Le commun comme mode de production. Introduction[Il Comune come modo di produzione. Introduzione]

What is the common? What are its foundations? Is it a set of well-defined resources – so called common goods – or a generic principle governing the social organisation of production? These questions need to be asked because the debate on the Common is as rich as it is confusing. On the one hand, notions such as Common, in the singular, commons, common goods, common property, common-pool resources, etc, are at times used as synonymous, at others in contradiction, lacking a precise definition. On the other hand, it is easy to forget that the use of these terms often conceals highly differentiated approaches not only to theory, but also to the political role the Common might play in a project of social transformation. The purpose of this book is to contribute to clarify these questions through a multidisciplinary approach that combines theory and history. The aim is twofold. The first is to provide the reader with a guide to a critical analysis of the main economic and legal theories of common goods. Particular attention will be given to the input and limits of Elinor Ostrom's contribution and to the debate on the so-called tragedy of the commons. This survey of the literature serves the purpose of showing what the Common is not, or, at least, what it should not be reduced to. The second aim is to put forward an approach that is alternative to that of political economy. In this framework, the Common is theorised as an actual "mode of production".