Common Ground: Property, the Commons, and Environmental Justice

Ideas of property and the commons can be found everywhere in environmental thought and governance. But like all ideas, they have multiple meanings, each with far-reaching real-world implications. Throughout history, different definitions of property and the commons in natural space have alternatively empowered or disempowered individuals, communities, and nations, as well as significantly altered local and global environments. In this seminar, we will study a range of ideas about property and the commons — from Locke’s notion of property, “tragedy of the commons”, and enclosure, to ecofeminist commoning, climatic commons, and more-than-human property rights — and discuss their relationship to historic and contemporary issues of environmental justice.