist, Joanna Burger, Tim Clark, Clark Gibson, Michael Gelobter, Michael Gochfeld, Bonnie McCay, Pamela Matson, Richard Norgaard, Elinor Ostrom, David Policansky, Jeffrey Richey, Jose Sarukhan, and Edella Schlager.
Protecting the Commons represents a landmark study of commons issues that offers analysis and background from economic, legal, social, political, geological, and biological perspectives. It will be essential reading for anyone concerned with commons and commons resources, including students and scholars of environmental policy and economics, public health, international affairs, and related fields.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction \ Joanna Burger, Christopher Field, Richard B. Norgaard, Elinor Ostrom, and David Policansky
Chapter l. Reformulating the Commons \ Elinor Ostrom
Part I. Local Commons
Chapter 2. When the Commons Become Less Tragic: Land Tenure, Social Organization, and Fair Trade in Mexico \ Jose Sarukhan and Jorge Larson
Chapter 3. Forest Resources: Institutions for Local Governance in Guatemala \ Clark C. Gibson
Chapter 4. Wildlife Resources: The Elk of Jackson Hole, Wyoming \ Tim W. Clark
Chapter 5. Cooperative and Territorial Resources: Brazilian Artisanal Fisheries \ Alpina Begossi
Part II. Regional and Cross-Boundary Commons
Chapter 6. Water Resources: The Southwestern United States \ Edella Schlager and William Blomquist
Chapter 7. Recreational and Commercial Fisheries \ David Policansky
Chapter 8. Community-based and Cooperative Fisheries: Solutions to Fishermen's Problems \ Bonnie J. McCay
Chapter 9. Multiuse Coastal Commons: Personal Watercraft, Conflicts, and Resolutions \ Joanna Burger
Part III. Global Commons
Chapter 10. The Atmospheric Commons \ John Harrison and Pamela Matson
Chapter 11. Arctic Contaminants and Human Health \ John P. Middaugh
Chapter 12. Medical Care as a Commons \ Michael Gochfeld, Joanna Burger, and Bernard D. Goldstein
Part IV. Decision-making Tools
Chapter 13. Spatial Techniques for Understanding Commons Issues \ Jeffrey E. Richey
Chapter 14. Integrating Scale and Social Justice in the Commons \ Michel Gelobter
Conclusion \ Joanna Burger, Richard B. Norgaard, and Elinor Ostrom
