book

The Commons in a Glocal World

Name: The Commons in a Glocal World
ISBN: 9781351050968

by Tobias Haller, Thomas Breu, Tine De Moor, Christian Rohr, Heinzpeter Znoj

April 2019

Intermediate to advanced

526 pages

19h 28m

English

Routledge

Read now

Unlock full access

Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Illustrations
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Commons in a ‘glocal’ world
Rationale of the edited volumeThe Swiss commons and their theoretical legacyIssues of ‘glocality’ in commons studiesEuropean investments and their impact on the commons in the Global SouthLocal responses to glocalisationOutline of the bookTheoretical approaches: historical, causal-justice and institutional-political perspectivesEuropean examples from the past and present: levelled power, balanced bottom-up solutions and innovations in times of crisisEuropean historical casesContemporary European casesFeatures and effects of European investments in the commons in the Global SouthLand grabbing and the commonsMining and infrastructureGreen enclosuresCommons and international lawConcluding remarksReferences

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 institutions and their impact on the political culture of Switzerland from the beginnings to our days
The “Alte Eidgenossenschaft”, the “Old Swiss Confederacy”In the beginning, there was cooperation for peaceThe commons-state − cooperative structures as foundations of politics and societyCollective resources as a means of existence for private householdsThe economic logic behind cooperative housekeeping: husbandry and austerityMarginalization and exclusionInequality among equalsLegitimation by way of redistributionCitizen-oriented administrationPersistence beyond historical upheavals and revolutionsReferences
2 Social causality of our common climate crisis: Towards a sociodicy for the Anthropocene
Multiple causes of climate change and vulnerability in the commonsCrises have historiesThe precarity of sector by sector exploitation does not fall from the skyOn causes of vulnerabilities: Weber, Douglas, Rose and risk under a changing skyConclusionReferences
3 Disruption, community, and resilient governance: Environmental justice in the Anthropocene
IntroductionThe Anthropo-sceneryJustice in considerations of the AnthropoceneDisputing the term AnthropoceneThe embracers of AnthropoceneMultiple-cenes?The Anthropocene, disruption, and environmental justiceDisruption and disequilibriaNixon’s slow violenceDisruption and detachmentForm and experience of environmental injusticeImplications for the intersection of environmental justice, the Anthropocene, and environmental governance of commonsReferences
4 A definition of the commons, between human rights, resistance, and social change
IntroductionThe evolution of the debate about the commonsLegal definition of the commons: human rights beyond propertyDefinition of the commons ‘around the world’: the data from ‘Remix the Commons’Defending, claiming and creating the commonsUrban and other new commonsGender and commons4Human rights, resistance and social changeNotesReferences
5 Towards a new institutional political ecology: How to marry external effects, institutional change and the role of power and ideology in commons studies
Introduction‘Core thinking’ in political ecologyTrying to locate the issue of powerPE and the ontological, epistemological and posthumanist turnNew institutionalism in social anthropology: commons between transaction costs and power relationsHistorical changes of ontologies and epistemologies of the meaning of landOntology of the meaning of land in pre-colonial contextsThe colonial and post-colonial disconnectThe present-absence of the state and the paradox of neo-liberalismCase study from Zambia: irrigation on the former pastureDiscussion: towards a new institutional political ecologyConclusionNoteReferences
Part II European examples from past and present
6 Common challenges, different fates. The causal factors of failure or success in the commons: The pre-modern Brecklands (England) and the Campine (Southern Low Countries) compared
IntroductionThe Campine versus the BrecklandsCommon pool institutions: formal versus informalSeven design principles defined by Elinor Ostrom (1997)Social barriers and political monopoliesAccess, inclusion and collective choice arrangementCollective management and abidance by the rulesCollective management and actionConclusionNotesReferences
7 For the common good: Regulating the Lake Constance fisheries from 1350 to 1800
IntroductionLake Constance and its surroundingsLegal and institutional foundations of the fisheriesResource managementMeasuring effectiveness?NotesReferences
8 The commons in highland and lowland Switzerland over time: Transformations in their organisation and survival strategies (seventeenth to twentieth century)
IntroductionThe continuing diversity in the very existence of common land in lowland and upland SwitzerlandThe legal basis for the rights related to commons up to the beginning of the nineteenth centuryRegulations for sustainable useRestricting the allocation of resourcesLimiting the group of usersCommunal dualism: the lengthy process of resolving the issue of rightsThe ‘not entirely new’ conception of communal dualism of the Helvetic RepublicThe exacerbation of conflictsThe complex rights situation and the solutions arrived at to disentangle themConclusionNotesReferences
