Knowledge for Commons Management: A Commons for the Commons

Abstract

"Knowledge about a commons is a public good that has to be created and shared by the commoners so that they have the information then need to make and enforce operational rules and manage conflicts. On many commons people do different kinds of activities and the knowledge that results is also different. When these different experiences are mixed with different interests coming to an agreement on how to proceed can be very difficult. A fishery is a commons where developing a shared picture of what is happening to the fish is one of the toughest aspects of participatory management. For the past seven years most of my work has involved using tools from the sociologies of science and knowledge to try to understand this problem. I have learned that it brings to diverse groups similar kinds of difficulty and pain."