Short Abstract:

While commoning is a major buzzword in urban activism, social scientific research on cities has been slow to follow. We invite ethnographic and theoretical explorations on the nature, significance and discursive affordances of the commons in contemporary urban politics, economies and everyday life.

Long Abstract:

Classical social scientific studies of the commons often refer to rural or placeless phenomena, such as pastures, fisheries or scientific knowledge, whereas cities rarely feature. At the same time, ‘commoning’ has become a buzzword in recent urban activism and political mobilisation. This workshop aims to fill the empirical and reflective gap between these two strands, exploring the potential of commons and collective goods for understanding urban processes and realities, and vice versa. Most analyses so far focus on the appropriation of urban spaces for progressive politics and realising the ‘right to the city’ (Lefebvre), such as in square occupations, urban gardening on vacant lots, or squatting (Susser & Tonnelat, Stavrides). But streets, squares, sidewalks and public buildings are a commons for multiple everyday purposes too (Low, Kim, Wildner), starting from visual enjoyment (Brumann), even when gendered, racialised or class-based exclusion may interfere. Public housing and the sharing economy of food banks and car, tool and clothing exchanges have been discussed as yet another example (Kalb, Nonini), and some argue that street life and urban atmospheres are the quintessential case – one that defies standard expectations of ‘tragedy’ (Hardin) since increased use of the city vibe can augment the resource (Kornberger & Borch, Foster, Harvey). We invite ethnographic explorations and theoretical reflections on the place of the commons in contemporary cities and on its potential to transform urban economies, politics and ways of life, and we encourage precision as to who actually benefits from practices and discourses of urban commoning today.

Propose contribution