A key reason that so many social and ecological pathologies persist, despite strenuous efforts to solve them, is that the narrow frame for solving them. Our political culture sees capitalist markets and growth as the only serious vehicles for progressive change. When private property, corporate profitmaking, and the commodification of nature are seen as sacrosanct, there scope of transformational change is rather limited, showing the importance of reclaiming the commons.

So if we are to address the problems of our time—the problems of climate change, inequality, and social insecurity, among others—our first challenge is to expand our very definition of what “the economy” is. Is the market the only serious vehicle for wealth-creation and value, as investors and economists claim? Or are there other forms of value that need to be systematically and rigorously recognized?

I argue that this is precisely the problem: economics cannot recognize other forms of value and state power has largely adopted neoliberal economic priorities. No wonder our sense of possibility are so constricted!

As an antidote, I believe that we need to learn how the commons can help us re-imagine our mind-map of the economy. The point is not merely to add a few neglected values into the standard economic framework. It is to challenge some core premises of “the economy” as conventionally understood, by naming the many forms of nonmarket value that are essential to life.

That’s what the commons does, demonstrating the importance of reclaiming the commons. It is a robust sector of nonmarket stewardship that honors different types of value – ecological, social, ethical, spiritual. More: it is a way to nourish and protect important forms of meaning and cultural identity, as seen in the collective stewardship of forests, fisheries, farmland, and water in many permutations around the world. The commons is at work in agroecology, permaculture, community land trusts, community supported agriculture, and relocalized food systems. The commons is seen in countless open source software projects, platform cooperatives, mutual aid networks, arts and culture projects, and alternative currencies.

Read the full article about reclaiming the commons by David Bollier at Shareable.