Unsettling the Commons

by Craig Fortier

Drawing on interviews with 51 anti-authoritarian organizers to investigates what it means to struggle for the commons within a settler colonial context, Unsettling the Commons interrogates a very important debate that took place within Occupy camps and is taking place in a multitude of movements in North America around what it means to claim the commons on stolen land. Travelling back in history to show the ways in which radical left movements have often either erased or come into clear conflict with Indigenous practices of sovereignty and self-determinationall in the name of the struggle for the commons, the book argues that there are multiple commons or conceptualizations of how land, relationships, and resources are shared, produced, consumed, and distributed in any given society. As opposed to the liberal politics of recognition, a political practice of unsettling and a recognition of the incommensurability of political goals that claim access to space/territory on stolen land is put forward as a more desirable way forward.

Genres: Politics, Indigenous, Activism, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published November 7, 2017

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Commons are hip. In the wake of the collapse of statist forms of socialism, the 2008 crisis of capitalism and the emergence of horizontalist forms of struggle (Occupying Wall Street and the squares, the ‘Arab Spring’ and the like) and before then, this notion that ‘the commons’ is the place where a new social order can and will be built has been gaining strength. And so it should; the commons allow us to protect and promote a collaborative world where community, cohesion and equality are prioritised. It is an idea that allows us to conceive of the/a world that is not based on extraction (and an ideology some call extractivism) but respect and care for ourselves as well as non-human entities. One of the principal theorists of the commons has a Nobel Prize in economics, but it is also a notion picked up by those increasingly influential (less in themselves than in their critical followers) writers Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt.

Appealing as the notion of the commons is, there are also profound problems (there are also plenty of spurious problems, mostly rejected by the work of Elnor Ostrum – she of the Nobel Prize). The most alarming and significant, at least as I see the idea, comes not from the theory but from a form of the practice: in all too many settings the commons are invoked in an ahistorical manner, as a kind of grand narrative solution of the kind Lyotard warned us against in late 1970s. This is the problem at the heart of Craig Fortier’s fabulous book exploring the unsettling of the commons – that is, exploring what the commons means in settler colonial settings, where the land, water and all entities are deeply imbricated in the complex relations between indigenous peoples from whom those things were stolen/misappropriated (at best) and where the profound contradiction between those indigenous peoples and newcomers (noting that the settlers in many cases came both willingly and unwillingly).

At the heart of the book are two long chapters exploring, first, the processes of appropriation central to the image and construction of the commons in settler colonial settings and, second, both theoretical and praxis oriented aspects of the decolonization of those same commons. The focus is almost exclusively on the USA and Canada (Fortier is a Toronto based academic and activist), but many of the points are transferable to other settler colonies – at least as I understand them in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, the instances I am more familiar with. Much of the analysis is drawn from interviews with over 50 ‘anti-authoritarian’ (that is, positioned in a set of what we might once have unproblematically labelled ‘anarchist-inspired’ outlooks) activists from a range of political campaigns. This includes campaigns in which Fortier is also active, such as ‘No One Is Illegal’ (migrant rights), anti-poverty groups, indigenous support campaigns and others (he includes a short biographical essay where he positions himself in Canadian settler politics and activism: it is one of the more informative and engaging biographical pieces I have read).

True to his anti-authoritarian position, he sees the way forward as lying in small scale actions in support of and solidarity with indigenous peoples and their struggles where there is a deep engagement indigenous ways and outlooks. This is where his migrant rights activism becomes relevant, as allowing him to tease out the tensions and contradictions of supporting migration to a place where the land was stolen/misappropriated and still contested by peoples indigenous to that place. It is a great way to highlight the tensions woven deeply through the commons in settler colonies. The notion of deep engagement is also crucial here; it allows him to explore and begin to tease out what solidarity and support means, and highlight the need to understand, or at least engage with, indigenous ways of being and understanding the world. In this respect, the analysis is supported by Clare Land’s (excellent, Australian focussed) Decolonizing Solidarity while also providing rich contextualization in critiquing the commons.

This notion of the need to decolonise the commons is more well developed in Canada than in most (I’m tempted to say all, but that is also tempting fate) Anglo-phone settlement colonies, but in those places Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, the USA and South Africa this idea of the critical historicisation of the commons and indigenous peoples in liberation politics and activist movements is a profoundly under-explored issue, although for some it is an emerging area of debate. More problematically, the notion that there might be issues for commons-based activists in places where those settlers benefited – Europe’s former imperial powers – does not even appear to be on the radar. Fortier has done us a favour, opening up in clear and accessible ways a crucial issue in (de)colonial politics and in analyses of the commons asan issue of being good activists.