9 From natural supply to financial yields: The common fields of the Bernese Civic Corporation since the seventeenth century1
IntroductionExclusive utilisation during the Ancien RégimeExtension of utilisation – exclusivity of profitsThe “Burgersturm” and the abandoning of the burghers’ exclusive financial gainThe transformation of the common fields into building landThe exploitation of the building landConclusionNotesReferences
10 Universal values and the protection of commons: Fighting corruption with bottom-up process in Mallorca
IntroductionConstitutionality as an analytical approachMethodsA brief history of the islandThe tourist industryCorruptionConstitutionality and the UNESCO platform: a discussionConclusionsReferences
11 Constitutionality and identity: Bottom-up institution building and identity among Coastal Sami in Northern Norway
IntroductionTheoretical considerations: the role of identity in constitutionalityThe setting: the Sami and fisheries in Northern NorwayNorwegianisation and the development of the welfare stateIdentity politics in the context of resource conflictsTrigger for local identity development: the fishery crisisLosing the commons: legal demands and outcomes in the fisheriesCreation and revitalisation of Coastal Sami identityDiscussion and conclusion: constitutionality and identityNotesReferences
12 Swiss alpine pastures as common property: A success story of bottom-up institution-building in Sumvitg, Canton of Grisons, Switzerland
IntroductionTheoretical frameworkSetting and characteristics of the case studyMethodologyAlpine pastures as a common-pool resourceTraditional services of the alpine pasturesThe state’s demand for “new” institutional servicesThe local CPR governance system in Sumvitg: a history of institutional changeEmic perceptions explaining the institutional changesAbolition of the communal grazing practice on private land and a primary service of the traditional CPR institutionShift from yearly rotating positions to long term positions: the development of good leadershipStructural changes: diversification of interests and ideologiesCommunal work: an indicator for ecological outcomesBottom-up institution-building: creation of the Cooperaziun d’Alps in 2000DiscussionEmic perception of need of new institutionsParticipatory processes addressing power asymmetriesPre-existing institutions on which to buildOutside catalysing agents creating neutral platformsRecognizing local knowledge and innovationsHigher-level state recognitionConclusionReferences
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
IntroductionWhat general patterns and processes characterize LSLA in the global South?Our source of information: the Land Matrix databaseInsights into broad patterns and frequent processesHow 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 CPRsType of land acquired: previous landowners, land covers, and land usesInsights into potential LSLA impacts from case studies reported in the LM databaseSenhuile 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)ConclusionsNotesReferences
14 “They said they were bringing a development project”: ‘Best-practice’ large-scale land acquisition or ‘commons grabbing’ in Ghana’s Volta Region?
IntroductionTheoretical perspective – institutional change from common to private propertyStudy design: a ‘best-practice’ large-scale land acquisitionChanging livelihoods in the study area before the GADCO acquisitionThe continued importance of common-pool resources under common property regimesInstitutional change in the Fievie Traditional Area prior to the GADCO investmentRising relative prices of land and increased formalization of customary land tenureInvestment process and the enclosure of commonsNew ‘communal’ resources?The community development fundInfrastructure creationIncreased availability of riceContested developmentConclusionNotesReferences
15 Grabbing the female commons: Large-scale land acquisitions for forest plantations and impacts on gender relations in Kilolo district, Iringa Region, Tanzania
IntroductionTheoretical and methodological backgroundNational historical, socio-economic and political-legal background leading to institutional change before the investmentThe case study area: local ethnographic, economic and ecological background before the investmentNew Forests Company’s investment in Kilolo district and its impactsDiscussion: impacts of the investment on local women and menConclusionNotesResearch for this paper was financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant: 10001A_152773.References
16 Gendered impacts and coping strategies in the case of a Swiss bioenergy project in Sierra Leone
IntroductionMoral economy and political ecologyPre-colonial socio-political institutions(Pre-)colonial land rights institutionsGendered spaces in the rural landscapeResearch questions and methodologyDiscourses, narratives and alliances of the investorThe interplay of politics, economy and personal networksThe impacts of the investment on land tenure and common-pool resourcesThe exclusionary privatising effects of “land reform”Gendered impacts of lost common-pool resources and access to wage labourResistance to the company and renegotiation of the land lease contractDiscussing multiple institution shopping as a coping strategyNotesReferences
