In Common – serie

This book is the first attempt to rethink and appraise the role of temporary commoning experiences that develop in contexts of crisis. Activist and urban planner, Angelos Varvarousis, argues that there is a certain type of commons – the liminal commons – which despite their often short lives play a crucial function in contemporary societies; they demarcate and facilitate transitions at the individual, collective and ultimately the societal level. Through an intense exploration of grassroots projects such as occupied squares, self-organised refugee camps, solidarity food structures and social clinics in crisis-ridden Greece, the author observes that humans still invent such collectively performed rituals in order to prepare, symbolize and practically explore the possibility of transformation and transition. In a period in which traditional rites of passage have faded away but many changes are urgently needed, liminal commons can be a key element in the process of claiming awareness and control over the mechanisms of individual, collective and societal emancipation.

This book is the first attempt to rethink and appraise the role of temporary commoning experiences that develop in contexts of crisis. Activist and urban planner, Angelos Varvarousis, argues that there is a certain type of commons – the liminal commons – which despite their often short lives play a crucial function in contemporary societies; they demarcate and facilitate transitions at the individual, collective and ultimately the societal level. Through an intense exploration of grassroots projects such as occupied squares, self-organised refugee camps, solidarity food structures and social clinics in crisis-ridden Greece, the author observes that humans still invent such collectively performed rituals in order to prepare, symbolize and practically explore the possibility of transformation and transition. In a period in which traditional rites of passage have faded away but many changes are urgently needed, liminal commons can be a key element in the process of claiming awareness and control over the mechanisms of individual, collective and societal emancipation.

This book pays homage to a rock band that has most influenced alternative culture, the Grateful Dead. It critically discussing the evolution of the libertarian spirit in the USA, which was born and developed in the 1960s and merged in the last three decades into a libertarian ideology, based on individual freedom, antistatalism and the primacy of the spirit of the self-made man. Examining how this transition was functional, on the one hand, to high-tech digital innovation and, on the other, to the spirit of new platform capitalism. Andrea Fumagalli suggests that the process of capturing the libertarian spirit for capitalist purposes, which represents one of the clearest examples of "life subsumption", the acknowledgment that the life of individuals at the very moment that it triggers processes of social cooperation is a potential source of subversive behaviour, and how this can turn into a powerful tool for today's capitalist valorisation.

This book pays homage to a rock band that has most influenced alternative culture, the Grateful Dead. It critically discussing the evolution of the libertarian spirit in the USA, which was born and developed in the 1960s and merged in the last three decades into a libertarian ideology, based on individual freedom, antistatalism and the primacy of the spirit of the self-made man. Examining how this transition was functional, on the one hand, to high-tech digital innovation and, on the other, to the spirit of new platform capitalism. Andrea Fumagalli suggests that the process of capturing the libertarian spirit for capitalist purposes, which represents one of the clearest examples of "life subsumption", the acknowledgment that the life of individuals at the very moment that it triggers processes of social cooperation is a potential source of subversive behaviour, and how this can turn into a powerful tool for today's capitalist valorisation.

This volume examines how urban potentiality emerges in performances that reclaim the city, acting as an emancipatory force when dominant patterns of urban behaviour are thrown into crisis. It can result in establishing new habits of inhabiting city space, collective experiences shaping practices of urban commoning, re-inventing community relations, and freeing collaboration from capitalist expropriation. Instead of problematizing such radical change through the modernist belief in heroic unique acts, we need to explore the power dissident performances acquire when repeated. In search of an emancipatory politics of urban potentiality, commoning thus has the ability become a collective ethos based on mutuality and equality rather than merely a relatively fair way of sharing urban infrastructures.In this book, the leading social and urban theorist Stavros Stavrides draws on a wide range of classic and historical thought on the urban question and social transformation. Drawing from research in Latin American urban movements, from activist participation in urban struggles in Greece, and citizen initiatives developed in Europe, this book expands the discussion on the potentialities of urban commoning to demonstrate how an emancipatory urban future may be achieved.

