The Commons in History: Culture, Conflict, and Ecology

1. Commons Ecology

1 Commons Ecology London and its environs would have no parks today if commoners had not asserted their rights, and as the nineteenth century drew on rights of recreation were more important than rights of pasture, and were defended vigilantly by the Commons Preservation Society. We owe to these premature “Greens” such urban lungs as we have. More than that, if it had not been for the stubborn defence by Newbury commoners of their rights to the Greenham Common, where on earth could NATO have parked its Nukes?1 The siege of Namur in 1695 is perhaps best known from Laurence Sterne’s novel Tristram Shandy, but it is as good a place as any to start this discussion of the commons in history. In Sterne’s novel, Tristram’s Uncle Toby becomes obsessed with the siege where he received a mysterious groin injury. He builds a large-scale replica of the battle that he shows to his increasingly frustrated fiancée, Widow Wadham. The novel, filmed under the title A Cock and Bull Story, is known for its humor , brilliance, and somewhat insane plot developments, including the romance between the Widow Wadham and Uncle Toby. The real-life siege took place between British and French forces and led to an episode of commoning in Kirk Yetholm, a border town in the north of England, now in Scotland, that was famed for its association with gypsy travelers. During the siege of Namur, a gypsy by the name of Young saved the life of a Captain Bennet. In gratitude, the captain built cottages and 2 Chapter 1 leased them to Young and other gypsies. In addition, they and their descendants were given the right to cut turf and peat and graze cattle and horses on Yetholm Common.2 The story is traditional, and another version suggests that the gypsies were granted hospitality in 1745 after they rescued a horse that was owned by Sir William Bennet and stolen by Jacobites. Although the stories are disputed, there is no doubt that the travelers settled in the area and were granted common rights. Commoning in all its diversity includes collective ownership of land and other resources as well as the right of certain individuals to enjoy the property of others. The commons is a topic of increasing interest, and numerous studies link commons to environmental sustainability. The term has varied connotations—some negative (in terms of notions of the tragedy of the commons and associated mismanagement) and some positive or even poetic (as “a mythic landscape, a political metaphor, a utopian community”).3 Overview This book argues that property rights are essential to understanding sustainability. Property rights over land and other resources help condition how we interact with our wider environment . This book looks at a particular form of property ownership—the commons. Chapter 1 outlines different definitions of the commons, describes the tragedy of the commons, and discusses how different forms of common-pool property influence the environment. The environmental implications of commons within a historical context are illustrated with case studies from England, India, and Mongolia. Chapter 2 looks at the extent to which commons, where apparently sustainable , are maintained by cultural norms and not purely selfish economic considerations. Chapter 3 argues that the history of the commons is political. Rather than failing, many commons Commons Ecology 3 have been destroyed by invasion or eroded by the introduction of market economies. Their destruction has often led to environmental degradation. But commons are not (as some seem to suggest) a utopian alternative to systems based on private property. Their creation and maintenance has often involved conflict between individuals, social classes, communities, and even species. Chapter 4 discusses the kinds of questions we need to ask if we are to be good ancestors so that our activities do not threaten the future of our children and their children. The extent to which commons can be used to create a more sustainable future is the central theme of this chapter. Commons, Sustainability, and Environmental History Environmental history may help us make better decisions about how to move toward a more sustainable future. Today human society appears to be struggling to deal with sustainability , if sustainability is defined as the ability of present society to exist without damaging future generations. Climate change is already causing temperatures to rise, species are becoming extinct at an increasing rate, and other environmental problems seem set to...