Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title page
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: on commons in a ‘glocal’ world: Linking local and global systems power processes...
Rationale of the edited volume
The Swiss commons and their theoretical legacy
Issues of ‘glocality’ in commons studies
European investments and their impact on the commons in the Global South
Local responses to glocalisation
Outline of the book
Theoretical approaches: historical, causal-justice and institutional-political perspectives
European examples from the past and present: levelled power, balanced bottom-up...
European historical cases
Contemporary European cases
Features and effects of European investments in the commons in the Global South
Land grabbing and the commons
Mining and infrastructure
Green enclosures
Commons and international law
Concluding remarks
Untitled
Part I Key reflections: New theoretical issues on the commons and their transformations
1 Shared ownership as a key issue of Swiss history: Common-pool resources, common property...
The “Alte Eidgenossenschaft”, the “Old Swiss Confederacy”
In the beginning, there was cooperation for peace
The commons-state - cooperative structures as foundations of politics and society
Collective resources as a means of existence for private households
The economic logic behind cooperative housekeeping: husbandry and austerity
Marginalization and exclusion
Inequality among equals
Legitimation by way of redistribution
Citizen-oriented administration
Persistence beyond historical upheavals and revolutions
References
2 Social causality of our common climate crisis: Towards a sociodicy for the Anthropocene
Multiple causes of climate change and vulnerability in the commons
Crises have histories
The precarity of sector by sector exploitation does not fall from the sky
On causes of vulnerabilities: Weber, Douglas, Rose and risk under a changing sky
Conclusion
Notes
References
3 Disruption, community, and resilient governance: Environmental justice in the Anthropocene
Introduction
The Anthropo-scenery
Justice in considerations of the Anthropocene
Disputing the term Anthropocene
The embracers of Anthropocene
Multiple-cenes?
The Anthropocene, disruption, and environmental justice
Disruption and disequilibria
Nixon’s slow violence
Disruption and detachment
Form and experience of environmental injustice
Implications for the intersection of environmental justice, the Anthropocene, and environmental governance of commons
References
4 A definition of the commons, between human rights, resistance, and social change
Introduction
The evolution of the debate about the commons
Legal definition of the commons: human rights beyond property
Definition of the commons ‘around the world’: the data from ‘Remix the Commons’
Defending, claiming and creating the commons
Urban and other new commons
Gender and commons
Human rights, resistance and social change
Notes
References
5 Towards a new institutional political ecology: How to marry external effects, institutional change...
Introduction
‘Core thinking’ in political ecology
Trying to locate the issue of power
PE and the ontological, epistemological and posthumanist turn
New institutionalism in social anthropology: commons between transaction costs and power relations
Historical changes of ontologies and epistemologies of the meaning of land
Ontology of the meaning of land in pre-colonial contexts
The colonial and post-colonial disconnect
The present-absence of the state and the paradox of neo-liberalism
Case study from Zambia: irrigation on the former pasture
Discussion: towards a new institutional political ecology
Conclusion
Note
References
Part II European examples from past and present
6 Common challenges, different fates. The causal factors of failure or success in the commons...
Introduction
The Campine versus the Brecklands
Common pool institutions: formal versus informal
Seven design principles defined by Elinor Ostrom (1997)
Social barriers and political monopolies
Access, inclusion and collective choice arrangement
Collective management and abidance by the rules
Collective management and action
Conclusion
Notes
References
7 For the common good: Regulating the Lake Constance fisheries from 1350 to 1800
Introduction
Lake Constance and its surroundings
Legal and institutional foundations of the fisheries
Resource management
Measuring effectiveness?