This volume examines how urban potentiality emerges in performances that reclaim the city, acting as an emancipatory force when dominant patterns of urban behaviour are thrown into crisis. It can result in establishing new habits of inhabiting city space, collective experiences shaping practices of urban commoning, re-inventing community relations, and freeing collaboration from capitalist expropriation. Instead of problematizing such radical change through the modernist belief in heroic unique acts, we need to explore the power dissident performances acquire when repeated. In search of an emancipatory politics of urban potentiality, commoning thus has the ability become a collective ethos based on mutuality and equality rather than merely a relatively fair way of sharing urban infrastructures.In this book, the leading social and urban theorist Stavros Stavrides draws on a wide range of classic and historical thought on the urban question and social transformation. Drawing from research in Latin American urban movements, from activist participation in urban struggles in Greece, and citizen initiatives developed in Europe, this book expands the discussion on the potentialities of urban commoning to demonstrate how an emancipatory urban future may be achieved.

Space is both a product and a prerequisite of social relations, it has the potential to block and encourage certain forms of encounter. In Common Space, activist and architect Stavros Stavrides calls for us to conceive of space-as-commons – first, to think beyond the notions of public and private space, and then to understand common space not only as space that is governed by all and remains open to all, but that explicitly expresses, encourages and exemplifies new forms of social relations and of life in common.Through a fascinating, global examination of social housing, self-built urban settlements, street trade and art, occupied space, liberated space and graffiti, Stavrides carefully shows how spaces for commoning are created. Moreover, he explores the connections between processes of spatial transformation and the formation of politicised subjects to reveal the hidden emancipatory potential of contemporary, metropolitan life.

Commons and Public Partnership reimagines the commons as a dynamic third political sphere, one that bridges the gap between the household and the state. Torange Khonsari shows how cultural practices can activate communities, creating neighbourhood-based commons systems that challenge conventional governance.Drawing on local experiences, Khonsari addresses pressing societal issues, from citizen apathy and institutional distrust, to the lack of awareness around creative practices that can transform political engagement. By repositioning the neighbourhood as a decentralized arena for decision-making, this book advocates for a commons/public partnership model in place of the dominant private/public paradigm.Rich in theory and grounded in practice, Commons and Public Partnership blends insights from urbanism, public art, architecture, psychology, politics, anthropology, and sociology with practical design methodologies—offering a bold, interdisciplinary framework for rethinking civic life.

How do we change the world? How do we break free from social arrangements that shape our everyday lives yet leave many of us exhausted, stressed, and diminished? These are systems that deepen inequality, fuel armed conflict, damage the environment, and increasingly threaten the conditions of life itself.In this book, Massimo De Angelis explores the system of social cooperation we live in and reproduce every day, capitalism. Rather than analysing it from a distance, De Angelis examines it from the perspective of how people actually live, work, and care for one another, showing how our lives are organised through interconnected domains of value that structure power, labour, and social relations.Crucially, De Angelis argues that change can emerge from within these conditions. By focusing on social reproduction, the everyday practices that sustain life, he identifies a space where collective organisation, struggle, and alternative ways of living can take shape. Drawing on political economy, systems theory, cybernetics, and commons theory, this book offers both a clear diagnosis of our present crisis and a grounded vision for transforming how we live together.

How do we change the world? How do we break free from social arrangements that shape our everyday lives yet leave many of us exhausted, stressed, and diminished? These are systems that deepen inequality, fuel armed conflict, damage the environment, and increasingly threaten the conditions of life itself.In this book, Massimo De Angelis explores the system of social cooperation we live in and reproduce every day, capitalism. Rather than analysing it from a distance, De Angelis examines it from the perspective of how people actually live, work, and care for one another, showing how our lives are organised through interconnected domains of value that structure power, labour, and social relations.Crucially, De Angelis argues that change can emerge from within these conditions. By focusing on social reproduction, the everyday practices that sustain life, he identifies a space where collective organisation, struggle, and alternative ways of living can take shape. Drawing on political economy, systems theory, cybernetics, and commons theory, this book offers both a clear diagnosis of our present crisis and a grounded vision for transforming how we live together.