It is a short and valuable book with a great reference list to delve further into the area. It is vital reading for activists in settler colonies, and a crucial way into problematizing and historicizing the commons.

[rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The longstanding erasure of the histories of Indigenous resistance to dispossession, particularly within territories most bitterly contested by class struggles among settler populations, creates a situation in which non-Indigenous activists may side-step their own complicity in the creation and perpetuation of settler colonial spaces." - p. 37

[Alex Betsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always a great moment in life when you find a book by chance and it is the exact thing you needed. This, however, is my relationship to Unsettling the Commons. For the last year I have been working my way through many texts around the Common, particularly of Federici and Hardt & Negri (still working through it). I had felt that there was something missing, and while I still have a lot of unsettling of my own thinking, and Fortier's book (I hope). Has put me on a good path to do this.

My political formation came during the OWS protests (I was 17 and in high school at the time!) and it left an indelible mark on me. Despite having not been actually at the park in Toronto I had followed along, joined the original march and (with a group of friends) even made vegan food to bring down to the "occupation", where it was taken by an organizer of the kitchen, who kind of dropped the ball on bringing in a bunch of high schoolers (not the biggest issue there).

Fortier does a fantastic job of laying out the problems, contradictions and tensions with the notion of Occupation, and how even anti-authoritarian leftists re-enact settler colonialism in movements. Learning to live well together (in Donna Haraways words) requires, staying with the trouble, and this book does that for me, or at least I hope it will.

It's a work that I will definitely come back to again and again throughout my life.

It is a true gift and I thank the author for creating such a work that lays out the tensions of wanting to change our relations, enage democratically but keep the settler colonial context in mind

(this probably doesn't do the book or the work of the activists in it justice but it's almost midnight and I prefer to write reviews while they're still fresh

[alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

bangers from craig of course. the irony of taking back the commons / occupy as a leftist strategy on stolen land, hey. i feel inspired to learn more about activist campaigns and movements here, and feel especially inspired by craig’s numerous personal stories & contacts with people all over the map who are engaging radically to decolonize their actual life & communities & surroundings & circumstances… the social justice part of craig’s course was always a blind spot to me compared to the injustice part which i clicked in on much easier. towards the end i feel like this felt more general or maybe i was a more tired reader but while decolonial love is essential and inspiring i guess i didn’t feel like i learned anything new there.

[Richie Assaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, accessible look at the ongoing efforts to decolonize anti-authoritarian movements within settler societies like Canada and the United States.

Incorporating political theory, interviews with activists, and an exploration of recent leftist movements from Occupy to Idle No More, Fortier poses tough questions for activists and will challenge the assumptions of many progressives. The book suggests a steep climb ahead of us, but ends with an inspiring call for the practice of “decolonial love.”

This is an academic book, but one that will appeal to most readers interested in these subjects.

This paragraph really jumped out to me and sort of summarizes the main theme of the book:

“Resistance to gentrification by poor and working-class communities always takes place on top of the prior and continuing history of Indigenous resistance to the possession of their territories; the struggle against racist immigration and border policies must always contend with the a priori imposition of colonial borders on autonomous Indigenous nations; the assertions of queer and trans* sexualities against heteropatriarchy must always contend with the underlying suppression of Indigenous gender and sexual identities by the settler state and settler society; and the desire to save and protect the natural environment must always recognize the long-standing relationships that Indigenous peoples hold with the land. This double-bind of being made by but also trying to surpass colonized subjectivity means that any struggle within the settler colonial context will always be tied by the logics of settler colonialism unless activists work to build decolonial relationships with Indigenous peoples and amongst each other that relinquish claims to settler futurity.”

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet, this book packs a punch and opens a door to the practice of anti-colonialism, especially focusing on far-left and anarchist spaces.

The author is clearly present in the learning of the book and amplifies and is in relation with the voices of Indigenous people, a far cry from other researchers of marginalized ontologies that I've read.

[Happy Red Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a bad explainer on the topic for those who are just trying to understand the issue of fighting settler colonialism. It’s short so obviously it won’t cover everything but gives a quick refresher to those who want to learn about the subject but don’t have a lot of time.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but detailed exploration of a contemplated challenging transition.