The Dilemma of the Commoners
Understanding the Use of Common-Pool Resources in Long-Term Perspective

Tine De Moor links the historical debate about the long-term evolution of commons to the present-day debates on common-pool resources.

Tine De Moor (Author)

9781316645826, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 June 2017

226 pages, 10 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.1 x 1.5 cm, 0.35 kg

'Why, in a world of selfish individuals, does cooperation emerge? The book by Tine De Moor is a challenging response to this main question through a long-period reconstruction of common action in Europe, where common lands, guilds, and communities are the main actors. We discover in the end that we are a little less selfish than we thought and that to be less selfish is, perhaps, in our interest today. An important read!' Paolo Malanima, Magna Græcia University, Italy

One of the classic problems in social science is known as 'the dilemma of the commons', in which land, water, and other resources held jointly by social or economic segments tend to be depleted sooner and to a greater extent than privately held assets. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many aspects of western European society changed fundamentally, including the abolition of common-property rights, which in itself was related to social and economic shifts in that same society. This book intends to put the debate on commons, commoners, and the disappearance of both throughout early modern and modern northwestern Europe in a new light, through new approaches and innovative methodologies. Tine De Moor aims to link the historical debate about the long-term evolution of commons to the present-day debates on common-pool resources, as well as touching upon various disciplines within the social sciences that work on commons issues.

Introduction
1. The emergence of commons and other forms of institutions for collective action in western Europe from the late Middle Ages onwards
2. Common land and common rights in Flanders
3. From rules to practice: case description, sources and methodology
4. The choices of the commoners: understanding utility, efficiency and equity on the commons through the behavior of the commoners
5. Dealing with dilemmas: conclusions
6. Epilogue: the revenge of history? The return of the homo cooperans in present-day western European countries.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Macroeconomics [KCB], Political science & theory [JPA]