The 20th anniversary of Elinor Ostrom's Governing the Commons

Abstract

Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons (Ostrom 1990) celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2010. Since its appearance, the book has changed the agenda of commons research and practice. True to its title, it has sparked a search for ways to actually govern the commons – rather than simply declaring them anachronisms, for which there is no place in a world that looks to develop sustainably. Additionally, whereas since 1968 the commons debate was dominated by the ideas of one biologist, Governing the Commons opened up the quest for further understanding of commons questions to a great many other disciplines. In this special feature project we have sought to emphasize both aspects of the impact of the book.