The Distant Past and Other Pasts as Fodder for Understanding State-Society Relations and Extra-local Influences on Society

Abstract

"The neglect of the distant past i.e. pre-1800 Europe or the equivalent of pre-1800 (pre-industrial revolution and expansion of a market economy) Europe elsewhere in the study of commons is perhaps due to mistaken perceptions of the past as relatively static and insular as compared to the upheavals of the 19th century. Wars, collapse and alternatively amalgamations of kingdoms, disease were all substantial upheavals in themselves. The question is to what extent did such phenomena affect the ability of a community to create sustainable rules of governance over a common pool resource. The answer would be quite obvious, I would suppose - to a significant degree."