The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom Essential Lessons for Collective Action

About this book

In the 1970s, the accepted environmental thinking was that overpopulation was destroying the earth. Prominent economists and environmentalists agreed that the only way to stem the tide was to impose restrictions on how we used resources, such as land, water, and fish, from either the free market or the government. This notion was upended by Elinor Ostrom, whose work to show that regular people could sustainably manage their community resources eventually won her the Nobel Prize. Ostrom's revolutionary proposition fundamentally changed the way we think about environmental governance.

In The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom, author Erik Nordman brings to life Ostrom's brilliant mind. Half a century ago, she was rejected from doctoral programs because she was a woman; in 2009, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. Her research challenged the long-held dogma championed by Garrett Hardin in his famous 1968 essay, "The Tragedy of the Commons," which argued that only market forces or government regulation can prevent the degradation of common pool resources. The concept of the "Tragedy of the Commons" was built on scarcity and the assumption that individuals only act out of self-interest. Ostrom's research proved that people can and do act in collective interest, coming from a place of shared abundance. Ostrom's ideas about common resources have played out around the world, from Maine lobster fisheries, to ancient waterways in Spain, to taxicabs in Nairobi. In writing The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom, Nordman traveled extensively to interview community leaders and stakeholders who have spearheaded innovative resource-sharing systems, some new, some centuries old. Through expressing Ostrom's ideas and research, he also reveals the remarkable story of her life.

Ostrom broke barriers at a time when women were regularly excluded from academia and her research challenged conventional thinking. Elinor Ostrom proved that regular people can come together to act sustainably – if we let them. This message of shared collective action is more relevant than ever for solving today's most pressing environmental problems.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. What's So Tragic About the "Commons"?
Chapter 2. Los Angeles Groundwater
Chapter 3. Maine's Lobster Gangs
Chapter 4. Spain's Ancient Water Court
Chapter 5. Institutions for Collaborative Forest Management
Chapter 6. Governing the Climate Commons
Chapter 7. Voluntary Environmental Programs
Chapter 8. Commons in Space
Chapter 9. Commons in the Digital World
Chapter 10. A Nobel for Institutions and a Pathbreaking Life

Notes
About the Author
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Dr Erik Nordman is Associate Professor of Natural Resources Management and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Grand Valley State University, Michigan. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at Indiana University's Elinor and Vincent Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Nordman has written on a wide variety of environmental topics, from urban stormwater management and land preservation to renewable energy. His work has also appeared in mass-market publications such as Quartz, The Conversation, and Bridge (a Michigan public affairs magazine). Nordman holds an M.S. in forest ecosystem management and a PhD in natural resource policy and economics, both from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse University. He served as a Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, 2012-13.