Collective Action for the Production of Knowledge on the Commons

Abstract

"This work proposes analyze the field of the knowledge on the commons, first analyzing different ethical and political features present in the process of knowledge production on the governance of common resources; also taking into account the process of conceptual development of the 'Common Goods and Collective Action Theory' and the research on the commons, as well as the social relations involved in some of the academic practices in this expanding field. We assume that these features are sense constructions that are constitutive of an academic and social culture corresponding to the field of the commons. The theoretical understanding of natural and socially created resources, as commons, this is as goods that can be collectively preserved and used for the common benefit, is the result of a particular historical trajectory, which this work proposes to review and highlight. We consider that the academic proposal of the recognition of collective action as a viable option for common resources governance has strong ethical, social and political sense, and also implies social and even environmental responsibility. The understanding of knowledge as a common good represents an important step forward on the trajectory of the 'Commons Perspective', making the academic activity on itself the object of analytical reflection, promoting the reflection on the different dimensions and experiences involved in research activities and conceptual creation. We will review the ethical implications of this approach, reviewing the values that sustain the proposal of collaborative academic work, of inter-subjective production of conceptual meaning and of policies based on empirically based understanding of common goods governance."