In this weaving of radical political economy, Omnia Sunt Communia sets out the steps to postcapitalism. By conceptualising the commons not just as common goods but as a set of social systems, Massimo De Angelis shows their pervasive presence in everyday life, mapping out a strategy for total social transformation.From the micro to the macro, De Angelis unveils the commons as fields of power relations – shared space, objects, subjects – that explode the limits of daily life under capitalism. He exposes attempts to co-opt the commons, through the use of code words such as 'participation' and 'governance', and reveals the potential for radical transformation rooted in the reproduction of our communities, of life, of work and of society as a whole.

Space is both a product and a prerequisite of social relations, it has the potential to block and encourage certain forms of encounter. In Common Space, activist and architect Stavros Stavrides calls for us to conceive of space-as-commons – first, to think beyond the notions of public and private space, and then to understand common space not only as space that is governed by all and remains open to all, but that explicitly expresses, encourages and exemplifies new forms of social relations and of life in common.Through a fascinating, global examination of social housing, self-built urban settlements, street trade and art, occupied space, liberated space and graffiti, Stavrides carefully shows how spaces for commoning are created. Moreover, he explores the connections between processes of spatial transformation and the formation of politicised subjects to reveal the hidden emancipatory potential of contemporary, metropolitan life.

In the wake of socialism’s demise and liberalism’s loss of direction, new ideas are needed for the next major realignment of the social and political domain. Making a unique contribution to the idea of ‘the commons’, this book offers a radical form of direct democracy with real-world implications. But whereas much of the current scholarship has looked at the commons from the perspective of governance, this book instead focuses on ‘commoning’ as social practice. Perspectives on Commoning argues that the commons are not just resources external to us, but are a function or characterisation of what we do. Thus, we can talk of the act of commoning, positioning our behaviour beyond the domains of the private and the public, beyond the dichotomy of capitalism versus socialism.Covering everything from biopolitics to urban spaces, this impressive range of international contributors address the commons as both theory and history, providing a useful review of current conceptions as well as practical proposals for the future. A unique consolidation of philosophy, sociology and economics, the book shows how a new understanding of the commons as practice will help to achieve its full emancipatory potential.

Art/Commons is the first book to theorise the commons from the perspectives of contemporary art history and anthropology, focusing on the ongoing tensions between art and capitalism. This study is grounded in an analysis of contemporary artistic and curatorial practices, which the author describes as practices of commoning, based on co-production, participation, mutualism and the valorization of reproductive labour. Mollona proposes a novel theoretical approach to current debates on the commons, and shows that art can provide both a language of anti-capitalist and post-colonial critique as well as a distinctive set of skills and practices of commoning.

Art/Commons is the first book to theorise the commons from the perspectives of contemporary art history and anthropology, focusing on the ongoing tensions between art and capitalism. This study is grounded in an analysis of contemporary artistic and curatorial practices, which the author describes as practices of commoning, based on co-production, participation, mutualism and the valorization of reproductive labour. Mollona proposes a novel theoretical approach to current debates on the commons, and shows that art can provide both a language of anti-capitalist and post-colonial critique as well as a distinctive set of skills and practices of commoning.

Experiences of the struggle for housing, ignited by the lack of social and affordable housing, have led to the establishing of shared and self-managed housing areas. In such a context, it becomes crucially important to re-think the need to define common urban worlds “from below". Here, Penny Travlou and Stavros Stavridis trace contemporary practices of urban commoning through which people re-define housing economies.Connecting to a rich literature on the importance of commons and of practices of commoning for the creation of emancipated societies, the authors discuss whether housing struggles and co-habitation experiences may contribute in crucial ways to the development of a commoning culture. The authors explore a variety of urban contexts through global case studies from across the Global North and South, in search of concrete examples that illustrate the potentialities of urban commoning.