The following essay is adapted from the introduction of The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking: Tools for the Transition Ahead (2021), written David Bollier, Program Director of Reinventing the Commons, and published by The Schumacher Center for a New Economics.
Amidst the daunting challenges of our time, there is some great news: The commons is rising. Looking beyond the market and state, the book collects vibrant examples of commoning: groups of people applying their social imaginations and collective power to build a new world of socio-economic possibilities. The emergence of commoning can be seen in relocalized food systems and community land trusts … in racial empowerment through collective action and mutual aid … and in free and open source software, peer production, and platform cooperatives. The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking is an indispensable guide for understanding these and many other transformations now underway, providing vital tools for the transitions ahead.
The book is available through Chelsea Green Publishing, Bookshop.org, and other online book retailers. It can be browsed online at CommonersCatalog.org.