Elinor Ostrom's Rules for Radicals: Cooperative Alternatives Beyond Markets and States
Derek Wall - Pluto Press, 2017
Elinor
Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics. Her
theorising of the commons has been celebrated as groundbreaking and
opening the way for non-capitalist economic alternatives, yet, many
radicals know little about her. This book redresses this, revealing the
indispensability of her work for green politics, left economics and
radical democracy.Ostrom has often been viewed as a conservative or
managerial thinker; but Derek Wall's analysis of her work reveals a how
it is invaluable for developing a left political programme in the
twenty-first century. Central to Ostrom's work was the move 'beyond
panaceas'; transforming institutions to widen participation, promote
diversity and favour cooperation over competition. She regularly
challenged academia as individualist, narrow and elitist and promoted a
radical take on education, based on participation. Her investigations
into how we share finite resources has radical implications for the
Green movement and her rubric for a functioning collective ownership is
highly relevant in order in achieving radical social change.As activists
continue to reject traditional models of centralised power, Ostrom's
work will become even more vital, offering a guide to creating economics
that exists beyond markets and states.
Elinor
Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics. Her
theorising of the commons has been celebrated as groundbreaking and
opening the way for non-capitalist economic alternatives, yet, many
radicals know little about her. This book redresses this, revealing the
indispensability of her work for green politics, left economics and
radical democracy.Ostrom has often been viewed as a conservative or
managerial thinker; but Derek Wall's analysis of her work reveals a how
it is invaluable for developing a left political programme in the
twenty-first century. Central to Ostrom's work was the move 'beyond
panaceas'; transforming institutions to widen participation, promote
diversity and favour cooperation over competition. She regularly
challenged academia as individualist, narrow and elitist and promoted a
radical take on education, based on participation. Her investigations
into how we share finite resources has radical implications for the
Green movement and her rubric for a functioning collective ownership is
highly relevant in order in achieving radical social change.As activists
continue to reject traditional models of centralised power, Ostrom's
work will become even more vital, offering a guide to creating economics
that exists beyond markets and states.