Notes
References
8 The commons in highland and lowland Switzerland over time: Transformations in their organisation...
Introduction
The continuing diversity in the very existence of common land in lowland and upland Switzerland
The legal basis for the rights related to commons up to the beginning of the nineteenth century
Regulations for sustainable use
Restricting the allocation of resources
Limiting the group of users
Communal dualism: the lengthy process of resolving the issue of rights
The ‘not entirely new’ conception of communal dualism of the Helvetic Republic
The exacerbation of conflicts
The complex rights situation and the solutions arrived at to disentangle them
Conclusion
Notes
References
9 From natural supply to financial yields: The common fields of the Bernese Civic Corporation since...
Introduction
Exclusive utilisation during the Ancien Régime
Extension of utilisation – exclusivity of profits
The “Burgersturm” and the abandoning of the burghers’ exclusive financial gain
The transformation of the common fields into building land
The exploitation of the building land
Conclusion
Notes
References
10 Universal values and the protection of commons: Fighting corruption with bottom-up process in Mallorca
Introduction
Constitutionality as an analytical approach
Methods
A brief history of the island
The tourist industry
Corruption
Constitutionality and the UNESCO platform: a discussion
Conclusions
References
11 Constitutionality and identity: Bottom-up institution building and identity among Coastal Sami in Northern Norway
Introduction
Theoretical considerations: the role of identity in constitutionality
The setting: the Sami and fisheries in Northern Norway
Norwegianisation and the development of the welfare state
Identity politics in the context of resource conflicts
Trigger for local identity development: the fishery crisis
Losing the commons: legal demands and outcomes in the fisheries
Creation and revitalisation of Coastal Sami identity
Discussion and conclusion: constitutionality and identity
Notes
References
12 Swiss alpine pastures as common property: A success story of bottom-up institution-building in Sumvitg...
Introduction
Theoretical framework
Setting and characteristics of the case study
Methodology
Alpine pastures as a common-pool resource
Traditional services of the alpine pastures
The state’s demand for “new” institutional services
The local CPR governance system in Sumvitg: a history of institutional change
Emic perceptions explaining the institutional changes
Abolition of the communal grazing practice on private land and a primary service of the traditional CPR institution
Shift from yearly rotating positions to long term positions: the development of good leadership
Structural changes: diversification of interests and ideologies
Communal work: an indicator for ecological outcomes
Bottom-up institution-building: creation of the Cooperaziun d’Alps in 2000
Discussion
Emic perception of need of new institutions
Participatory processes addressing power asymmetries
Pre-existing institutions on which to build
Outside catalysing agents creating neutral platforms
Recognizing local knowledge and innovations
Higher-level state recognition
Conclusion
References
Part III Features and effects of global (e.g. European) investments on commons in the world
13 Impacts of large-scale land acquisitions on common-pool resources: Evidence from the Land Matrix
Introduction
What general patterns and processes characterize LSLA in the global South?
Our source of information: the Land Matrix database
Insights into broad patterns and frequent processes
How do LSLAs impact on CPRs and common property regimes?
To what extent are CPRs affected by LSLA, and what impacts have been observed?
Evidence in the Land Matrix data that points to adverse impacts on CPRs
Type of land acquired: previous landowners, land covers, and land uses
Previous landownership
Previous land cover
Previous land use
Combining information about previous land use and landownership and previous land use and land cover
Insights into potential LSLA impacts from case studies reported in the LM database
Senhuile in Senegal (Case ID in LM database: #3433)
Addax Bioenergy Ltd in Sierra Leone (Case ID in LM database: #1798)
Kuraz Sugar Development Project in Ethiopia (Case ID in LM database: #4623)
Dominion Farms Ltd in Kenya (Case ID in LM database: #1374)
Conclusions
Notes
References
14 “They said they were bringing a development project”: ‘Best-practice’ large-scale land acquisition...
Introduction
Theoretical perspective – institutional change from common to private property
Study design: a ‘best-practice’ large-scale land acquisition
Changing livelihoods in the study area before the GADCO acquisition
The continued importance of common-pool resources under common property regimes
Institutional change in the Fievie Traditional Area prior to the GADCO investment
Rising relative prices of land and increased formalization of customary land tenure
Investment process and the enclosure of commons
New ‘communal’ resources?
