From Land Ownership to Landed Commons

This book offers a comprehensive survey of the history of thought and practice of commoning of scarce land resources. Presenting a refreshing theoretical and historical perspective, it explores how social relations, ethics, and agencies have affected the building and development – but also the decline – of Landed Commons. Bringing together expert contributors from across the globe and investigating in depth three Belgian case studies, the book addresses how people have acquired or lost their rights to use land, which institutionalisation processes have shaped or destroyed these rights, and how Landed Commons can be built, developed, and sustained in a socially innovative way. Using concepts from the Théorie des Cités, it demonstrates how mutual aid-based action research can be seen as the way forward for communities to build and maintain equitable and sustainable human-land relations in Landed Commons.

Academics, researchers, and students in regulation and governance, politics and public policy, human geography, social work, law, and economics will benefit from this in-depth exploration of the human relevance of commoning in contemporary neo-liberal times. Commoning activists, government officials, and practitioners will equally find this to be an invaluable read.