17 The open cut: Mining, transnational corporations and the commons
IntroductionLarge-scale mining comparedCase studiesMopani copper mines in ZambiaThe Tampakan copper-gold mine project on Mindanao, PhilippinesUndermining local commons institutionsConclusions: ‘glocal’ responsesNotesReferences
18 Are green energy investments levelled by the ‘new commons’?: Compensations, CSR measures and gendered impacts of a solar energy project in Morocco
IntroductionTheoretical perspective on gender and large-scale land acquisitions/land grabbingMethodologyThe natural and infrastructural aspects of the case study areaLocal livelihoods and common property institutionsCreating national and local identities via investment projectsThe 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 conclusionNotesResearch for this paper was financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant: 10001A_152773.References
19 Global changes in local governance of the commons: The case of the African Parks Foundation engagement in Nech Sar National Park, Ethiopia
IntroductionGlobal–local connections in conservationMethodologyThe African Parks Foundation engagement in Nech Sar National ParkFinance, personnel and facilitiesStakeholder partnershipsThe African Parks Foundation zoning conceptSeparation of people and park: the road to failureAfrican Parks Foundation’s decision to end the Nech Sar NP journeyCauses for the failure of the African Parks Foundation engagementNech Sar NP after African Parks FoundationConclusionAcknowledgementsNotesReferences
20 Discourse and entanglement in a transnational conservation arena: Deciphering the ideologies and narratives behind conservation discourse in the ‘glocal’ commons in Kenya
IntroductionRe-examining landscapes through political ecologyThe case study area and research methodsBetween the frontiers of conservation discoursesEncountering conservation discourseThe counter-discourseDisentangling conservation discourseDiscussionOutlookNotesReferences
21 Rain forest anomy: National parks, REDD+ implementation and the run to the forest in Jambi, Indonesia
Jambi – an Indonesian frontier of the 21st centuryCase 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 (1967–2017)ConclusionNotesReferences
Part IV Commons, privatisation and international law: The right to water
22 A structured checklist to identify connections between land grabbing and water grabbing1
IntroductionProperty rights theory for an inter-sectoral viewTowards a checklist to connect land and water grabbingResults and discussion based on case studiesFlower farm investments in EthiopiaRice production in TajikistanConclusionNotesReferences
23 International investment agreements and mega-regionals: Promoting or undermining the right to water?
IntroductionRelationship between international investment law and the right to waterEarly Investment Disputes and the Right to WaterCompañía 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 ArgentinaConclusion: balancing investor’s rights and the human right to waterNotesReferences
24 The human right to water in India: In search of an alternative commons-based approach in the context of climate change
IntroductionConnecting the dots: water, climate, society and the commonsDeveloping a law for the commonsHuman right to water – moving beyond a narrow approachCritical perspectives on the human right to waterHuman right to water and the commons in IndiaLegal framework of water in IndiaOwnership and control of waterInvoking the commons through the judiciaryInvoking the commons through the legislatureSubsidiarity, participation and the HRWConclusionReferences
Index

Content preview from The Commons in a Glocal World

12Swiss alpine pastures as common property

A success story of bottom-up institution-building in Sumvitg, Canton of Grisons, Switzerland

Gabriela Landolt

Introduction

The institutions regulating access and use of common-pool resources (CPRs), such as alpine pastures, in the Swiss mountain village of Sumvitg date back to late Medieval Times. The creative force behind those norms, rules and regulations (institutions) is the farming population organized in corporations (Korporation or Genossenschaft), which are recognized under civil law and guarantee access and user rights (see Landolt and Haller 2015, p. 103). From the written regulations of 1805, it is clear that the farmers were willing and able to adjust their resource management to social, ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.

Julian F.

Head of Cybersecurity

I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.

Addison B.

Field Engineer

I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.

Amir M.

Data Platform Tech Lead

I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.

Mark W.

Embedded Software Engineer

23rd European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781351050968

Cloud Computing

Data Engineering

Data Science

AI & ML

Programming Languages

Software Architecture

IT/Ops

Security

Design