The community development fund
Infrastructure creation
Increased availability of rice
Contested development
Conclusion
Notes
References
15 Grabbing the female commons: Large-scale land acquisitions for forest plantations and impacts on gender relations...
Introduction
Theoretical and methodological background
National historical, socio-economic and political-legal background leading to institutional change before the investment
The case study area: local ethnographic, economic and ecological background before the investment
New Forests Company’s investment in Kilolo district and its impacts
Discussion: impacts of the investment on local women and men
Conclusion
Notes
References
16 Gendered impacts and coping strategies in the case of a Swiss bioenergy project in Sierra Leone
Introduction
Moral economy and political ecology
Pre-colonial socio-political institutions
(Pre-)colonial land rights institutions
Gendered spaces in the rural landscape
Research questions and methodology
Discourses, narratives and alliances of the investor
The interplay of politics, economy and personal networks
The impacts of the investment on land tenure and common-pool resources
The exclusionary privatising effects of “land reform”
Gendered impacts of lost common-pool resources and access to wage labour
Resistance to the company and renegotiation of the land lease contract
Discussing multiple institution shopping as a coping strategy
Notes
References
17 The open cut: Mining, transnational corporations and the commons
Introduction
Large-scale mining compared
Case studies
Mopani copper mines in Zambia
The Tampakan copper-gold mine project on Mindanao, Philippines
Undermining local commons institutions
Conclusions: ‘glocal’ responses
Notes
References
18 Are green energy investments levelled by the ‘new commons’?: Compensations, CSR measures and gendered...
Introduction
Theoretical perspective on gender and large-scale land acquisitions/land grabbing
Methodology
The natural and infrastructural aspects of the case study area
Local livelihoods and common property institutions
Creating national and local identities via investment projects
The land deal and its implications: development or commons grabbing?
CSR as a green and gender specific anti-politics machine?
Local perceptions on the implications of ‘new commons’
Discussion and conclusion
Notes
References
19 Global changes in local governance of the commons: The case of the African Parks Foundation engagement...
Introduction
Global–local connections in conservation
Methodology
The African Parks Foundation engagement in Nech Sar National Park
Finance, personnel and facilities
Stakeholder partnerships
The African Parks Foundation zoning concept
Separation of people and park: the road to failure
African Parks Foundation’s decision to end the Nech Sar NP journey
Causes for the failure of the African Parks Foundation engagement
Nech Sar NP after African Parks Foundation
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Notes
References
20 Discourse and entanglement in a transnational conservation arena: Deciphering the ideologies and narratives...
Introduction
Re-examining landscapes through political ecology
The case study area and research methods
Between the frontiers of conservation discourses
Encountering conservation discourse
The counter-discourse
Disentangling conservation discourse
Discussion
Outlook
Notes
References
21 Rain forest anomy: National parks, REDD+ implementation and the run to the forest in Jambi, Indonesia
Jambi – an Indonesian frontier of the 21st century
Case 1: The demise of commons regimes for land and forest in Sungai Tenang (1977–2016)
Case 2: The Bukit Duabelas region: from indigenous habitat to National Park (1980–2016)
Case 3: The Harapan rainforest REDD+ project and its contestation by indigenous Batin Sembilan and settlers...
Conclusion
Notes
References
Part IV Commons, privatisation and international law
22 A structured checklist to identify connections between land grabbing and water grabbing1
Introduction
Property rights theory for an inter-sectoral view
Towards a checklist to connect land and water grabbing
Results and discussion based on case studies
Flower farm investments in Ethiopia
Rice production in Tajikistan
Conclusion
Notes
References
23 International investment agreements and mega-regionals: Promoting or undermining the right to water?
Introduction
Relationship between international investment law and the right to water
Early Investment Disputes and the Right to Water
Compañía de Aguas del Aconquija and Vivendi v Argentina (1996)
Zhinvali development project (2000)
Azurix v Argentina (2001)
Aguas del Tunari v Bolivia (2002)
Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona and Vivendi v Argentina (2003)
SAUR v Argentina (2003)
Bayview v Mexico (2005)
Biwater v Tanzania (2005)
Impregilo v Argentina (2007)
AbitibiBowater v Canada (2010)
The latest investment dispute on the right to water: Urbaser et al. v Argentina
Conclusion: balancing investor’s rights and the human right to water
Notes
References
24 The human right to water in India: In search of an alternative commons-based approach in the context of climate change
Introduction
Connecting the dots: water, climate, society and the commons
Developing a law for the commons
Human right to water – moving beyond a narrow approach
Critical perspectives on the human right to water
Human right to water and the commons in India
Legal framework of water in India
Ownership and control of water
Invoking the commons through the judiciary
Invoking the commons through the legislature
Subsidiarity, participation and the HRW
Conclusion
References
Index