Review: Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice edited by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom

Abstract

Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice edited by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2007. 320 pp. ISBN 0-262-08357-4. In Binta y la Gran Idea (Manso, 2004), a warmhearted short film nominated at the 79th Academy Awards, the main character, Agnile, a local fisherman from a small village in Senegal, learns from a friend that most modern fishing equipment used in Europe allows you to catch in one day, more fish than you could eat in your whole life. Puzzled by this finding, Agnile humbly writes to the local government: “if we follow the path shown to us by the First World, we risk that the children of our children will have no fish, no trees, no air...” The preoccupation of Agnile - the dissipation of a common good due to its over- exploitation by groups and individuals pursuing their best interest - is the tragedy of the commons. This theory, memorably depicted by Garrett Hardin (Hardin, 1968), is the thread that conceptually ties together the chapters of Understanding knowledge as a commons: From theory to practice, a collection of essays edited by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom. Contributors to this book include leading scholars in domains such as intellectual property, open source software, electronic publishing, digital preservation and civic engagement. Their essays present an analysis of the knowledge commons from their particular perspectives and in relation to Hardin's tragedy. The book is divided into three sections: the study of the knowledge commons, their protection, and their production. What are knowledge commons? In the first section of the book, Hess and Ostrom provide a very thorough introduction and analysis of the concept of knowledge as a commons, appropriate for readers of all levels of familiarity with this field. Remarkably, they collocate the notion of knowledge in the context of more tangible realms, such as oceans and forests, which have traditionally been regarded as common-pool resources. Their analysis, however, tends to capture communities and their knowledge generation mechanisms in too great detail - something that risks undermining the very open-ended nature of the knowledge commons. For example, their diagnostic study tool (the Institutional Analysis and Development framework) primarily takes into account traditional scholarly communication channels, not leaving enough space for novel forms of collaborative knowledge generation and dissemination. However, with David Bollier's contribution (The Growth of the Commons Paradigm), the concept of knowledge commons is reformulated, in particular with respect to its most recent evolution. Bollier does a thorough job of presenting a new cultural form of