This third reflection is intended to support and develop your critical engagement with the concept of the commons. There are many articulations and understandings of the commons in the literature. For the purposes of this reflection, we ask that you begin with the idea of the commons as understood by Garrett Hardin (1968), who generally characterizes it as a pasture open to all (p. 1244).

For this reflection, we recommend that you review the Hardin (1968) reading, along with the two course lectures relating to the commons on March 9 and March 11; the beginning of the March 14 lecture might also be helpful to you. In particular, you might want to think about some of the following concepts as a way to guide you through this reflection piece: open access; original/primitive accumulation; accumulation by dispossession; property regimes; governance; territory; law. You might also want to limit the scope of your reflection to a particular region of the world when thinking about the commons.

In a post of ~400 words, please reflect on the following:

Do the commons exist in the way that Hardin (1968) describes? (i.e., as a pasture open to all, free of overarching legal orders or forms of governance). What example can you bring forward to support your claim?
How do the commons (according to Hardin) differ from communal property? Reflect on the differences between the two concepts, and articulate at least one clear reason why it is important to understand the difference between the two.
Finally, reflect on the meaning of property itself: does your understanding of the commons and/or communal property shift when you think of land as something that perhaps cannot be owned, or propertized (i.e., made into property)?
As always for the reflection assignments, you do not need to lean on any formal definition(s), and there are no right or wrong views. However, the reflection must be substantial and oriented towards a critical engagement with readings and discussions in the course; aim to avoid platitudes and normative claims, and engage directly with the work of at least two writers we have encountered in the course to date.