Adelheid Biesecker (DE)

Commons and Commoning – New Economic Principles and Categories for Transformative Eco-Social Economics

 Friday 23 March / 11:30 – 12:30

 

Short Biography

Adelheid was born in Berlin in 1942 and completed her studies in Economics at the Free University of Berlin in 1966. She was awarded her doctorate in 1969, after which she acted in the role of scientific assistant and assistant professor in Berlin until 1971. From 1971 to 2004 she was Professor for Economic Theory at the University of Bremen and has since then been leading manifold activities (teaching, workshops, researching, consulting) in the field of social-ecological economics.

 

Her main interests and expertise lies in the fields of Microeconomics from a social-ecological perspective; history of economic thought; ecological economics; feminist economics as well as the ‘future of work’.

 

Adelheid is also a member of the Network “Vorsorgendes Wirtschaften”, the Association for Ecological Economics as well as the scientific council of Attac Germany.

 

Abstract

Commons are common goods, created by cooperative processes where all participants are equally included. These processes are called “commoning”. Commodities are private goods, created also by cooperative processes structured by inequalities between the capitalist or manager and the workers. These processes are called “production” (whereas other also productive processes are excludes as un- or reproductive, e.g. unpaid caring processes). Commodities are the normal cases in capitalist market societies and are based on private property, institutionalized by private property rights and theoretically discussed in standard economic theory. In this theory there is no room for „common goods” and “commoning” and there new understanding of property.

 

This capitalist system has been criticized in manifold practical movements and theoretical contributions, especially because of its destructive consequences for many people as well as for nature. The commons movement is part of this critical community. The search for a system transformation towards a sustainable future is a question of practice as well as of theory, and the two are related to each other: In practical movements new economic principles and categories are developing. And new economic theories can help to strengthen practical movements.

 

An eco-social economic theory for a sustainable economic system cannot be constructed with old categories, because they only refer to the market and therefore delineate only a part ob the economic realm. They are categories of separation. Sustainability, however, calls for a broadening of this understanding of the economy, a broadening and an integration of economic, social and ecological dimensions. New categories are needed – categories of mediation.

 

This lecture asks the question about such new economic principles and categories found in the field of commons and commoning. It starts with a critique of old theoretical categories, analyses the theoretical content of the commons movement and ends with a trial to value the contribution of these new categories for the further development of eco-social economic theory.