Commoning, Heterotopia, and Transformation: An Analytical Framework for and from Contested Spaces

Abstract

Commoning occurs when people recognize that they share something and develop a sense of mutuality toward each other along with a shared responsibility for whatever they share. Because sharing and mutuality contrast with the individualism, competitiveness, and profit orientation of contemporary capitalist societies, commoning is widely heralded for its transformative potential. Nonetheless, commoning is not inherently transformative. We argue that whether commoning supports transformation depends on its relationship with heterotopic processes. Both commoning and heterotopia—ideal typical “other” spaces characterized by looseness and denormalization—present alternatives to hegemonic norms, especially those of state-centricity, hierarchical social organization, and the prioritization of market relationships and economic growth, but they are distinct processes that do not necessarily coincide. We propose an analytical framework to guide analysis of the relationship between commoning and heterotopia and illustrate it with examples from contested urban green spaces in Liège (Belgium), Montréal (Canada), and Brussels (Belgium).